Spiritual Emphasis Week (VBS)

     Every year, ICS Caracas has a spiritual emphasis week.  Last year, it ended up being cancelled due to the protests, so we did it as a club after school. This year, we planned it towards the beginning of the year so that it wouldn't be cancelled. This worked so well because it was a break from the long stretch of first quarter and because it gave new students a basis on what we are learning in Bible class. The middle and high school always go to camp, where they have a speaker, play games, and learn about God in small groups. In elementary school, we have a Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our school. This year's theme was Hip Hop Hope. We started each morning with a time together, worshiping God, learning through skits, and learning the Bible story for the day. 

Some students chose to be part of a drama club for the week
and prepared the skits for us. I was very proud of my students!

     Then, we split into mixed-age groups and rotated through stations. I led the game station. It was fun, even on the day it rained. We played tag, hula hoops, parachute, an indoor obstacle course (under the desks in my classroom, which they loved), and a name game.

I was impressed that some students were great at the hula hoop!

     The other stations were craft, songs, snack/memory verse, and dance. I had a break once a day and loved walking around to the other stations. There were some cool crafts like tie-dying bandanas. I also enjoyed watching the song stations, where I could see students learning and thinking about the lyrics that were being taught. The dance station also looked like lots of fun. The kids sure were tired by the end of the day!

Songs with Sign Language

Dance Station

They made money pouches to learn about how Zacchaeus stole
money from people and God changed his heart.

Memory Verse with Motions

Tie-Dye!!

     Overall, VBS was wonderful! The leaders all did a great job, and the kids had fun, made new friends, and learned a lot about God. Talking with other teachers, we saw lots of little fruit coming out from our time doing this. While I didn't see much of this during games, I heard about students asking great questions. This year, half of my class is new to our school, and for a few of them, this school is their first exposure to Christianity. In preparation for VBS, the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher, read a storybook version of the Bible with students. My students loved this so much that now once a week they are going to have a day where they read from this Bible. I'm so glad that they are excited and curious about what the Bible is. During Bible class, we have been learning who God is (omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and the Trinity). I'm grateful that they can learn more Bible stories during their EFL class to help them understand more about God and his love for us.

Prayer Requests and Praises
-VBS went great! Students learned and asked more questions!
-Pray for fall break (October 17-20). There is lots going on during this break: fumigation, classrooms switching, a new wall being built, visa trips, rest, finishing report cards, preparing for parent teacher conferences, fellowship, and preparing for second quarter.
-Pray for health. Teachers are continually sick, and the students are starting to be sick too. There is also a mosquito spread illness that is running rampant in Caracas.
-Pray for our director as he travels to a director's conference in Bolivia.