VBS ‘makeover’ puts children to work

Posted: 7/21/06

VBS ‘makeover’ puts children to work

By George Henson

Staff Writer

BEAUMONT—Children attending Vacation Bible School at North End Baptist Church in Beaumont learned you don’t have to be on television to make a difference in someone’s life.

The VBS team at North End chose to write their own curriculum this year and settled on “Extreme Church: Service Edition,” a take-off on the television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

The Scripture verse for the week was Ephesians 2:10: “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Bible stories for the week reinforced the thoughts in that verse.

Monday and Tuesday, children heard the stories of the Good Samaritan and Nehemiah and learned the importance of recognizing a need and then responding to it under God’s leadership.

Wednesday, Pastor Robert Miller led the children in “Demolition Day,” when he counseled them on the importance of getting rid of the old sin nature and putting on the armor of God.

Thursday and Friday, a ventriloquist and his “friends” talked about the importance of building on a good foundation and using spiritual gifts to serve God.

The children did far more than just hear about the importance of serving and working to help others. The traditional crafts and missions sessions became opportunities for service.

Children chose from sewing, baking, puppetry, drama/choreography, design and construction.

“The children were given the chance to attend six special classes tailored around using their own special talents and abilities to serve God in some tangible way,” Minister of Children Josh Baker said. “There were no cheap little cut-and-paste, put-on-your-refrigerator-or-just-throw-away crafts.

“Instead of taking those things home, they made some tangible things for the benefit of the community.”

Kids take a break in the remodeled rooms of the youth and children’s wing of the church’s gymnasium.

One of the recipients of the children’s handiwork was Golden Triangle Baptist Association’s homeless shelter, Calvary House. The shelter received child-sewn pillows and child-assembled furniture to makeover its rooms. Youth who participated in the church’s design team delivered and placed the furniture and other household items for maximum effect.

“They remodeled two of the three apartments we have there,” reported Dion Ainsworth, the association’s director of ministry evangelism. They placed beds they assembled and installed sofas and fans the church purchased. “They just made it look much more pleasant and cheery than it did before.”

Ainsworth said the unique Bible school took care of some needs that could not be met through the association’s budget.

Children visited North End’s homebound ministry, a local retirement home and Buckner Children and Family Services’ Children’s Village with baked goods from the VBS baking class.

The church puppeteers performed for the retirement home, and the drama class depicted a Bible story for children the following Sunday morning.

A stuffed-animal drive brought in 165 furry friends for the local hospital’s pediatric ward and for the police department.

Some of the 150 children also helped more than 125 youth and adults do a makeover of the youth and children’s wing of the church’s gymnasium, giving all the rooms new thematically fun designs and constructing a performance stage for the children’s Sunday morning program.

More important than the actual tasks for the week was a change in mindset, Baker said, noting it is not enough to teach young people they should serve others, but to give them opportunity to do so.

The goal for the week was “that servants’ hearts would be born and that the world’s future church ministers and community servants be taught valuable spiritual truths,” he said.