The first ever edition of the Cesis Vasaras Bibles Skolas has been a great hit with the youngsters of Cesis. Originally advertised for kids 6-12, we ended up with a much wider age group. Many of the kids here babysit younger siblings so in the end, we just enjoyed having all ages.
Laura did a great job in organizing the skola and getting her Latvian friends involved. This was one of our main goals; to be sure that they are learning alongside of us. They were not too eager to volunteer when the planning meetings first began but then it hit us: The people that we were asking to help lead the children had never been to any type of VBS themselves. Once we were able to get the curriculum worked out and explain it better to them, they pitched in and made everything work.
Each day was divided into four stations: Bible stories, crafts, activities and snacks. We only had rain one day, so having things outside is a lot easier when you don't have to battle the Texas heat.
Our USA team (especially the ones not involved in Sports Days) really jumped in and helped out where needed daily. Many of the kids were from the earlier sports camps, so they were familiar with some of the Americans.
The over-riding goal of the VBS was to help the kids, parents and other adults get over their fear of church and what it sometimes represents to this culture. We were greatly encouraged as most of kids were not ones that regularly come to our church services.
I will add more photos later. These are mostly from the last day of craft's activities. They were recycling used CDs into picture frames and then decorating them.
We were so very thankful of how God worked through the Latvians and Americans to show the young people of Cesis a glimpse of Himself through the use of Bible stories and Christian love. We hope to continue to follow-up and encourage these young people and their families to seek a church home where they can regularly worship.
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