Vacation Bible School

Schnickelfritz attended one of the neatest VBS programs last week.  We had to travel to a nearby town, but it was worth it.  Let me just say that this church has a real passion for reaching kids for Jesus.   A lot of the men in the church schedule their vacation at this time to participate.  Someone (or several ) with a sewing machine made costumes for the leaders and the kids to wear.  One day, storms rumbled in just when VBS was getting started.  They had an army of men and teens with umbrellas to escort us from the parking lot to the door and keep us dry.

The program was called Joseph: A Journey from Prison to Palace--a packaged program you can Google to learn more.   The highlight of the day was the visit to the marketplace held in the church's gym.  Kids were allowed to pick three activities by visiting various "stores": the Beautician/Barbershop--to get their eyes painted like Egyptians and their picture taken; the Toy Store--to make their own version of the Egyptian game Senet; the Embalmer--to decorate a cardboard sarcophagus; the Printers--to make their own piece of papyrus; the Brickmakers--to make bricks with mud and straw; the Bakery-- for snack time;  the Jewelers--to make their own jeweled neckwear.  Fritz's favorite stop was the animal pens where he made friends with a dog, a cat, a rooster, and a chinchilla .



Here's an overhead view of the marketplace.



The kids enter the marketplace through this elaborate gate.



This was before Pharoah ensalved the Israelites, so I guess they needed to advertise for help making bricks.



I don't know if the mummy is the shop's sign or a client.

The final day the children were allowed to play water games outdoors.  Schnickelfritz was a little too enthusiastic and got soaked.  Imagine my surprise when I picked him up and he was still dressed in his Egyptian clothes  (they had his regular clothes in a plastic bag for me to take home).