Taking their faith out into community
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on July 16, 2015 1:46 PM
Aniyon Lewis, 9, did a flying leap off his front porch.
He raced his twin sister, Aniya, to the church van.
"Are you ready?" church volunteer Erin Buskey asked, laughing, as he dived in.
He had been ready for an hour and a half.
"Yeah! I'm sitting in the back," he said.
He was going to First Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School. Aniyon is not a regular member, but sometimes goes to the church to play basketball.
His favorite part of VBS is the crafts.
"I made a blue pillow, blue is my favorite color," he said.
First Baptist opened the VBS up to children in the community, offering free rides and a hearty dinner.
On Wednesday, the campers ate pizza, applesauce, carrots and ranch and cookies. They washed it down with lemonade.
Education and Youth Associate Pastor Scott Thrailkill delivered fliers to families in the Lincoln Homes area, advertising the camp. The program ran from Sunday to Wednesday night.
"We want to be a presence in the community where we are," he said. "There are plenty of children right here around the church. We see a group of (youths) walking all over downtown. We want to be a positive influence in their day and let them know there are folks who care about them."
He drives the van to pick up Aniyon, his brother and sister, and two smaller cousins. They live four blocks from the church.
"We're getting outside of our front door," he said. "We call it being missional."
Director of VBS, Penny Jordan, says the school provides a fun way to learn more about faith, using photo booths, games and crafts to connect Jesus with the children.
At the registration booth, a piece of paper asked the campers when they felt closest to God.
The children filled it in with answers like "When I'm with my dad," "At Church," "in an airplane" and "with my dog."
VBS is about making faith accessible. The theme is "Journey Off the Map" and teaches the children to follow Jesus as a guide.
During dinners, volunteers dress up as Bible characters and interact with the children. Wednesday's dinner, Daniel and a lion walked around the cafeteria.
"Well, it's a tiger, but we're pretending," Penny said, laughing.
Armani Oates, 4, was startled by the tiger, but Erin picked her up and comforted her.
Most of the campers find the characters to be funny.
"On the first night, we had a grownup Jesus and a baby Jesus in the same room, and everyone said Jesus was so silly," Penny said.
First Baptist will continue their community outreach efforts with Warm the World, hosted in November, where families can pick up donated winter clothes to stay warm.
"We want to be Christ's presence in our community," Scott said.