Ready, Set, VBS! - by Lisa

Getting ready for Guatemala VBS is a lot like getting ready for an impending blizzard. You do everything possible to get yourself braced, and ready to weather the storm, and then sit back, and hope and pray for the best. Having been a part of VBS programs for countless years here at church, I know how much hard work and preparation a good program requires. Having had the privilege of being a part, and leader, of Mission Bible School, I can honestly say that nothing, absolutely nothing, in my experiences here prepared me for the wonderful chaos of Guatemalan VBS.
First of all, we have to prepare most everything we need for crafts and snacks here in America before we ever arrive. Anything that we can cut out, assemble, or package, we will do before we get to Guatemala. We will have relatively no planning time each day, and we need to reserve our crew meeting times each night to deal with last minute problems, changes of plans, and shortages of materials as they occur. Even general supplies must be taken along, for things as simple as masking tape, scissors, and hole punchers are nearly impossible to be found in foreign countries. And so we plan, we make lists, we plan some more, and make even more lists. Lists of general supplies, of craft supplies, of snack supplies. Lists of materials we can take in case we can do recreation outside. Lists of materials we can take in case we do recreation inside. Lists of songs we can sing in Spanish, and songs we can teach them in English. Then, of course, we will have a master list of all of the lists that we need to take!

Last year, I was told to plan for 100-150 children. We had around 200 children each day, with one day topping 300. Because I tend to “overplan” things, we were lucky to only run out of supplies once that week. This year, we were told to plan for 200. I can’t help think…. Will this 200 turn into 400 at our peak? We can only hope! I guess at this point you may wonder about the size of the building that will accommodate 300+ children. Well, sometimes we don’t have a building. Sometimes we work outside (praying all the while for good weather), and sometimes we luck into an area under-roof. Last year, we used a beautiful little church in the village – but LITTLE was the word. Building capacity, maybe 75. So, imagine 300 kids and 10 adults?

But, nobody seems to mind whatsoever. The kids come early and stay late. They love to sing, dance, and make a little something to take home that day. And, as a team, we work hard to provide the best program possible for everyone there, no matter what. We have learned some “tricks of the trade” along the way!
1. The kids know the sounds of our vans, and when the vans arrive at the church, Bible School begins even if it’s not 2:00 yet.
2. If you want your crayons back to use the next day, you have to get the kids to exchange them for a snack.
3. Kids try to get in the snack line many times, so you have to come up with a clever way to know if they have already gotten snack.
4. As per #3, stickers don’t work. Stamp pads, with different colors do work, but some kids try to lick off the stamp before you catch them.
5. Some kids will bring back their craft, their coloring pages, or even their take home verses every single day, just to show you that they still have them.
6. Bubbles, stickers, and balloon animals are WAY BEYOND exciting!

Regardless, there is nothing that compares to the love and joy that fills your heart when you are lucky enough to be part of Guatemalan VBS.