VBS creates summer fun in Collinsville
Vacation Bible School is a weeklong event hosted by various churches in Collinsville. It generally lasts around a week and draws in a lot of children as well as adults.
The Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church Vacation Bible School, held this year from June 12-16, has the reputation of putting on an amazing program every summer. It attracts children and families from all over the community.
Jennifer Wilkins, the Collinsville Public Library director, said, “I take my son every year even though that’s not where we go to church. I go to the adult class they have while the kids are doing their classes. They just have a fantastic VBS.”
I had never been to a Vacation Bible School or a Baptist church so when I was recruited to help do crafts with Elizabeth Jackson, I was a bit nervous.
On the first night, Jackson asked me sit in on the introduction with the kids before I went to the craft room. They all gathered in the main auditorium before separating into small groups. Liberty Hill’s Everlasting Arms Puppet Team put on a show for the kids. Then they watched a short video, prayed and split up into their classes.
While helping Jackson prepare for the first round of children to arrive in the craft room, she warned me that when the kids started coming in, it was fast paced. We only had so long to get them in, help them do a craft, and send them on their way to the next activity.
Luckily, Jackson is an experienced Vacation Bible School craft instructor. She said, “When my son was little I was a group leader for his class. Then, when he got a little older, I moved to crafts. He’s graduated from college now, so I’ve been doing this for a long time!”
When the children came in, she had everything prepared for them and walked them through each craft, step by step. I was amazed at how organized and thorough she was.
On Thursday, Jackson had a special task for the kids.
Liberty Hill sends shoe boxes full of gifts and basic needs every year to various places. The purpose of the boxes is to provide a gift on Christmas to children who have never gotten a gift at all.
Jackson had accumulated hundreds of items to be put in the shoe boxes and wanted all the kids to participate in helping.
She lined up all the goodies like toothbrushes, playing cards, soap, and small toys around the room. The children stood in a line to fill their box and added some of the crafts created during the week.
When Jackson told the kids they were going to be filling shoe boxes to send to children who have never gotten a Christmas present, they got excited and asked if they could fill more than one. They jumped right in to fill more boxes.
Before I knew it, the kids had filled more than 150 shoe boxes that night.
Jackson was right when she told me Vacation Bible School was action packed. It went by like a whirlwind.
I was sad when the week ended. I met some kids with sweet and kind hearts as well as adults who care about others so much that they take the time to plan and run Vacation Bible School every summer.
It is easy to see that VBS at Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church is so popular in Collinsville because the people there are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make it successful and fun.
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