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Parents, children and volunteers came together at the Marine Memorial Chapel on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, during a Vacation Bible School Aug. 15-19, 2016.
The Vacation Bible School used a theme involving cartoon characters, each associated with a different characteristic relating to the bible, which allowed the children to associate one with the other.
Each day, the children arrived and broke off into groups with a mentor who volunteered their time for VBS.
“We had about 100 volunteers who showed up for Vacation Bible School this year and a majority of them were Marines,” said U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Mark Jones, a chaplain at MCAS Iwakuni. “We also had sailors, some of the civilians and their families volunteering.”
The chapel invited all residents to the event, giving children an opportunity to see new faces before school starts again.
“The Vacation Bible School is the welcome back for some and welcome aboard for those who are just getting to Iwakuni,” said Master Sgt. Creighton Scott, communications chief with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171. “This is where kids can meet new friends this summer.”
VBS allowed children to learn at their own comfortable pace through different events with the help of their mentors.
“Some of the volunteers have put in an extensive amount of hours towards preparing for the event and participating in the event,” said Jones. “I appreciate the help and Vacation Bible School wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
VBS offered the children a chance to meet friends and create a bond through a common interest of religion.
“It’s a get together for kids where they can learn about Jesus and God,” said Lance Cpl. Leukas Leathers, comptroller for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron. “The theme is Cave Questing. The kids get introduced to bible buddies that are animals so they can identify a specific characteristic and associate it with a bible verse.”
The VBS not only gave the children a chance to learn about the bible, but also incorporate what they learned through different stations called ‘rotation stations.’
“The rotation stations included three stations,” said Scott. “An imagination station where the kids got to do a science project, a deep bible question station where the children got into a bible point and will act out to that bible point, and a game station where they took a concept they learned, such as courage, and used it in that game.”
During VBS, the children learned about courage and played a game of brave bouncing which tested their courage.
“The way the game incorporates courage is by keeping the kids as still as possible and allowing the least amount of movement,” said Leathers. “The children have to have the courage to stand there when the ball comes their way and hit it to the next child.”
Leathers said most of the kids are energetic, so the games are a great way to wear them out and it allows them to sit and pay attention to the lessons that are being given so they can get the most out of VBS.
“It was a great time,” said Leathers. “The kids seemed to enjoy it. For some it was a new experience and hopefully they enjoyed enough to come back in the future.”
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2016 18:20 |
| Story ID: | 207895 |
| Location: | IWAKUNI , YAMAGUCHI, JP |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Chapel hosts Vacation Bible School, by Sgt Joseph Abrego, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
