Heroes of Faith
A Report on the Vacation Bible School 2011
by Samuel Eio
In 2 Timothy 3:15, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
All good parents know the importance in giving their children a head start in life—so it is important to give the Word of God to children at an early age, that they may understand God’s truths which will see them as they mature, through adolescence and into adulthood (Prov 22:6).
Into its fourth year now, the Vacation Bible School (VBS) began in 2008 as a ministry of True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. This year, some 58 volunteers from the Church and 82 children signed up for the three-day non-residential programme, held at the Boys’ Brigade Campus at 105, Ganges Avenue. Through Bible lessons, handicrafts, music and games, the theme “Heroes of Faith”, based on Hebrews 11 was explored. The theme also focused on the lives of Bible characters such as Noah, Rahab, Gideon and Job. Through the study of the lives of these Bible characters, the children were encouraged to draw and apply lessons, and ultimately to realise that the greatest “Hero” is the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect and sinless Son of God, to Whom we must live by faith and obedience. The children also learned that the saving faith that is needed to please God starts with a personal trusting in God to save sinners through Christ’s life, death, and life again.
Planning for VBS 2011 began in mid-January with the theme verse Hebrews 11:6 as suggested by our Advisor—Sis Jenny Kan: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” The planning committee comprised Dn Charles Kan and Sis Jenny Kan, Dn Wilson Tan, Bro Clement Chew, Bro Samuel Eio, Sis Chew Yee Fong, Sis Serene Cheng, Sis Ye Zuyi, Sis Ong Qiaoyan and Sis Joycelyn Chng. The planning committee subsequently met three more times and on May 17, the VBS held a combined teachers’ training at RELC Room 602, conducted by Sis Judy Lim, on how to use the Wordless Book in telling Bible Stories, followed with a short segment on classroom management by Mrs Patricia Joseph.
There was General Volunteers’ Meeting (May 29), and a Bump-in two days later on May 31. Despite the drizzly weather during the Bump-in, everyone was reminded that however man might plan programmes, it is God who decides whether they may be carried out. [We were given one-and-a-half hours to set up and soon realised that there was a shortage of furniture, especially foldable tables for the children’s crafts.]
The first day of VBS began with the registration of children. [By God’s providential arrangement, Bro William Goh, a recent Far Eastern Bible College graduate and a Boys’ Brigade officer, helped us to speak to the Boys’ Brigade Campus administrative staff that morning. They finally relented and agreed to release more tables to us.] As the children streamed in bus by bus, their temperature was taken by Sis Suzanne Lim and Bro Jose Lagapa. Over at the Swatow Room, the Preschoolers were taught “I can Trust God”; in the Fraser Hall, the Lower and Upper Primary children explored key issues such as “What is Faith?” and “A Hero of Faith”. During the morning, Song Leaders also taught the children the VBS Theme Song, based on the Theme Verse (Heb 11:6) set to music by our VBS Music Department.
The second day saw the children’s games programmes being carried out in the bright morning sun. Truly, God has been faithful and merciful to us in granting the excellent weather. During earlier part of the day there was also a photo-taking session of the respective departments. After the phototaking, the different departments organised their games: Preschoolers had their games held indoors, Lower Primary, on the grassy quadrangle, and the Upper Primary, near the soccer field. This year’s VBS featured station games for all three departments. These games were designed with certain object lessons to help children understand certain spiritual truths. For instance, at some stations children were blindfolded and had to listen to the commands of their station leaders to stay on course. This illustrates that faith must rest not on sight but on God’s Word. The games were followed by Lunch, Bible Lessons and Arts and Crafts time. By the end of the second day, despite a longer duration of the programme, the children still had great enthusiasm in singing and were eager to come for the third day’s programme.
The third day of the VBS was held in the afternoon, extending into the evening. The programme had a concluding Bible Lesson and a time for crafts, with the children receiving a souvenir photo-frame and photo from their respective departments, as a reminder of the lessons learned and friends made at the VBS. Then, it was time to present their respective Department items in song. Once again, the Lower Primary children’s item left a most indelible impression on the staff, parents, visitors and church members through their enthusiastic singing, flashcards and actions, with their lively rendition of “One Way” and “Rolled Away”. Truly, as the Psalmist says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise” (Matt 21:16, Ps 8:2). Our Speaker for the evening, Rev Stephen Khoo, spoke on John 6:1-14, on Christ’s miracle of the feeding of the 5000 with a little boy’s lunch pack. The Speaker challenged the children to surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, by believing in Him and trusting Him to do His good pleasure, just as the little boy had trusted Jesus with his all.
Thank God for the strong sense of common purpose among the VBS staff to reach out to the children, by first making sure of faith in our own lives. As the Word of God defines it: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). Indeed, not all the events leading up to the VBS ran smoothly and during the three days, there were not a few ‘hiccups’ as well. Yet, trusting in our Almighty Heavenly Father to provide and lead us by His grace, we pressed on. Moreover, it was encouraging to hear that a number of children received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour during this year’s VBS, and it is our hope that the Gospel seed—planted in their hearts through the Word of faith which comes by hearing—the Lord would cause to grow and bring the increase for His own harvest field, in His own good time.
May the Lord strengthen us even more, for His work to be done in His way! Amen
