These girls performed a dance during the social outreach program.
Children participated in challenging activities on the last day of the camp.
The last day was a culmination of many things the children had learned throughout the week. |
Bridge of Hope centers play a unique and central role in Gospel for Asia’s ministry. Through the provision of educational programs, God has used Bridge of Hope centers to touch children with His love—precious children who might not otherwise have any chance to succeed. In recent years, Bridge of Hope centers have developed another creative way to reach out to communities: Vacation Kids Camps. Although these camps resemble Vacation Bible School, they differ because Vacation Kids Camps include a variety of educational activities and originate with the Bridge of Hope center rather than a local church.
One Bridge of Hope center held a Vacation Kids Camp in May 2009 that offered kids fun educational activities, the chance to learn about Jesus and the opportunity to share what they learned with their parents. This particular camp centered upon the theme, “I Have Chosen Thee.”
Ninety-five percent of the children from this Bridge of Hope Center attended the five-day Vacation Kids Camp. Each day started out with a session teaching the children about God through prayer, stories, memory verses and action songs. The action songs turned into especially lively events, as the kids got so excited that they started dancing instead of following the choreography!
Following this first session, the children engaged in craft activities. They split up into different groups based on age and gender. The girls learned how to create crafts from fabric, while the boys did artwork like painting, drawing and coloring. During the third session, the children played games, which were classified into four categories: social, physical, educational and spiritual. These games ranged from quizzes to puzzles to skits to speech competitions.
Their experience reached its climax on Friday afternoon, when the children presented a program at a nearby village. Their parents cooperated with Bridge of Hope by hosting the program. The children performed cultural dances for the crowd, and they acted out skits illustrating problems in the community, offering Biblical solutions to such problems. At the end, the audience expressed gratitude for the program and the children. Not only that, but the people felt challenged to live peaceful lives.
Saturday was the last day of the Vacation Kids Camp, but it held its own excitement. The children took part in the “vacation challenge,” which included competitions drawn from the social, physical, educational and spiritual games from the third session. Finally, all the children prayed corporately.
Through this Vacation Kids Camp, the children experienced God’s love, learning about Him and the world He created. But they weren’t the only ones who got to hear the message of God’s love: their parents and people in the neighboring village caught a glimpse of it, too. Truly, the Lord has chosen these children to be His own and to shine His light.