Carter LOVES Vacation Bible School. I told him it was summer camp, where you got to sleep at home each night. This week, he wore the astronaut costume my mother bought him, and shot off into space. They learned about how God is over all, that He cares about each of them, knows them personally, offers forgiveness of sins, wants to lead us in the right direction, and wants us to serve others to show our love and devotion for Him.
They memorized Bible verses, learned scripture stories, and made friends of other churches and cultures. Carter had a blast (pun intended).
The church he went to sponsors missionaries in Africa. On the last day, the kids all got to Skype with the missionary dad himself and see what it is like in Africa. Although we did not agree on all of the theology, the message we left with was "It is never too early to commit yourself to serving a mission for God."
The church offers points to kids who bring their Bible, friends, and pennies to support the missionaries. They also get points for the Bible verses they memorize. On the second day of school, Carter won the most points in his age group - 110,000. His age group consisted of 19 -23 boys between the ages of 4 to just completed Kindergarten. I asked the pastor about his points. He told me that he memorized a lot of verses in order to get that many. He got to pick a box of candy.
On the last day, they awarded the student with the most points in their age group. To my surprise, Cater won. He had earned 441,000 points. I talked to his teacher. She said that out of all her students (19 - 23 boys ages 4 to 7), he was the best behaved and the most eager to learn. He was very disappointed that they didn't do the Bible story worksheet on the last day. The teacher said she could not reign the class in - they were too unruly. She said Carter was the only student who had asked for it, and he was the only one who seemed to be looking forward to learning the scriptures. I have to admit, I was a little stunned. He had been so out of control at home, I couldn't believe he was well behaved for them.
I had a friend of another faith also attending the same program ask me why I choose to send my children to other churches when we believe different things. I explained to her that we all worship Jesus, we just do it differently. Some people worship in a foreign tongue and say the same routing prayers over and over again. Some worship with vibrant music that urges you to stand up and shout. Some show their devotion to God by keeping their heads covered, or wearing skirts. Some show their faith by wearing sacred clothing outside, or underneath their clothes. We are all showing our reverence for our Father in Heaven and His son. I want my son to see that we express our worship differently, but we are all children of the same heavenly parents.
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