Discovery Canyon

Every summer for the past six years, my children have attended Vacation Bible Camp (VBC). It is one of the highlights of our summer vacation. This year, VBC took place August 3-7 in our church social hall. And, boy, what a week it was! VBC was even more special this year because Mary was old enough to join her brother & sister -- and she couldn't be happier. In fact, Danielle volunteered to be the youth leader for Mary's group. Together, the two girls delighted in some extra bonding time. The theme for this year’s VBC was “Discovery Canyon,” which was made possible by a core group of uber-dedicated people who spent countless hours preparing for this event. Over a two-month period, this group of people worked tirelessly behind the scenes. They hammered, sawed, pounded, trimmed, painted, lifted, visualized, deliberated, designed, and decorated. Until finally, they succeeded in transforming our non-descript, box-shaped, church social hall into a colorful and intricate desert canyon. There were mountains and gullies, sand valleys and boulders, local flora and fauna, roads and blue skies that met at the horizon. Each day of the week, the campers were introduced to unforgettable and extraordinary characters right out of Discovery Canyon. These harbingers of truth came with important lessons to share. On Day 1, Liz the Lizard summoned the children to REJOICE as Miriam did in Exodus 15:19-21 after she and Israelites crossed the Red Sea. On Day 2, Max the Mantis reminded the children that when we PRAY as Hannah did in 1Samuel 1:9-27, God promises to hear our prayers and answer them. With a flutter of wings, Olivia Owl swooped in on Day 3 and heartened the children to ASK Jesus for help just as the disciples did, in Matthew 8:23-27, when they sailed through the stormy sea. Day 4 brought about Felix the Fox who incited the children to TELL about Jesus’ miracles by singing the praises of Psalm 105:2. Finally, on Day 5, Blossom the Burro strode in and spurred the children to SEEK God like the crippled man in Luke 5:17-26 who had to be lowered through a hole in the roof in order to seek Jesus.

For five days, the children became denizens of Discovery Canyon. They sang, danced, rejoiced, played exciting games, and made beautiful crafts together. And I had the pleasure of serving snacks to all 60 of our campers. The songs we learned have such catchy tunes and are fun to dance to. It gladdens my heart to see that, weeks later, my children still enjoy Discovery Canyon songs. The moment we hear the songs being played, we just start singing and dancing. We can't help but be moved by the spirit!

VBC culminated in a final performance by the children during Sunday mass. Here is a video of the VBC campers (yellow shirts) and youth leaders (green shirts) singing their praises. The children were a bit nervous, but I think they did rather well. Which is more than I can say for this videographer (Yours truly)!