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Vacation Bible School in Haiti
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For several years we have offered a 5-day Bible School
for fifth graders from the John Wesley School in Jeremie,
Haiti at the request of the Methodist Church there. There
are two classes of 5th grade, and since the John Wesley
is next door to the Jeremie Methodist Church, the students
and teachers walk over to the church so we do not disrupt
the school in session. We work with one class at a time,
between 30-40 students. Each class is with us for about
1 1/2 hours a day.
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We begin with singing. They know many of the songs that
we know, so they sing them to us in Creole and we try.
We sing the songs in English and they do very well. (One
of the major goals is to have them learn some English.)
Next we present a Bible Story - in English - with an interpreter.
These activities are experienced in one large group. We then divide into small
groups for a craft project which carries out the lesson for the day. A Bible
verse is learned and pictures are colored. It is amazing how much 5th graders
who have probably never had their own box of crayons, love to color !!!
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We use the color words in Creole and English, as well as
the days of the week, months of the year, numbers, and the
names of some of the supplies that we use. It is a two-way
learning process. Their teachers seem to have as much fun as
the children do and are very interested to learn more English
for their own use.
The major theme is “God's Great Love for Us”. We
begin with the story of Noah and the Rainbow as a symbol of God's
love. We do a lesson about the Prophets and their message of
God's love and how God would want all people to live in harmony
and love. This is followed by a lesson on the 10 Commandments,
a lesson on why Jesus was sent into the world (Christmas) including
the story of the Candy Cane and ‘What Would Jesus Do?’,
and a final lesson on Easter. |
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The craft projects are: rainbows made from plastic canvas
and the rainbow colored yarn, Wordless Bible Necklaces
with colored beads to tell the salvation story, WWJD bracelets,
and a cross for the Easter lesson. Pictures to color are
available for each day. Name tags and stickers everyday
are a highlight! Each day ends with a snack bag for each
child.
BY VIRGINIA BELL |
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