2009 VBS Report

More than 60 children from around Ternopil attended this year's week-long VBS, which had the theme of "The Armor of God." Over 75% of these children were from outside the Ternopil church membership, including a number of boys from a local orphanage.

Nadya and I were privileged to take part in our first VBS since 2003. This time our own children participated, too! Although the overall number of children was a bit lower than in years past, it actually was ideal since this year there were only 5 regular teachers available: Oksana Heohdzhyava, Sophia Lutsykiv, Nastya Lutsykiv, Alla Ozhynska and Nadya. These teachers were aided by assistants who in some cases took over the classes for a day when teachers had to be absent.

Each day began with singing led by Sophia and Nastya. What a joyous sound! I was particularly impressed to see the older boys, some of them 14 years old, participating in the hand motions. After the singing was a general lesson for the entire assembly (lasting about 15 minutes) and then there was a 45-minute class time according to age group.

My main responsibility was leading the general lesson, although I also helped with Nadya's class and translated for Evie. In addition to teaching the youngest group, Nadya also organized the craft time which occurred each day after the classes. Thanks to gifts from members at the Troy and Minter Lane churches, we brought 4 suitcases of materials corresponding to the theme. These included belts which the children could decorate and wear, bracelets and necklaces, t-shirts to be decorated with fabric markers and a variety of others.

Oksana did a wonderful job of organizing, effectively delegating and keeping us apprised of each day's schedule. In addition to the help from the teachers and their assistants, she was aided by Taras Lopushnyak, who was a behind-the-scenes administrator frequently running off to pick up important last-minute items, and Dima Levenets, who organized the game time which closed out each day. Taras and Dima also helped me with the general lessons, either playing characters for illustrations or reading selected Scripture passages.

Many of the women also helped behind the scenes, arriving early each day for the preparation of snacks for the children and delicious lunches for the teachers and assistants after the conclusion of each day's activities.

Friday's highlight was the use of water balloons in the game time. This highly-anticipated event almost didn't occur, however, because I had left the balloons back home (water balloons are not available in Ternopil, so they have to be brought or sent by people from the U.S.). Although I contacted a friend and he graciously went to the effort of purchasing more and shipping them by FedEx, the package was delayed in Kyiv and couldn't make it to us in time. As we explained this unfortunate news to the teachers on Thursday, one of the assistants said, "Oh, I have water balloons! I can bring them tomorrow!" She had been given them last year by some American friends and hadn't used them. It was but one of many examples of God's thoughtful blessings throughout the week.

Saturday brought the "smile store" with items available for "purchase," many of which were donated by American friends and brought over by Oksana when she returned from Abilene Christian University earlier this year. Each day the children received 10 "smiles" which served as the currency that they could use in the store. Although smiles could be confiscated throughout the week due to bad behavior, most made it to Saturday with all their smiles intact.

The conclusion of the week was a concert for the parents in which each group performed a skit based on one of the day's themes (belt of truth, shoes of peace, etc.). They also sang songs which they had learned and practiced throughout the week. Check the Videos and Image Gallery sections for more!

Nadya and I were very grateful to have taken part in the VBS this year and to see how many of the teachers and helpers were actually participating as children back when we were organizing the VBS. The young people are a dedicated and enthusiastic group of servants and we glorified God to have the privilege of working with them this year.