tHE WELL
The Well is a platform to share and spread the love and light behind the ministries and outreaches at First United Methodist Church.
It is our prayer that this time together would unite our community in action under a common mission, motivated out of love.
tHE WELL
Vacation Bible School at First UMC
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This summer we’re headed to Rainforest Falls!
Our FREE Vacation Bible School is open to kids ages pre-K (3+) through 6th grade and will include:
- A free T-shirt for each child
- Games, music, Bible adventures, crafts/STEM activities
- A light snack
Join us as we discover the nature of God and explore what it means to be rooted in a relationship with our Creator, a safe place in life’s storms.
Rainforest Falls VBS will run July 20 to July 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
A FREE family celebration will take place Saturday, July 25 with food and fun for the whole family.
Register here: https://vbspro.events/p/1stumcfestus
Thank you for joining us today at The Well.
It is our prayer this time together will unite our community in action, motivated out of love and activated under a common mission.
Hey y'all, welcome back for another episode of The Well. Thank you so much for joining us today. It is a special day here. God is on the move here at First UMC. We are absolutely walking in a blessing that used to be a prayer request. For years, we have prayed for youth and young families in our church. And today we are here to talk about our second annual vacation Bible school. Amen to that. I am joined by four very special guests, some of our VBS school kiddos that will be joining us. Before we dive in, I just wanted to give you a few details. It is headed for rain. We are headed for Rain Forest Falls. That's the theme of this year's Bible School. It will take place here at First United Methodist Church, Festus Crystal City. We are located directly across from the Festus Library, if you're not familiar with us. This will take place July 20th through the 24th. The camp will run from 9 to noon and is open to ages pre-K, so three plus through sixth grade. When you join us, there will be a free t-shirt for each child. We promise games, music, Bibles adventures, crafts, STEM activities, and we will feed them. We pray that you would consider joining us as we discover the nature of God and explore what it means to be rooted in a relationship with our Creator, a safe place in life storm. So I am blessed to be here with Aaliyah and Ruby. These are previous campers, and I have asked them to join me today to give us some insight on maybe what they are really looking forward to this year that maybe they experienced last year. Aaliyah, you let's start with you. Hey girl. Hi. So what are you looking forward to?
SPEAKER_00Um I'm looking forward to the s snacks that they serve. And I really like them because um I you get refills and multiples and yeah. I also like that that you have a theme because then it's actually bringing like bright colors. Um I also like the decorations.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. How about you, Ruby? What are you looking forward to?
SPEAKER_01I'm looking forward to the decorations and also the snack and the games too, because there's some a lot of like fun crafts and games.
SPEAKER_02The days are pretty busy, aren't they? Yeah. There's not a lot of downtime. We only have you guys for a short amount of time, and we have jam-packed it full of activities and games and just opportunities to go grow closer to who Jesus is. And so you guys mentioned the snacks. I too am a big fan of food. Shout out to snacks. Um, we do provide a mid-morning snack uh and plenty of water. So we will keep them well hydrated and on track, bellies full and ready for y'all when you pick them up around noon. Now, I would love to hear from Noah and Freya. So if you guys could share your headphones, we're gonna tag them in. These are some campers that are joining us this year that have never been to vacation Bible school here or a vacation Bible school anywhere. So, Noah, what are you looking forward to, bud?
SPEAKER_01Mostly the decorations. Yeah. Miss Beth's working really hard.
SPEAKER_02Amen to that. I don't know if uh y'all listening have had an opportunity to join us in worship lately or had an opportunity to be in our building for an outreach, but this sanctuary and the hallways have been transformed into a rainforest.
SPEAKER_01I uh when I was on Thursday, I it actually looked like a rainforest.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's crazy. She is so gifted. We she has such a heart for uh vacation Bible school, and we are blessed to have her. In fact, they're in Fellowship Hall right now, continuing to work on the transformation into a rainforest. More to come, Noah. What else? What else are you looking forward to?
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm also looking forward to well, mostly the food also. I'm a big food fan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Same. How about you, Freya? What are you looking forward to, girl?
SPEAKER_01I'm looking forward to the fun activities that we are doing.
SPEAKER_02So, one fun thing about vacation Bible school is all during the month of June as a church, we have been collecting items for something called the Festival of Sharing. And so, as part of Vacation Bible School, a service project that y'all are gonna get together and do is help pack those items and get them ready to go out and bless our community.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What else? Um, um, I was thinking about like I was thinking about like I was like looking forward to uh like uh the Bible studies that we would do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I bet you're looking forward to meeting new friends, aren't you? Yeah, yeah. She's what we like to call an extrovert, isn't that right? Yeah, yeah. So we um have been blessed. Yeah. You probably wouldn't know it, but I am much more of an introvert, too.
SPEAKER_01I call it an ultravert. Oh, yeah. Uh introvert and extrovert put together.
SPEAKER_02Nice. You guys compliment each other, don't you? So Noah and Freya are brother sister.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's uh ultravert and I am uh extrovert.
SPEAKER_02That's right. So we are also throughout the week, you guys are gonna be learning a few songs. We are gonna be taking pictures of you guys so we can record and just memorialize this awesome Bible school. This is only our second one. Last year, I believe we had around 30 campers. This year we already have 50 signed up. So that is an incredible blessing. Yes, that is incredible. So we are just coming here today to let the community know about it. Make sure you know you're invited. There is absolutely no charge. If you can't make it all five days, that's okay. We'll take you however many days we can get to you. And you can sign up as late as Monday, the day that camp starts on the 20th. Now, we would love for you to sign up early so we can make sure that you guys get your camp t-shirt. Um, but don't let that hold you back. We also will come together. Camp is Monday through Friday, but on Saturday we have a very special celebration planned for the families where we're gonna come together. We're probably gonna eat some pizza, some more food for you guys, which I know you get excited about. There's clapping going on in the podcast studio. Um, and there'll be a slideshow. You guys will sing a couple songs for us and really just a way to celebrate the week that we have all survived. Amen. And for you guys just to have an opportunity to come together one last time and hang out together. Are y'all excited for that? Yeah. Okay, definitely pretty excited. So, this is a question for all of you. So, if there is somebody listening to this podcast, maybe a kid or a parent, what is one thing you might say to them to encourage them or to get them to consider coming and joining us?
SPEAKER_01Come, we are always welcoming to you.
SPEAKER_02Yes, amen, Freya. Thank you so much for that. There's gonna be good snacks, right? What else?
SPEAKER_01Well, also games and decoration. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01And there's also gonna be like uh crowd, like like, aren't they gonna do like banners or something? They might I'm not sure. They might do banners. I'm not sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So plenty of reasons to come. But go ahead, Noah. You got something else?
SPEAKER_01Well, also, um, you're going to be exploring the nature of God. That's right. That is the theme. Rainforest falls. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And also, how how you might height when to go run through those waterfalls. Ooh.
SPEAKER_02So if you are interested in joining us, you can always visit festusumc.org. You can also call our office at 636-937-6205 for more information. Uh, if you're ever happening by the church, we have some signs out front. We also have some flyers attached in a box underneath our digital sign. Uh, also on the website for um the podcast at festishumc.org under the media section. We'll have a QR code you can scan. So plenty of ways to get in touch with us so you too can join us for this incredible vacation Bible school. You guys hope to see them there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I can hear you very loudly because I'm like You're zoned in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Well, I can't thank you guys enough for being brave enough to come and sit down and share your experience. I'm always ready. I know you are.
SPEAKER_01Except for when I'm like playing my piano and singing at the same time, I do not feel very good.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Well, we won't call on you then. But thank you for making time in your busy schedule today.
SPEAKER_01But I would love to sing, of course.
SPEAKER_02Do you want to sing us out?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Like like I I have my different voice like like like I'm I'm gonna start with like the God is on the move. Like God is on a move, on a move, hallelujah, and then God is on a move, on a move, hallelujah.
SPEAKER_02Like I have what a perfect ending. I think I started this podcast with God is on the move and he is working.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Amen. That is a full circle moment. Thank you guys so much for joining us. We pray that you would consider letting us love on your pre-K through 11 year olds this summer, July 20th through 24th. It's happening 9 to 12 here at First United Methodist Church. We are located directly across from the Festus Library, and we pray that you would consider letting us share the love and light of Jesus Christ with your children. Amen.
