Swap Shop is a place to exchange ideas for activities in Sunday school; share your success stories in teaching the Bible to children; and provide ways to foster a love for the Bible.

Swap Shop – Last month we shared ideas about Vacation Bible Camp. This is another installment in how to prepare for this wonderful event in your community. The following ideas are shared by Joan Snipes who has been active for the past 13 years in Shepherdstown, WV where the whole town takes Bible training seriously.

I think Vacation Bible School is a terrific way for young people to better learn Bible stories and have fun. In our small town in West Virginia, VBS runs for five mornings during the first full week of August. We usually have about 100 children attend. Each year a planning committee oversees the process of choosing a curriculum, recruiting adult and teenaged volunteers, deciding on the craft projects, selecting snacks, creating a schedule, publicizing the event, and making the program run smoothly. Our planning committee consists of seven representatives from each of the following churches: Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, Christ Reformed, Catholic, Presbyterian and Christian Science.

I think some important general points to consider are:

• you can put together a Bible School plan without relying on a publisher's materials;
  
  
• most VBS programs include at least five Bible stories, music, a daily snack, a craft or hands-on project, plenty of volunteers;
  
  
• it is possible to do an ecumenical Bible School where people from different churches work together;
  
  
• it is an important and fun summertime activity that blesses the children, their families, and the volunteers.
  
  I've observed that the five women with whom I work each year planning the Bible School program feel a calling to the work. They do it year after year and find it satisfying. I love the sense that God is at the helm, and that people are simply responding to His nudgings/angel messages. (The five other women are Methodist, Presbyterian, Luther, Catholic and Episcopalian.) Almost all of the volunteers (in Shepherdstown about 65 each August) do it year after year.
  
  For volunteers considering the idea of hosting a Bible School for the first time, it is very instructive to go to a Christian bookstore and study the curriculums and materials they offer. Many churches think buying the prepared material is a worthwhile investment.
  
  Our VBS is purchasing Quest for Truth by Concordia this year. It's the first time ever we've used materials by the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. The only Lutheran Church in our town is ELCA.

It delights me to see that VBS publishers use a variety of Bible stories. One year I taught the story about Balaam and the donkey (a first for me!). No matter which story is featured, there are lessons to be learned. All are the word of God, and every story in the Bible has a purpose. Thus, none are too obscure. I like to see a selection with stories from both the Old and New Testaments and a balance between stories featuring men and those featuring women. I also like to see the occasional story or two that is less known.

If you care about kids and want to see them learn more about the Bible, consider being a volunteer for VBS in your community.

Send your Bible camp ideas to teach@biblewise.com.