The end of the school year meant that the whole YISS Elementary School celebrated by putting on another VBS. For NICS students, this meant “Vacation Bible School” and was a time to think more about their lives under God’s loving care. For Oasis students, VBS meant “Values-Based School” and was a time to learn strategies that ensured they maintained personal values.

The theme of this year’s VBS was “Roar! How to Know God Is Good When Life Is Wild” (NICS) and “Roar! How to Stay Strong When Life Is Wild” (Oasis). The students started off each of the three afternoons in the auditorium watching skits, viewing jungle videos, and examining the value of looking to truth and staying positive. Everyone feels sad, scared or unsettled when life changes, but relying on good, positive truths can make all the difference! Oasis students and NICS students also had separate lessons to explore these concepts further.

VBS was not all about sitting down and listening though! For the last hour of each of the three days, students had the chance to engage in hands-on learning. Play and purposeful games were designed to help the children think about how listening, thinking on their feet, and teamwork can be helpful ways to approach life when it seems difficult. Crafts were also designed for the children at the different levels of ability so that they could walk away with meaningful creations that reminded them to remain strong when life gets wild.

We trust that the students of the Elementary School had fun, but even more importantly, that they know how to keep roaring when life throws them a challenge!