Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)
Team #1 packed up all of their VBS-related things, drove over to their new location, the multiplex, and got set up by the big indoor stage. Today’s lesson was the parable of the lost sheep. What was ironic was that Jane had brought along a stuffed sheep to use for the lesson today… and they couldn’t find it! The sheep was actually lost. Jane and Joanie drove back to the other churches to look for the “lost sheep” and still couldn’t find it, so they returned empty-handed. As they looked through everything at the mutliplex, it looked to them as if some kids had come in during the night and messed around a little with some of their VBS things, including the sheep, which they finally found hidden elsewhere on the stage. Because of all the sheep searching, Team #1 didn’t have enough time left to get totally prepared for VBS, but it sounds like everything still went well. Again, VBS today also included songs, a craft, which was a bead bracelet today, and a game, which today was musical chairs. They took a group photo on the bleachers with the kids holding the Bibles that had been given to them today. Pamphlets on Luther’s Small Catechism were also given out to some of the older kids. Although it was more challenging for Team #1 to hold VBS in the very large and sometimes “distracting” multiplex, it sounds like their last day was still very successful.
Team #1 had to clean up quickly because Sara, Kayla, and Olivia told the kids that they would meet them at the beach for a 4:00 swim. “That was kinda a neat way to end it,” said Shari. “Quite a few kids showed up to swim.” While at the beach, they could see the funeral procession moving through town toward the United church. As Shari said, “It was a big deal here for the body to be coming in. All of the kids, even the really young ones, kept talking about ‘the body coming into town.’”
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Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)
Team #2 had 7 new kids today. They had 110 different kids over the 5 days of VBS, with their average attendance in the upper 70s. “And that’s all we had room for,” said Pastor Lange. “So many kids give you a hug. They say, ‘We’re gonna miss you. Will you come back next year?’ It’s a wonderful experience.”
Team #2 acted out the story about the lost sheep today. “The kids like role playing,” said Pastor. “Tim took one of the little boys out into the trees to hide, then I started the story of the lost sheep. I was telling the kids that the sheep only know the Shepherd’s voice. Then I said, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a sheep missing.’ We had 50 or 60 kids today, and the kids thought everyone was there. ‘Well, someone’s brother or sister must be missing,’ I said. Then here around the corner comes Tim with the boy slung over his shoulder like a sheep. The kids loved it. We told them that we can’t loose track of each other and that Jesus doesn’t lose track of any of us either.”
“We have nice facilities,” Pastor added, “but we had no room for more kids. If more would’ve come on days two and three, I don’t know what we would’ve done.”
“I’m so glad I came up here. I would recommend this for everybody. If you really want a mission experience, this is the way to do it.”
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Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)
Commenting on this last day of VBS, Chuck Dale said, “The puppets are always a big deal. The kids are always mesmerized by them. The kids also loved doing the hokey pokey dance today. Even the little ones… watching them try to spin around was a riot (laughs). This is a new site for the group. We didn’t really know what to expect. We had 18 kids on Monday, 25 on Tuesday, 35 on Wednesday, then only 19 yesterday, but we jumped back up to 23 or 24 today. For the first year at this new location, we’re quite pleased.” To tell the story of the lost sheep, Team #3 cut some sticks into staffs, seated the kids on the floor, and acted out the dialogue from the lesson plan. “It worked pretty well,” said Chuck.
“This has really been a very different experience for us,” added Chuck, who, along with his wife and a handful of members from the Norway House teams, are “first-timers” with LAMP. “We didn’t really know quite what to expect, but it’s been a fantastic experience. We’ve had more fun this week than we’ve had in a long time. Those kids are just the most precious. They’re a joy to be around.”
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Once the three teams were back together, they went to a home in Norway House for the fish fry they had been invited to, where they were served pickerel, fries, and beans. “Oh my goodness, it was a wonderful outdoor meal,” said Shari. Pastor Lange put it this way: “We had a fish supper to top all fish suppers.” As a fisherman himself, Pastor added, “Our meal was at 6:00. They had gone out to catch the fish at 2:00… There’s no lake in Minnesota where you could fish for 35 people and have it ready for supper!” Dan Carlson joined some kids in an outdoor pool during the meal, and everyone had a laugh when one of the little boys ran up and said “Daddy! Daddy!” to Dan. He probably thought “Dan” sounded a lot like “dad.” Some of them played football and the rest just visited for a long time. They also took more photos, and then, after everyone joined in singing the common doxology, everyone stood in a big circle, holding hands, and the locals presented the LAMP team members with T-shirts from the Cree Nation that say “Norway House.” Shari said, “They even had a cake for us at the end of the meal that said something about VBS on the top. It was a wonderful evening. It takes a while for groups to get accepted up here, so this is a pretty big step from last year.”
“Now people have scattered to take food and left-over VBS supplies to different churches,” said Shari. Some went off to the rectory to take showers and some went back to the dump to see the bears again. “Dan’s plan for tonight is to stay up late playing games, because we’ve had very little downtime,” said Shari. “We have to get up at like 5:30 or some terrible hour tomorrow anyway, and there should be plenty of time to sleep in the vehicle on the way home.”
Pray for safe travels for the Norway House and Shamattawa teams as they begin the long journey home tomorrow.
