Deaf Young People in Belize Enjoy VBS

By Nancy Marshall

Every summer our church has a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program primarily for Deaf people ages 10 and up, including hearing siblings in that age range who want to come. This year, we had 14 or 15 participants each day from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The theme came from an old Mennonite curriculum called, “Resolving Conflict the Jesus Way.” I heavily supplemented this with conflict resolution activities and concepts from Adventures in Peacemaking by Kreidler and Furlong. I praise God for leading me to this theme, because it was the perfect way and time to teach this age group about conflict resolution.

The VBS schedule included worship, reciting memory verses, teaching Bible stories and the thematic lessons, which usually included some kind of drama to make it clear. Participants learned new memory verses and played games to learn them. They also made crafts, did outdoor activities (while I prepared lunch), had lunch, and they got to go swimming. I then drove everyone home.

Jesus’ Deaf Church also has a second VBS from August 4 through 8, called CODA VBS, for young Deaf children and Deaf parents who have young hearing children.

 

A worship session at VBS. Photo by Nancy Marshall

 

“Tie us together Lord. Ties us together with cords that cannot be broken.” A game illustrates how the Holy Spirit binds us together with love. Photo by Nancy Marshall