CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Vacation Bible School ended this morning at Ewa Community Church. Above,, Nicholas Bise swung a golf club Wednesday while Al Padilla was watching. Kids enjoyed crafts, snacks, games and music, bound together by the theme of Christianity.
Elena Endo and other members of the Tribe of Benjamin strung "beads" of colored macaroni, working their way around "Marketplace 29 AD" where they paid in colorful coinage for lessons from jewelers, kite-makers, folks dancers and scribe. Summer School
Isle vacation Bible schools make
Christianity relevant to the keikiBy Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com"This is what it was like when Jesus was a kid," she said.
Members of the Tribe of Dan weren't very keen on the chewy flatbread -- authentically minus butter and jelly -- but the preschool-kindergartner tribe perked up when baker Edith Bise slipped them some almond cookies.
"You'll get a coin tomorrow for each of the 10 Commandments you remember," Sarah Williams told the Tribe of Judah as the third- and fourth-graders considered the word "covet" and decided it means "don't be jealous of what your neighbor has."
Carrie and Annie Echmann demonstrated some Shabbat rituals, lighting a four-wick candle that "reminds us of creation" and sniffing a box of spices "to make a wish for a sweet week." Members of the messianic Jewish community Kahilat Ha Melech, the girls shared their Jewish beliefs with the first- and second-graders in the Tribe of Issachar.
Vacation Bible School ended this morning at Ewa Community Church. Typical of this summertime tradition in many Protestant churches, there were crafts, snacks, games and music bound together loosely by the theme. And, despite the Jewish marketplace setting, the idea was to share the Christian church's beliefs, said Pastor Noble George Jr.
A menorah stood on the piano in the old plantation church and the opening song was based on Psalm 107, praising God in words familiar in both religious traditions. But "Rabbi" George invoked Yeshua -- Jesus -- in his prayer.
"The idea is to bring children from the community who may not go to church," said Lillian Todd, a public school teacher who leads the Bible school each year. "It's our summer outreach mission and it may even increase our Sunday school. You don't know what they might share at home; hopefully, it may interest their parents."
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sammantha Miller was making a basket Wednesday at the Ewa Community Church Vacation Bible School, set in a Jewish marketplace setting.
More than a dozen volunteers led lessons and taught crafts under tarps on the grassy lawn and played roles in the daily reenactment of a biblical tale. Church women made tunics for the youngsters but no one enjoyed the costume aspect more than the adults who raided the Christmas play wardrobe.
"I remember making things in Bible school here when I was a kid," said Kerry Bise, who was in his second costume change of headgear and brocade robe. The father of two boys in the school, the policeman took time off work to join parents Tony and Edith Bise and brother Alan in the family volunteer corps.
Grace Bible Church Honolulu will share the results of its "Expression Session 2002" with a free musical play at 7 p.m. Friday at the church at 1052 Ilima Drive. "Rings of the Lord" will feature "Goddets" not Hobbits as the heroes in a story spun off the Tolkien book and recent movie.
Pastor William C. Pacarro said the church switched two years ago from a theme program to a "performance arts program. We teach kids how to act, how to use mikes on stage. They have learned a lot about dancing. We challenge them to go outside what they think they can do, and they thrive in the loving, accepting atmosphere. This is our niche."
Pacarro said the volunteer corps of adults and teenagers drew on the experience of performances presented for years at Grace Bible Christian School.
About 50 elementary school kids will begin a five-night "Bug Safari" Monday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Kailua. It's the second year of an evening program that reflects these times, with children already busy daytimes in summer school or summer fun. Pastor Karla Lundgren said the 6 to 8:30 p.m. timing also allows adults and teenagers from the church to help after work.
"We get kids from the neighborhood," said Lundgren. "It introduces them to Christ and to church, where they might not come for a service. It's a neat way for kids already active in church to invite a friend. There's something about Bible school."
What do bugs have to do with the Bible? The curriculum from a Christian publishing organization is much like "Veggie Tales," the idea being that the Christian message is more easily absorbed by young movie and television fans from the mouths of Arnold Ant, Buddy Bee and Angelica Firefly. The program focuses on stories of David, his encounter with Goliath and his special relationship with God.
Daniel and other Old Testament heroes will be the focus of the "X-Treme Vacation Bible Experience" at Christ Lutheran Church in Mililani. The Aug. 11-16 session is unusual because it will have programs for middle school and high school students as well as grades K-6.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chris Thomas was being helped by Pablo Mazon in carpentry class Wednesday at the Ewa Community Church Vacation Bible School.
"It is the first year we've moved away from a daytime schedule. It was hard to find a week that worked because of year-round schooling and every school on different schedule," said ministry coordinator Eileen Ward.
"We have always used vacation school as an outreach, something besides Sunday service to get unchurched people to our church," Ward said. "We encourage multigenerational participation, parents as well as kids."
A team from First Lutheran Church of Vista, Calif., thwarted in a planned mission trip to South America, will provide a volunteer force for the Mililani church, which has seen several military members called away to duty. Songs learned during the week will be performed in a musical play, "Daniel's Dangerous Dilemma," open to the public on the last night.
St. Andrew's Cathedral will focus on its own history in "A Royal Vision," its summer school Aug. 12-16. It will explore the "vision of wholeness in body, mind and spirit," through contributions of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, patrons of the first Anglican church here, and will include field trips to Queen Emma Summer Palace and Queen's Medical Center.
"We limit enrollment because we try to make it a quality experience," said Jenny Wallace, director of Christian formation.
The Episcopal cathedral program is open to the community. The cost is $50 and some scholarships are offered. Last summer a "Heritage of Faith" program took youngsters to Buddhist and Jewish temples in an exploration of different faith traditions in Hawaii.
"The primary focus of any Bible school, whatever the theme, is the experience of living in a Christian community and building a Christian community," Wallace said. "Themes are ways to link with the essence of the Christian journey through history. We will try different ways to inform that."
"We get a lot of adults to take part. It's a way we come together as a community."
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