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Fog/Mist Bethlehem Assembly teaches service above self
Last week, 263 kids ages 4 to 12 filed into Bethlehem Assembly of God church on Fairview Avenue and started their morning with song, dance and worship. Vacation Bible school is a week-long annual event where kids do projects and activities, play games, go to children’s church services and perform songs together.
Vacation Bible school ran from Monday through Friday for six hours each day. Julia Milazzo, 21, was the head of this year’s program and said that it took her and her committee members about six months to plan. Committee members Sharon Woitko, Jasmine, Jonathan and Maddy Kerby, church staff, parents, volunteers and Julia’s father, senior pastor Steve Milazzo, helped run the program.
Each day of Bible school incorporated a different part of this year’s theme: serving. Milazzo said the goal was, “to serve your community, family, friends and neighbors.” The kids did different service projects every day, like making bags to collect food for the needy, and writing letters to the missionaries of the church.
Last Thursday morning, the program kicked off with an opening session rich with worship and scripture. The participants were all together inside the church and different children were picked to come up and read Bible verses. After watching a video about service and listening to a fifth-grader read Mark 12, all of the kids stood up with their hands in the air and chanted, “Love God, love neighbors!”
Milazzo said she thinks their favorite part is the opening session. “I think they love being in there when they worship, sing and dance together,” she said.
Toward the end of the opening ceremony, committee members Johnathan and Jasmine Kerby called first-grader Matthew up to the stage, who walked up holding a brown bag. Johnathan Kerby said that Matthew had been saving for two years to go to Disney World. He has decided to now donate all of that money to Back 2 Back ministries, a nonprofit organization that provides services to orphanages in Mexico.
During vacation Bible school, the church collected money for this organization each day, and Thursday’s money was given to a church missionary. Matthew, however, requested that his money go to the orphans, and emptied his bag into the donation box to cheers from the audience.
After the opening ceremony, the kids split into small groups according to age run by volunteers. They worked on their service and craft projects and practiced singing and dancing before the closing session. At the end of the week on Friday, the kids put on a performance for their parents to showcase their songs and dance.
