by Steven Hong

From Monday, July 14 to Friday, July 18, Lighthouse Bible Church was transformed into a luscious jungle full of wild animals (there were some paper cut-out animals on the walls too). Lighthouse kids, along with children from the community and friends of members, were treated to an extravagant Vacation Bible School, where they learned the “7 C’s of History”: creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross, and consummation.

Approximately 25 kids attended the weeklong affair, staffed by 18 volunteer staff who made the VBS possible (not to mention the volunteers who stayed up into the early hours of the morning preparing the decorations). Some of the staff even took vacation days to volunteer from 8am to 6pm all week. Susan Kim, one of the staff members, described the typical day as “catastrophic, but no doubt fun.”

Each day would begin with a time of singing. The children were led in praise by Sam Chong. Watching the children perform one of the songs the following Sunday during the Sunday Service, it was clear that they were compelled by Sam’s infectious enthusiasm.

The rest of the day comprised of creation focused snacks (Susan recalls: “We prepared Noah’s Ark by using blue jello as water, whipped topping on top for the flood, and Skittles for the rainbow”), “Creature Feature” lessons, missions reports, Bible studies, crafts, daily field trips (to the beach, aquarium and even the Creation Museum!), topped off with action-packed games.

Pastor John led a session of a Lighthouse classic: The Screaming Game. David Jung declared Cameron Preslar “the ultimate screamer, as he not only has the pitch to show, but his facial expression doubles the effect of his screaming.”

Kids and parents seemed to have a positive response to this year’s VBS. Susan even had a parent emailing her a month later for the VBS CD, at the behest of her kids.