escuelita de verano

Here’s a six-word memoir for the week:

We survived a Puerto Rican VBS!

Jen and I decided to participate in our church’s Escuelita de Verano (Vacation Bible School).  We were also able to bring three of our students to the program.

After the first day, we were ready to quit.  This VBS was not like the hyper-organized programs staffed abundantly with vigilant adults that we were used to.  Instead, this was yet another cultural experience for us. 

Once we got past this initial shock and our kids had an idea of what was going on, the rest of the week went very smoothly.  Jen interpreted for the two little boys, and I interpreted for our eight-year-old girl.  I also taught a little ASL to the older kids.  Each day the kids had breakfast, sang songs, watched a puppet show, learned Bible stories, did arts and crafts, played games, and heard a missionary story. 

My favorite part was perhaps learning some Spanish children’s songs (like this one that contains the following lines: Tengo gozo en mi corazón.  Si el diablo no le gusta, que él se siente en una bomba—BOOM, y si este no funciona que se siente en un cañón—OOOOOO!  TRANSLATION:  I have joy in my heart.  If the devil doesn’t like it, he can sit on a bomb—BOOM, and if that doesn’t work, he can sit in a cannon-OOOOOO.)  A little violent, no?  But the kids loved it!

All in all, we’re glad we participated and brought our students.  This was a good week for everyone.  Jen and I were able to practice our Spanish and ASL.  Our three kids had a chance to interact with many children and be surrounded by God’s word.  The other children at the camp had the opportunity to interact with our kids.  For many, these were the first Deaf people they had ever met.  They learned how to communicate with their hands, and perhaps an interest in ASL was sparked in some of their lives.  It was a lot of fun for me to watch the older kids embrace sign language.  On the first day, most of the older boys were too cool to sign.  By the second day, they were waving at me during arts and crafts to ask me more signs.  Every time I saw them throughout the day, they were practicing and discussing what I had taught in the morning.  This week was truly a blessing all around.

To top it off, the week’s offerings are being donated to our school.  Each day the kids were asked to bring in change.  The boys and the girls were competing for the heaviest bucket of offering.  We are very thankful for the generosity of the church and community members.