Billings Angelas Piazza

Angela’s Piazza Vacation Bible School: Connecting with Creation

This past June brought a whirlwind of excitement and activity at Angela’s Piazza: Women’s Drop-In Center in Billings as we offered yet another wonderful week of Vacation Bible School: Connecting With Creation. This year we welcomed 24 students to delight in the Animal Kingdom, as we took on Bible stories, music, field trips, and joyful activities and crafts.
  
Monday’s lesson centered around the Story of Creation. We discussed how all that God created is good, including each one of us. Each living and nonliving thing has a purpose, and not one is exactly like another. Then we crafted animal puppets and had a sing-along featuring our various animals. We followed up with a discussion on recyclable materials, and crafted boats from recyclables, floating them in the creek at Pioneer Park. That afternoon we learned about St. Kateri Tekakwitha and her life as a saint, then spent time creating solar ovens! The children learned how solar energy is clean energy, plus it is plentiful. Our solar ovens were crafted from pizza boxes donated by Grains of Montana, and we used them to make s’mores. 
   
On Tuesday we read about Daniel in the Lion’s Den. We had hearty conversation regarding courage and faith, and then created our personal coat of arms to depict our own inner courage and talents. As we hung them on our Courage Wall, which was framed by quotes and pictures of historical figures, past and present, we discussed how these individuals have shown us true courage and how we can learn from their examples. That afternoon we visited the zoo – otters and tigers and bears, what fun!
  
Wednesday began with the story of the Baptism of Jesus. We learned how baptism is a special ritual that symbolizes a New Beginning. Jesus’ New Beginning in this story is his transition from Carpenter to Teacher. During this moment, the Holy Spirit was present as a dove, and God spoke to the people from the heavens. We discussed how our own baptisms are our New Beginning in the Catholic Church; we are called to be disciples, listening to the Holy Spirit. Then, with so much conversation about water, we were off to the pool, spending our afternoon splashing and soaking up some sunshine.
  
Thursday’s activities began with music by Karen Poling. Karen taught the children how to make a joyful noise by teaching them fun, active music featuring a variety of animals and features among God’s creation. The day’s Bible story then taught us about Jonah and the Big Fish. We discovered how to identify Jonah’s range of feelings throughout his story, from his anger at being asked to preach to people he didn’t like, to his shame and embarrassment from realizing that he should always listen to God, and his relief and joy at reconciling with God at the end of this story. This theme carried into our craft activity, which included painting our feelings as represented by color! Then our afternoon was spent at Riverfront Park, taking trips around the lake in a raft and casting for fish from the shoreline. 
   
On Friday, after we shared more music and fun, we read the Good Shepherd Parable. The children learned that we are like sheep and our Creator is our Shepherd. No matter how many times we lose our way, He is there to help us find our way home to Him again. We spent our afternoon at the Pictograph Caves State Park, where we went on a mock archaeological dig. We dug up “lost” artifacts, learning how even the simplest item can be a big discovery as to how our ancestors lived and worked.
   
All in all, our week was fun-filled and wonderful! Every teaching moment was utilized, whether it be to remind the children of their manners, instilling the Golden Rule, why we used washable plates instead of paper plates, what can be reused and recycled, how prayer can be used under any and all circumstances … Many lessons were learned, not just the ones in the teacher’s manuals. In the end, all the children had made new friends and took home great memories and a fresh perspective on their connection to God’s creation.
  
Many thanks to volunteers Marian Scofield, Donna Boyer, Bill Contreraz, Kevin Davis, Wayne Schmidt, Henry Contreraz, Rodney & Mimi Swecker, and Karen Poling for sharing your time and talents with us this year! Submitted by Amy Auguirre.