At the end of Vacation Bible School 2024, the VBS team leaders asked, "How can we get more kids to attend VBS, what does our community need most and how do we reach more people?”
Kalyse Weijohn and Jennifer Gabel have been involved in hosting VBS for All Nations Center Church in Wapato, Washington, for five years now. The number of children attending was about the same each year, averaging about 25 children, including the 20 children who regularly attended Adventist functions in the valley. If there were two to five community children attending, the volunteers were thrilled, but they wanted to reach more.
All Nations Center Church, prior to the pandemic shutdown in 2020, offered an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. day camp for one or two weeks during each summer. During 2020, the number of volunteers and children attending events dropped significantly. A week of nightly three-hour VBS programs replaced the full-day events of day camp for the next five years.
Summer 2025 was different. The VBS team decided to attempt the full-day day camp program again in an effort to reach the community. After asking people to pre-register, the team expected to almost double the previous year's numbers, with about 45 children who planned to attend. Many of these children were non-church-attending community members. The team was thrilled about these numbers and somewhat overwhelmed by making sure there were T-shirts, handouts, crafts, volunteers and enough food for all three of the church-provided meals each day needed to accommodate this many children.
When the first morning of day camp dawned at ANC, children started showing up for breakfast and the registration desk started signing kids in — 20 kids turned to 30 kids, then 40 kids, 50 kids. In the end, 60 children showed up for the first day.
About one-third of the children were non-church-attending community members. The VBS team desperately called for reinforcements from surrounding churches to help teach, supervise, meal prep and love on all these children. By the end of the week, the ANC had a total of 70 children, with an average of 65 each day.
Many church members volunteered their time before and after each day to provide transportation for several children. Parents were able to stay and get involved or drop their children off as needed. The event was provided free of charge this year, but we plan to charge a small amount to help cover food costs next year.
During the morning, the ANC provided a full VBS program on the great controversy. After lunch and a short rest period in which the children listened to Your Story Hour, the afternoon activities began. Each day’s afternoon activity varied: Olympic games, water activities, a mountain hike, relay races and more. The day ended with a group of tired but happy children and a delicious supper.
In an answer to ANC’s prayers, God provided children in abundance as well as the volunteers and finances needed to provide a Christ-centered event for the community.
