A journey to Egypt with Joseph
St. Francis de Sales Church in Purcellville held its Vacation Bible School July 10-14 with a record 229 campers and 142 volunteers. This year’s theme, “Egypt: Joseph’s journey from prison to palace,” brought campers back to the Old Testament.
During camp, volunteers helped with crafts, games, snacks and church time.
Drama leader Sheila Cowling, a veteran of VBS for more than 24 years, writes the scripts to bring Bible stories to life for the children to learn and interact with each year.
This year, as the children visited the Egyptian palace, they saw Pharoah ride his chariot, met Joseph and saw him be reunited with his brothers who had sold him into slavery.
Shining the light of Jesus
St. James Church in Falls Church held Vacation Bible School July 17-21 for a fun, faith-filled week with the theme, “Stellar — Shine Jesus’ Light.” Students began every morning in the “blast off” segment talking about Jesus, praying, singing and being reminded to “Shine Jesus’ Light’.”
The students rotated through crafts, Bible adventures, games and ways to explore the faith.
Each day, the kids looked for “God-sightings”— what God was doing around them. At the end of camp, each student wrote their God Sighting on a star and taped it on the wall.
Students ended the week attending Mass and performing a show for the parents on the Bible verses and songs they learned each day.
‘Best Week Ever’ at St. Luke
Children at St. Luke Church in McLean “traveled” to different Marian apparition sites during their “Best Week Ever” summer camp July 10-14.
Campers at the parish Vacation Bible School began each day with Mass followed by camp activities.
This year’s theme was “Rejoice,” and campers boarded an “airplane” for daily pilgrimages to Marian apparition sites, including Fatima, Guadalupe, LaVang, Lourdes and Mount Carmel.
Campers worked on Marian-inspired crafts and learned more about Our Lady’s Magnificat. Father Carroll Oubre, parochial vicar, taught about vestments and vessels used for Mass.
In the afternoon, the youngsters boarded the plane again to return to their summer camp activities, including making pizza and ice cream, playing sports, and tie-dying shirts. To fight the hot temperatures, campers cooled off on a slip and slide.
St. Philip Church summer camp
Athletes for Christ is St. Philip Church’s summer camp for rising second through eighth graders. Last week, children played sports; learned about the parish patron saint, Philip the Apostle, and about virtue; and worked on imitating Christ in their ordinary life. Teen volunteers helped run the sports, the parish summer seminarian, Joshua Muñoz, explained the virtue of the day and the saints that exhibit these virtues, and parochial vicar Father Philip Briggs lead the Lectio Divina.
