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Lift Off: VBS Soared High At St. Paul's UMC

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Contributed by: RIDA NUNAG on 8/1/2007

Approximately 80 members and friends of St. Paul's United Methodist Church attended last week's Vacation Bible School. The church, located at 1800 South C Street in Oxnard, offered six classes, from Pre-K to Adults, which were well-attended from July 23 to July 27, 2007. This year's theme was Lift Off! Soaring to New Heights with God (Cokesbury). VBS Director, Stella Dumlao-Idea, (also SPUMC's resident pianist/organist and active member of the Family Ministries Council), led the group on Opening Night with a short prayer and warm welcome to all attendees.

Each day, assembly at the Fellowship Hall was at 5:30 pm, followed by a light supper. St. Paul's was blessed with Chef Will Johns' gourmet cooking on Monday and Tuesday, Japanese food courtesy of the Japanese Ministry on Wednesday night, home-cooked potato/corn chowder by Ed Meals on Thursday night and all-you-can-eat pizza on Friday night sponsored by Floyd and Sachie Johns. After dinner, attendees were energized with community singing. They then proceeded to their respective classes till 8:15 p.m. All classes learned about people in the bible from different walks of life who experienced all sorts of ways to soar up to new heights with God, including: Abraham (who followed the Lord), Joseph (who trusted the Lord in all circumstances), Mary (who listened despite her youth), Zaccheus (who repented and followed Jesus), and Peter (who showed Jesus' love through serving others).

VBS culminated with a very entertaining closing program on Friday night. Each class had a presentation incorporating what they had learned. Some performed musical numbers while others presented short skits. After the program, everyone was handed a white balloon and was asked to step out to the garden to hold hands while forming a circle. Ms. Dumlao-Idea explained to everyone: "I asked all of you to wear rainbow colors tonight to symbolize our church and what it represents. The circle you formed is our church community; one that is uniquely multi-generational and multi-cultural. I encourage you to continue supporting this church community by way of prayers, as we learned from this VBS that prayer is a very important component in a Christian's life. We need to support each other by sharing our prayers (represented by white balloons), certainly viewed by God as one color and all equally important." After this, she blessed the group with a closing prayer and consequently requested all attendees to release the balloons, representing St. Paul's LIFTING OFF & SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH GOD!

VBS 2007 was successful because of these very special people.The Christian Education Committee (CEC) wishes to acknowledge them for all their hard work and dedication:

Overall VBS Director
Stella Dumlao-Idea

Teachers:
Christine San Jose and Tatiana Escobar (PreK and Kindergarten)
Florie and Fiona Altobano (1st & 2nd Grades)
Abigail and Gloan Navarro (3rd & 4th Grades)
Charaline Maxim & Marilynne Parker (5th & 6th Grades)
Sheena Amado & Stella Idea (Youth)
Ed Meals (Adult)

Special thanks also to:
Dr. & Mrs. Jay Idea (donated VBS t-shirts to all attendees)
Floyd Johns (computer / white screen set-up)
Sachie Johns and the Japanese Congregation (Wednesday meal)
Chef Will Johns, Barbara Johnson + Will's trusty kitchen buddies (Jalarick, Jose & Mia)
Rida Nunag & Vicki Riggs (assisting all)
Jane Ringer & some members of UMW, Rick Weiche (Thursday meal)
Davis Santiago & Moore Valdez (nursery attendants)
Roger Tamase, Chris Sugino & Vernon Nunag (camera/video)

The VBS team greatly appreciates:
The countless Members and Friends of St. Paul's who graciously shared their financial gifts to make VBS 2007 happen. Thank you so much!

St. Paul's is preparing for VBS 2008: Cokesbury's "Beach Party is a Blast!"

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

RIDA NUNAG

OXNARD , CA

RIDA NUNAG has posted 2 stories and 6 comments since joining on 4/10/2007. RIDA NUNAG 's average story rating is 5.

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