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Children were able to enjoy a variety of educational activities during the Columbiana Church of Christ’s Vacation Bible School series June 11-14. (Reporter photos/Noah Wortham)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Children were able to enjoy a variety of educational activities during the Columbiana Church of Christ’s Vacation Bible School series.

The Columbiana Church of Christ recently held its VBS series, entitled “Operation Creation”  June 11-14.

“I think it went really well,” Preacher Chris Blackwell said. “The kids seemed to like it a lot. Everybody had a great time, and we had good participation from the congregation with helpers and teachers. So, I think it was a great success.”

During the VBS series, children were able to enjoy a variety of education activities as well as games, crafts and singing all themed around creation.

“The kids seemed to love it,” Blackwell said. “They laughed a lot, they learned a lot, they participated in all the songs and, I believe they really had a great time over the last few days.”

Blackwell discussed the reasoning behind holding a VBS series.

“I think VBS is really important because a lot of times kids are just in front of a television watching YouTube or are on a phone and wasting a lot of time and getting messages through these avenues that are very harmful,” Blackwell said. “I think this is something that gets them out of the house, but also gives them something good to focus on. They learned a lot.”

Blackwell emphasized the importance of the topics the church explored this year with its Operation Creation theming.

“This particular topic, I’m really passionate about,” he said. “Starting from an early age, our young people are essentially being taught there is no God, everything that exists is here from some cosmic accident and that human beings are no better than animals—we just evolved from dead rocks and dirt. For these kids to be able to come and learn that they were created by a God who loves them, has a purpose for them and their life has meaning. I believe that is a message that our young people need. It was a very fun setting, but the underlying lessons and messages could not be more serious.”

Blackwell shared that this year’s VBS was made possible thanks to the efforts of several volunteers from the church.

“An absolute team effort and the congregation’s response was outstanding,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud and I think the young people benefitted over the last few days as a result of the effort that a lot of people put into this. And our desire is that this was just a start. We haven’t had a VBS in a few years and we’re happy with it, but we can already tell there are things that we can be do better. We already have several improvements in mind for next year.

“We’re really wanting this to be a resource to our community, that they can know every summer the Columbiana Church of Christ is going to have a VBS that is going to be solid information, a lot of fun and we’re going to go over things that are really beneficial to kids.”

More information on the Columbiana Church of Christ can be found online on its website at Columbianacoc.com.

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