Day 1: Jesus is King

Crowds welcome Jesus to Jerusalem
Matthew 21:1-11

As we gathered in the Marketplace tonight, we saw a woman tell her husband all about the amazing things she had seen earlier in the day. She was excited to tell him how everyone had greeted Jesus.

When she told him that people kept saying "Hosanna" to greet Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, her husband wondered if maybe the man's name was Hosanna. She had to explain that this Jesus was their king, and that's why everyone had been so glad to welcome him into the city by putting their cloaks and palm branches along his path.

It seemed like everyone in the Marketplace was talking about Jesus. Even the Roman soldier who kept wandering around wanted to know more about this man.

Lessons learned

In addition to visiting the Marketplace, the kids also take a trip to the synagogue each night. While there, they learn about Jewish customs and more about that night's Bible point.




Tonight in the Marketplace, the children also learned another lesson: We are so blessed to have so many material possessions!
Jamba told everyone about the coat drive Heritage sponsored last winter to send jackets to orphans in Bulgaria. One of our members knew how badly the children there needed coats, and tonight, our kids got to see a video of the Bulgarian children after they received their coats. Jamba suggested that our VBS participants bring some change to help pay the $600 it cost to send those coats to Bulgaria. Any children who want to are encouraged to bring their change to VBS this week. People can still donate coats, too!

How wonderful for these children to share Christ's love with kids on the other side of the world!

A visit to the Marketplace: the basket shop and the bakery

As our guests stroll through the Marketplace with their tribes, they get to visit the different tradespeople there. During each night of VBS, the children will visit a couple of shops, getting glimpses into life during Bibletimes.

Visitors to our basket shop get to try their hands at basketweaving.

Weaving baskets takes creativity and a lot of concentration!


A couple of our Marketplace shops have the most wonderful aromas. The bakery is one that smells amazing!

In this shop visitors learn about grain and how it must be milled into flour before bread can be baked.
Before the night is over, everyone gets to sample the amazing bread.


Those are just two of the Marketplace shops are children will visit. Good thing we still have four more nights of VBS to explore the rest of the Marketplace!

Preschool fun

Our preschool children are having a great time as they learn about Jesus.

They sing and hear the Bible story and go to their own Marketplace, too!

In the bakery, the preschoolers get to work with dough as they learn how bread is made.




And in the carpentry shop, they pick up their hammers and pound away!




It's hard work, but with practice (and lots of noise!), they get the hang of it!

We're so blessed to have full preschool classes, and we're especially blessed to have so many volunteers to make sure these kids have a safe and educational VBS experience!