Report from Monday, June 14
Our Vacation Bible School “High Seas Expedition” got off to a great start MONDAY with the day’s Bible Point:

GOD’S WORD IS TRUE.

After the group got acquainted and warmed up with some music, Denny read the day’s Bible lesson (Acts 12:1-19) in which an angel freed Peter from prison. Denny then interviewed Rhoda (aka Joyce W), the servant girl who answered when Peter knocked at the door at the home where Christians had gathered to pray for him.

The day’s Bible Buddy was Scully the mouse, who is holding a compass to remind everyone that just as sailors trusted a compass to point them in the right direction, we can trust God’s Word, the Bible, to always be true and to show us right way to live. The Bible verse printed in TINY letters on the back of Scully is Psalm 119:151. The morning also featured a video of Chadder the chipmunk, time for crafts, games, a snack, and more, wrapping up with a “Floating Finale” in which Joanna reviewed the lessons of the morning. This included a demonstration of using a puff of air to blow a stryofoam cup off each child’s head, demonstrating that even though we can’t see air, we know it is there because of the effects we see. In the same way, we can’t see God, but we are reminded that he is there by seeing the things he has created, by the love we experience from others, etc. The participants will be watching for evidence of God in their life each day this week and each crew of kids will report these daily “God sightings,” as their “watch for God” wristbands remind them to do.

Report from Tuesday, June 15
On Day 2 of our “High Seas Expedition” we ran into some incredibly stormy seas! How timely that our Bible Point for the day was:

GOD’S WORD IS COMFORTING.

Members of the High Seas Expedition started out to have a pleasant sailing voyage, entering their ship (by walking up the gangplank, of course), each person carrying a part of the ship’s cargo. One of the participants will have to fill you in on the details of what happened when a ferocious storm suddenly overtook them after they had set sail.

This experience had remarkable similarities to the day’s Bible lesson in Acts 27, in which Paul was being transported to Rome by ship to plead his case before Caesar. Their ship encountered a violent storm and was eventually shipwrecked. Paul remained faithful throughout the terrifying ordeal, comforting the others and assuring them that all would survive, although the ship would be lost. Paul received comfort from God and inspired the others to be courageous.

Today’s Bible Buddy was Marina the dolphin, who is hugging a huge anchor. We learned that in a storm, a ship’s anchor can hold the ship in place, keeping it from being blown away or smashing into rocks. How good that we can anchor our lives in God! We thought about the persons and things that bring comfort to us when we’re afraid, or sad, or lonely. We also decorated and stuffed our own “comfort pillows” to remind us of what comforts us, adding our designs around the printed message “God’s Word is Comforting.” We also sang songs related to our day’s theme, led by “Captain Cathy” (and we did a GREAT job on the singing as well as the hand motions). We worked on memorizing the day’s Bible verse (Psalm 119:50) printed on the back of our Bible Buddy Marina, too. The day’s games were led by “Dude Denny.”

It was an exhausting day, but we made it through in fine form. And we’re really looking forward to better sailing weather for our adventure tomorrow!!

Report from Wednesday, June 16
Wow! Day 3 of “High Seas Expedition” was just one surprise after another! And how appropriate that the day’s Bible Point was:

GOD’S WORD IS SURPRISING!

It all started with what happened to Paul and those aboard the ship with him when their ship ran aground by the island of Malta and they all had to abandon their ship (which had been destroyed in a terrible storm) and swim to the island. Of course they were all soaking wet and exhausted, but the people living on the island welcomed them and built a big fire so they could dry off and get warm. Paul helped by grabbing a load of sticks and was adding the sticks to the fire when all of a sudden a poisonous snake hidden among the sticks bit him on the hand! That was a really BAD surprise! Paul shook the snake off his hand. The people who lived on the island saw what happened and they were waiting for Paul to die from the snake bite. But he didn’t! The most amazing GOOD surprise was that God protected Paul and the snake bite didn’t hurt him at all! He was fine! In fact, they stayed on the island for months. God even used Paul to heal everyone on the island who was sick! Talk about surprises! We learned all this from Acts 28:1-10.

Our Bible Buddy today was Wink the monkey, who is opening his eyes wide and looking through a spyglass that helps him see things better. The Bible verse on the back of Wink is Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths.” That’s a prayer asking God to help us see all the surprises God has for us in his Word, the Bible. When they gave us our Wink Bible Buddies, our crew leaders prayed for each of the people in their crew, that God would help each of us understand what he is telling us in the Bible. We learned that no matter how old we are or how much we have studied the Bible, God always has new surprises to show us if we will open our eyes and ask him to show us new things.

And then there was our craft for the day—a “Bopper Popper.” Sometimes they need a little home repair. If yours comes apart, this picture can remind you of how to put it back together. Slide the plain end of the smaller tube into the plain end of the larger tube, then pull the ends of the rubber bands up and slip them through the slots at the top of the larger tube. To operate the Bopper Popper, place the ball on the end of the tube where it is attached (with 5 knots!). Pull down on the inner tube, stretching the rubber bands. When you suddenly let go of the inner tube, you will see the surprise. And remember to NEVER launch your Bopper Popper toward a person!

Well, there were plenty of other surprises—like butterflies and Dude Denny’s head—but if you want to know about those, you’ll just have to ask someone who was there!

Report from Thursday, June 17
Day 4 of our “High Seas Expedition” brought us to the Bible Point:

GOD’S WORD IS LIFE-CHANGING.

Our Bible lesson was from Acts 3:1 – 4:12, in which a paralyzed man . . . but, wait a minute. You probably know someone who was on today’s Expedition. Maybe you want to ask them about what happened. And, actually, maybe they can also tell you about today’s Bible Buddy and why he’s by the steering wheel for a ship, and if a craft project can have anything to do with changing direction, and the games, and food . . .

Today’s Bible Buddy was a pelican named Salty, who is at a ship’s steering wheel. We talked about how a steering wheel changes the direction of a car and a ship’s wheel changes the direction of a ship. A small wheel can turn a huge ship. In the same way, God can use his Word to change our lives forever.

Our craft even demonstrated how someone’s life can be turned around. The toy that each participant built and decorated is one that you can roll across a smooth, hard floor—and it stops and comes back! That shows us what a changed life is: We can be going one direction and God can turn us around so we start going the other direction. When we choose to love, follow, and obey God, we want to stop doing wrong things, turn around, and start doing things that make God happy.

At today’s “Floating Finale” we talked especially about God’s mighty love for us. He loves us so much that he came as Jesus and died on a cross because of all the wrong things that all of us do. But Jesus didn’t stay dead—God brought him back to life and he’s alive now! He loves us so much! And he wants us to love him, too.

It will be exciting to see what will happen tomorrow as we conclude our expedition with EVERYONE wearing a High Seas Expedition shirt!

Report from Friday, June 18
Where did the time go? Here we are, already at Day 5 of our High Seas Expedition voyage! We closed out the week with the Bible Point:

GOD’S WORD IS FOR EVERYONE.

We each received a packet of “iOpener” cards to help us continue the adventure at home with our family. Each card starts with a question like, “If you had a time machine that could take you to any time in history or the future, where would you go? Why?” or “What fruit are you most like?” or “When I’m scared, I like to _______.” After everyone in the family has shared their answer, there is a Bible verse related to the question printed on the card (but it’s probably more fun to look it up and read it from your own Bible). And finally there is something fun to do related to the subject of the card. We kept the cards sealed in their plastic bag so we wouldn’t lose any cards at church, so be sure to find them at home. The cards can be added to the Ship Clip Bible Buddy Keeper, if you would like.

And speaking of Bible Buddies, today’s was Lacey, the nice spider, looking at a map of the world and thinking of everyone with whom we can share God’s love and God’s Word—people far away in Africa and even our friends and neighbors right here in Minnesota. Today instead of making a craft for ourselves, we made gifts for children in Africa! Each crew of about 5 students and a crew leader tied together two layers of really soft fleece to make a comforting, soft blanket for a child. The pretty turquoise fabric is printed on both sides with a design and the words “God Loves Me.” There is also a special coloring book to accompany each blanket. Each page of the coloring book tells about an event in the life of Jesus and has a short Bible verse printed on it. The children who receive the gifts will color the pictures, but there was a special page at the back signed by everyone in that “crew” so the recipient will see who gave them these special gifts. World Vision will transport and distribute the blankets and coloring books (along with a box of crayons) to children in Africa. We even put something special between the layers of each blanket. The recipient won’t know what is there, but we know! When we finished working on the blankets, each crew member put a hand on the blanket they made and prayed for the child who will receive their special gift.

We hope everyone had a GREAT time at the High Seas Expedition and learned more about the mighty love that God has for all of us. The Expedition came to an exciting finale today, but we’ll probably still be singing the songs for weeks! And now all the preschoolers plus everyone older than 5th grade can take a nice, long nap . . . Ahoy, Joanna! Thanks for a great week!