Whoo-whoooo! The train whistle sounded in worship. Duct-tape railroad tracks appeared in the hall. Suitcases collected near the train engine. A registration table and  ticket booth turned our space into a train station. The “Gospel Train” was coming to Covenant Presbyterian Church’s 2005 Vacation Bible School! We were ready to go “Around the World in Five Days.”

To our surprise on Monday morning more than fifty children arrived for VBS. The station filled with the voices of children eager to board the train and impatient to hear the engineer call out, “All aboard!” Our music leader wrote a train song just for us, so each day we sang “This is my train, clickety-clack . . .” as our four train cars (classes) headed out for their various stations.

At the Craft Caboose, our group especially enjoyed the Chinese yo-yo and the Celtic crosses. Our favorite Bible story session was acting out the Esther story (we really liked wearing costumes, and everyone learned about standing up for other people who might get left out or hurt), and our favorite mission letter was from Taiwan (we liked acting out the part about the Formosan Magpies pecking the seminary students on the head, and shouting “Hallelujah” when we heard the word “Jesus.”). When we went to the Dining Car for snacks, the hands-down—and hands-on—favorite was making oatmeal cookies. We loved all of the music, and there were more songs than we could learn in a week.

Instead of a closing picnic, as had been our custom, we had a celebration in the worship service on the Sunday following VBS. The children processed, singing “We Are Messengers.” They led the call to worship by saying “hello” in various languages, and then leading the congregation in singing “Uyai Mose.” The children led the prayer of confession and sang the Kyrie and the Alleluia. The first hymn was, of course, “Jesus Loves Me,” with choruses in Taiwanese and Portuguese. The sermon consisted of several parts, including a description of VBS and our mission project, the sharing of the mission letter from Taiwan, and a conversation with the children led by a church member who grew up in India, the child of missionary parents. Our pastor, the Rev. Catherine Robinson, closed with a meditation on children, mission, and the joy of sharing the gospel.

We thank the talented writers, editors, and the other members of the publishing team for their dedicated work in creating such high-quality Presbyterian curriculum materials. We’re looking forward to seeing where next year might take us!

Christina Berry is completing her M. Div. at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in December 2006. She served Covenant Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in summer 2005 as an intern in the supervised practice of ministry.