The Spanish VBS in August 2004 was a first for
this presbytery. As part of a partnership with Northern Quintana Roo Presbytery
in Mexico, Whitewater Valley Presbytery brought four bilingual leaders and a
seminarian from Mexico to help lead this VBS at John Knox Presbyterian Church
in Indianapolis. The church echoed with a holy Pentecost chaos. At almost every
turn, organizers encountered unexpected blessings: what began as a Spanish-only
VBS quickly became a bilingual event; some of the Hispanic children who participated
were bilingual, some spoke mostly English and some only Spanish; non-Hispanic
children also joined the VBS, some of them were bilingual while a couple spoke
only English; of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic children (nearly thirty by the
end of the week) most brought their parents with them to VBS (an adult Spanish
class was formed; English speaking parents became VBS volunteers); throughout
the week about thirty volunteers came from four churches (some were bilingual,
most spoke only English).
God's surprises weren't over. Twenty Hispanic children who had not been part
of the bilingual VBS the prior week piled in a bus to go to Campo Amistad (Camp
Friendship). This week-long outing is hosted at Camp Pyoca, Whitewater Valley
Presbytery's campsite in southern Indiana. Campo Amistad has been a bilingual
camp for three years, and this summer it brought on board the leadership team
which came from Mexico. With this infusion of leadership, the event expanded
its impact (it had had eight participants in 2002, fourteen in 2003), helped
develop leadership skills in participants (two Campo Amistad alumni were groomed
as youth assistants) and affirmed its spiritual purpose (several youth affirmed
their faith in Christ or embraced it for the first time).
2005 will likely bring a new set of pleasant surprises, as the Northern Quintana
Roo and Whitewater Valley Presbyteries cooperate to write a bilingual-bicultural
curriculum. This material will be used both in Indiana and in Mexico. In Indiana,
John Knox Presbyterian Church will combine its VBS with the Hispanic VBS to create
a unique bilingual experience. The curriculum will be made available to other
Presbyterian churches. In Mexico, the curriculum will be used at twelve
new church developments in Quintana Roo (one of the partnership's goals is for
Whitewater Valley to help the Mexican presbytery plant new churches). As part
of this partnership, an anticipated 250 Indiana Presbyterians from over twenty
churches will travel to Mexico to help lead these Bible schools (7 mission trip
workers traveled to Northern Quintana Roo in 2000, 26 in 2001, 85 in 2002, 120
in 2004, 230 in 2004).
Whitewater Valley Presbytery's unique vision for Hispanic
ministry in Indiana promises to continue to be a surprising venture, full of
unexpected blessings and rewarding risk-taking. |
