Pirati Fanuloni (Settimana Felice #2)

Two weeks before we left Italy we went to Bari to help with VBS there.   We did a Veggietales theme using the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.  We left Sicily and had to take the traghetto (ferry) to the mainland.   After 7 hours and some very frustrating traffic delays we finally arrived in Bari and stayed at a missionary’s house that was on furlough.   We had to be at the church early the next morning to welcome the kids.  We only had 8 kids, but at times it felt like 18.  We had a great time.  Shawn taught the middle school class, I helped him and also with the English lessons and craft time.  The kids had a great time, especially with game time.  They were fascinated by the frisbee.  It was close to 100 degrees several of the days so we had water games planned for most of the week.  Unfortunately, one day they would not listen and we had to cut the game times short.  The next day went much better.  We spent each day on  a different Bible story that reflected our theme.  Thursday, the kids got to watch the Veggitales movie, and then had to answer questions about the theme and characters.  The final program culminated with the kids explaining what they learned over the course of the week and singing songs, including one in English.  There was also a short gospel presentation given by one of the local church members.  After the program a local specialty, foccacia and gelato were served as snacks.  It was a very busy week, but we enjoyed the time with local believers and the kids.   We also had the opportunity to work with some friends from the US.  He was a former missionary kid in Sicily, and this was the first time his wife had been to Italy.  We were tired at the end, but glad to be able to assist the church in Bari in this outreach.