06/08/2026
From Pastor Caroline:
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It’s Vacation Bible School season. Posters are all over town inviting children to come into the jungle or out into space.
Songs will be sung. Stories told. Crafts created. Games played. Snacks shared. Friendships and memories made. Jesus met. Vacation Bible School is a significant time of faith formation for children, youth, and adults.
At our church a few years back, a child changed the name of Vacation Bible School. “No!” she told her mom. “Not school! It’s summertime. It’s Vacation Bible Camp!” So now Vacation Bible School will forever be for us, “Vacation Bible Camp.”
This year at Vacation Bible Camp, we were “On the Road Again.” We heard the story of Joseph who forgave his brothers, the story of Zacchaeus whose heart was changed, of Paul who saw the light, and a story Jesus told when asked, “who is my neighbor?” Bible stories from the road tell us how God can change us along the way.
The day after we told the children the story that Jesus told about the Good Samaritan, the most unlikely suspect to be the hero of a story about neighborliness, news came out that immigration agents were detaining our neighbors at work. The comments below the Index Journal article about the raid posted on social media lead me to believe that many residents of Greenwood County somehow missed out on Vacation Bible School (or Camp), for they did not get Jesus’ lesson, that the one who was a neighbor was the one who showed mercy to the man who had been beaten up and left for dead on the side of the road. Their comments showed anything but mercy for persons living in and contributing to our community, our neighbors.
It made me wonder, do we know our neighbors? The ones we read about in the news. The ones who receive these angry social media comments?
Do we know our neighbors who are frightened today that they, their spouse, their parent will be taken away? Do we know the neighbors who go out to serve in ambulances and squad cars and fire trucks? Do we know our neighbors who pray fervently for the safety of their children? Do we know our neighbors who have to decide between food and medicine, light bill and rent?
Spending time with the children and with this story Jesus told this week about the Good Samaritan has me turning this question upside down as Jesus did. Not, “Do we know who our neighbors are?” But, “Will these immigrants, public servants, at risk teens, low wage earners, know us as neighbors… as ones who show mercy?”
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It’s Vacation Bible School season. Posters are all over town inviting children to come into the jungle or out into space.
