Phone calls from God still had some children in awe Thursday morning at St. Nicholas of Myra vacation bible school.

Phone calls from God still had some children in awe Thursday morning at St. Nicholas of Myra vacation bible school.

“He told me to fish for people,” 8-year-old Noelle Nunes said, “and tell everyone about him.”

“He told me to follow in his footsteps,” 7-year-old Jack Dubois said. “The phone call really surprised me. He didn’t say an awful lot, he just told me to follow him.”

Every child participating in this program received a call from God Wednesday as they took part in games, music and crafts all this week at the church’s vacation bible school.

This was the first year for the program organized by Greg Bettencourt, faith format director and the religious education teachers at the church. The one-week camp ran from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.

Bettencourt wanted a program to keep kids involved in their faith outside of school during the summer months while at the same time bringing the parish community together.

The theme for the week was “Baobab Blast.” Bettencourt said the baobab is type of tree found in Africa that has very long branches, under which animals gather for shade.

“As Christians, we’re asked to gather to be thankful for His gifts,” he said.

The five-day camp hosted 21 children from ages 6 to 9 years old. Along with a main theme, there was a theme word and animal that centered around the morning’s activities of crafts, science, music, games and snacks. Topics for the week were trust, love, caring, following and sharing.

Volunteer Susanne Martel guided children at the science station with hand games.

“One of the stories in the Bible is about a good Samaritan who helped a stranger on the side of the road,” she said. “So, we’re playing games to see what hand works better to help us do things and talking about how we can help others.”

One of the games was seeing how many circles they could draw in 20 seconds using each hand. It showed how one hand is usually stronger than another.

Lisette Miranda, AKA the craft lady, made journey bags with the children at the beginning of the week.

“Abraham left everything behind to follow God and only took what he could fit in a journey bag,” Miranda said.

To illustrate Thursday’s theme of caring, they created first-aid kits made of felt and filled them with cotton balls, bandages, a heart note, a small piece of candy and a small cross made from popsicle sticks.

“The cotton ball is to give you warm and fuzzies, the bandage is to take care of the ‘ouches,’ the heart note is to make your heart feel better, the candy is to sweeten your day and the small cross is to remind you that God is always there to care for you,” Miranda said.

Volunteer Nancy Brown helped lead the music and dancing in the music room.

“They’re having so much fun learning new songs,” Brown said. “They’re learning that God wants us to share his teachings and lead people to Him,” she said.

Catrina Combis and Rachel Nunes, both students at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, volunteered their time for the week.

“The kids are so fun and they’re so good to get along with,” Combis said.

“We’re teaching them life lessons about trust, love, caring and sharing and we’re connecting with them,” Nunes said.

Iris Lima, 8, really enjoyed her time in the program.

“I liked the arts and crafts the best,” she said. “I liked making the journey bag. We got to decorate it how we wanted to. The thing I learned the most was I learned to follow God.”

Contact Kendra Leigh Miller at kmiller@tauntongazette.com