ESL camps add VBS in Saint John

For the third summer in a row, newcomer children in Saint John had the chance to attend English language camp at Stone Church. But this year, some children went a step further and got to experience the first ESL – VBS.

English language lessons are nothing new at Stone, and vacation bible school is a given in many parishes each summer, so mixing the two was the next logical step for the Rev. Terence Chandra.

“We are a church ministry,” said Terence of his and his wife, the Rev. Jasmine’s, mission called Pennies and Sparrows, which operates in tandem with Stone Church, where they are the priests-in-charge.

“As important as it is to help with practical things like learning English, we’re also responsible to introduce people to Christ, to share the gospel.”

ESL CAMP
Pennies and Sparrows held two camps, one week for kids 7 to 11, and one for kids 12-16. In all, 50 children attended, making for two very busy weeks.

“There is still a need here,” said Terence. “In fact, I think the need is greater this year than in previous years.”

The first year, almost every child was from Ukraine. That was less so last year, and again this year. 

“We had kids from China, South Korea, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Ukraine and Syria,” said Clare Andrews, who works as an ESL teacher with Pennies and Sparrows.

“This year we got out into the community, visiting Big Brothers-Big Sisters,” she said. “And we did a scavenger hunt on Harbour Passage.”

They also returned to United Colours of Fashion, where they got sewing lessons and made bow ties, hair scrunchies and bracelets.

“They wore them the rest of the week,” said Clare.

The highlight of the camps for Clare was visiting BB-BS, where one of the women there is a newcomer herself.

“She was able to speak to the kids in a very understanding way,” said Clare. “She did a great job with the teenagers.”

Miriam Westin, another Pennies and Sparrows employee, recruited a student from her adult ESL class to be a volunteer, one of five who stepped up to make the camps a success.

“The day we cooked was a highlight for me,” she said. “We made donairs — East Coast style.”

Miriam enjoys the time spent with the young newcomers and values their curiosity and creativity.

“I don’t have many kids in my life and I enjoy being around them,” she said. “They make you think about things in a different way. It’s nice to have a space where they’re free to learn, ask questions and learn the language.”

ESL-VBS
“This was Terence’s dream,” said Clare. “Last year he started thinking about this. We decided to advertise it to kids coming for the first two weeks and had a huge response.

“A lot of the families have a religious background and it was something they were really interested in.”

They limited it to the younger age group and didn’t follow a usual VBS theme. Instead, Terence decided to go back to the foundation of Christianity. Each day he covered a topic: creation, birth, death, resurrection and so on.

“I wanted to introduce kids to the very basics of Christian faith,” he said, adding they even celebrated feast days on the calendar. “With multiple Christian backgrounds, we were able to compare different faith traditions.”

The Christmas lesson was probably the most popular day of VBS. Organizers bought small gifts and had the kids draw a name. Then they secretly chose and wrapped a gift for the person whose name they picked.

“It was so cool to see the joy of people opening their gifts, and the joy and satisfaction of the person giving it,” said Clare.

“Kids were as interested in the bible lessons as they were at ESL camp,” said Miriam. “Some were new to the bible and some were not.”

All three agree that ESL-VBS will be back next year.

“What I’d like to try next year is to recruit some of the kids in the older group to help out,” said Terence.

He couldn’t pinpoint a particular highlight of the VBS week, but “I really enjoyed VBS. I felt like the Holy Spirit was present. By the time it was over, it felt like we had really grown into a little community.”

As he did last year, Terence is willing to help other parishes establish programs for newcomers. Reach him at tjchandra1@gmail.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1.  Miriam Westin helps kids at ESL camp make donors at Stone Church this summer.

2.  The Rev. Terence Chandra, centre, leads an activity with kids during ESL camp.

3.  Kids at ESL camp enjoying a playground day.
Submitted photos