The large village meeting house hummed with voices as the teachers at our Vacation Bible School sat on the floor, organizing the children into large circles. Glancing around at the groups, I had a hard time deciding which one to join. I finally decided to try a different class each day. That way I could meet more of the kids and see how they were responding to the messages.

One day, I situated myself on the rough black palm floor next to Angela’s small group. The children pressed in close to the teacher so they wouldn’t miss a word. She was talking about the exciting story from Daniel they had just heard. Two young mothers sat among the children. They had been faithfully attending her class since the beginning of VBS. One of them caught my interest. She sat cross-legged with her chin in her hand and her eyes fixated on Angela. What was her motivation for coming? I wondered. This program, intended for children, seemed to have her rapt attention.

Each day after the story and class time, the children went outside for activities. Standing beside me during one of the activities, another young mother commented, “I’ve heard these stories before, but these activities really help us learn them better.”

Another day while the children were playing outside, I remained in the meeting house and visited with one of the teachers. Her face glowed with enthusiasm as she recounted a conversation she’d had with a couple of the young mothers coming to the VBS. After the first story about Daniel, they couldn’t wait to hear the next one, so they found some Bibles and began to read ahead. These women were hungering for truth, and through the working of the Holy Spirit and a simple VBS program, they were led to read the Bible for themselves.

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