Our three Monday crafts today reflect our preparedness to embark on a journey into God’s love, peace, and justice for the world. The first two is apparel for the journey: safari vests and pith helmets. In the 6th chapter of the book to the Church in Ephesus, the author encourages the Church to put on the Armor of God and the helmet of salvation. There are voices of wickedness expressing hate and injustices in the world and our safari vest and helmets remind us that we are called to a different way, the way of peace and justice. We don’t suggest that the armor of our vests and helmets make us invincible. We are as vulnerable to the slings and arrows of the world as the next person. Yet Paul’s promise is that God’s ever-present love ensures the slings and arrows don’t get the last word.

The helmet of salvation is a reminder that we are called to use our brains as well as our hearts on this journey. To be as wise as servants and gentle as doves (Mt 10.16). For example, if there is a bully at school picking on a new kid, it is a wise idea to enlist the help of teachers and administrators to help ensure everyone is treated with justice and equity. Don the helmet of wisdom and see who can help us be peacemakers in the world!

Our last craft was to decorate a case for a set of binoculars. “Binos,” as we used to call them in the Navy, bring objects far away and make them seem close at hand. Sometimes God feels far away, and we feel alone. Yet our spiritual binos can bring God close again. Our binoculars in their decorated case remind us God is never far away. Jesus tells his followers that he is always with us until the end of time. (Mt. 28.20)

The first craft time projects were decorating canteens. Water sustains all life on our planet, as well as playing a central role in baptism. With our craft today we are not suggesting that our campers go around baptizing people … although in extreme situations any Christian can baptize another as long as there is water and the invoking of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Rather our craft canteens are meant to symbolize how precious water is for our planet. Like all resources of this beautiful blue marble in space we call Earth, we need to be a good steward of its resources. The precious gift of water that fills our canteens and sustains our planet and our lives reminded us to care for all of creation, and our calling to be servants of God’s creation.

The second craft project was a small treasure chest, oil stock, and cloth bag. Our participation in God’s wonderful and diverse world is filled with treasures if we only have eyes to see. Our oil stocks do not contain Chrism oil used at baptism, but rather Healing oil. Oil to remind us to share the helping gifts of the Spirit when someone is hurt or feeling ill. Likewise, a reminder that our ministry of love and justice is the very healing work we are called to do in God’s creation. Our oil stocks remind us of this great mission to love as Christ loved us.

Our last craft today was a Rafiki stick. Moses carried his staff of authority to lead God’s people from the slave pits of Egypt to the promised land of freedom. Rafiki was clearly the spiritual leader of the Lion King, and our Rafiki sticks remind us that we are called to take on the mantle of leadership at school, in our neighborhoods, and even at home. Our Rafiki sticks remind us to answer God’s call to serve, and that God will support us in our efforts!

During Tent Time we decorated our craft box which will hold the 18 crafts created this week. We keep all the crafts safe at Holy Cross, so that glue, paint, glitter, etc. can dry. Then we pack them up in the craft boxes for campers to take home on Friday. If for some reason your camper(s) will not be here on Friday, please speak with one of your camper’s tent counselors. They will ensure that we get the correct box to your camper on her/his last day with us.

The first of the craft time crafts was a small wooden puzzle. Simba was confused and scared about the death of his father and his responsibility for it. Scar was an irresponsible adult. Instead of helping Simba sort out the confusion, he added to it by reinforcing the idea to run away. Our puzzles today remind us to seek out trusted family and friends, parents or siblings, teachers, and clergy, to help sort out the puzzles of life.

Our second craft today is a milk bottle elephant. Simba and Nala have to get through the elephant grave yard to return to the pride. Here Simba shows his true self as he courageously takes on the hyenas to save Nala. Our elephants remind us to be who we are: royal children of God called to protect those in need. Our elephant crafts remind us: to get help from a teacher when we see another student being bullied at school; to not share in the falsehoods which assault us; and to remember God calls us to be true ourselves, as Simba is in the graveyard.

Our last craft was a beautiful handmade maze lovingly created by my brother-in-law Frank. The Earth marble rolls through the maze, twisting back and forth, just like our life journey. Sometimes we get lost, and we need to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. She is calling us always to return, to come home. The Spirit leads on to the path of truth, love, and justice. Our mazes today remained us to seek out this path and follow it all the days of our lives.

In tent time, we made wind chimes as symbols of the Holy Spirit, described in scripture as breath or wind (Gen. 1.2, Ezek. 37.5) It is her 1 spirit in us that call us to return to God every time we wander away. She calls us to return; hence we created small wind chimes to remember that the Holy Spirit is calling us.

Our young cubs, Simba and Nala, have a wise companion in Zazu. As is often the case with the young, they sometimes think they know more about life than their elders, and ignore their advice and counsel. When they do, they may find themselves on the wrong path.

One of our crafts today was to create a Zazu stick that can be placed on a dresser or desk to remind us there are adult companions to help us and find our way back if we inadvertently take the wrong path. In addition to these God sent companions, God walks with us too.

Our second craft today involved an essential tool for every journey, a backpack. Our Lion King backpack helps us be ready to serve and care for creation. For example, we could grab our empty backpack and take a walk with our parents or siblings, picking up litter and discarded recycles, and placing them in the proper containers at home. Caring for our community by helping clean up the neighborhood is a great way to show God’s love for creation.

Our final craft time project today was a return to a project I have attempted to create multiple times, unsuccessfully I might add. However, this year, we discovered how to make rain sticks that really sound like rain sticks!

Today we decorated and filled our rain stick. Rain Sticks are a calming reminder to listen for the voice of God, which always leads us toward peace and love. There is so much “noise” in our culture, it is easy to get distracted from being servants of love as God created us to be... As we talked about on Tuesday, water is the life source of our planet, and rain sticks call to mind this gift. They invite us to consider how we might share the gift of love with all of creation — caring for the earth, the people, and all of its creatures.

During tent time we created Lion King “Roar” backpack dangles to hang from our Lion King backpacks, or school book backpacks to remind us to Roar when we see injustice. Calling out how wrong it is when our peers make fun of another student or toss their litter on the ground rather than place it in the appropriate container. Our Roar backpack dangles remind us to be the voice of God’s love and justice in our community.

On Friday, we created two craft time crafts. The first is adding color to our stained “glass” (really acrylic) window. These colorful creations are a great reminder of the diversity God expressed in and for all of creation. We are an important part of that creation; we are called to the stewardship of God’s creation. We care for all in God’s care.

Our last craft was manufactured by a former VBS participant, staff person, and now a mom and entrepreneur who sends her son to participate as a camper in VBS—the Lion King necklace. This craft is actually two parts. The small paw pops out. In the movie, Simba places his cub paw in the paw print of his dad, symbolizing the connection and inheritance as a follower of the King. Simba will be a great King because his parents taught him how to be one.

We suggested our campers share this craft with those who have shaped them, perhaps their parents or another family member. Our staff found this to be a particularly meaningful craft for its symbolic value as well as its quality of design and construction. These necklaces were cut from Baltic Birch sheet stock by a laser! Pretty cool!

Our crafts today all reflect our royal heritage. At tent time craft we created lion ornaments to represent our royal responsibility. As queens and kings of the pride, we are to care for all those around us.