Since Operation Blessing (OB) began including Vacation Bible School (VBS) trainings and free distribution of materials in 1998 as part of the assistance they extend to churches, hundreds of children have come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior; and many teachers have felt God mightily move in their personal lives and churches as well.

This year, OB's VBS volunteers took the initiative to form a VBS Core Group to streamline operations and make trainings more effective. Operation Blessing's VBS Core Group 2004 is headed by Enesto Buenaventura who has been a VBS volunteer for 4 years now and has led VBS trainings in the NCR and provinces of Ilocos, Bicol, and Pangasinan.

Core member, Lolit Simpao is the coordinator for Ilocos. She is a church member of the Living Epistle Christian Family Church-one of the VBS hosts.

Word of Hope pastor, Nonoy Ciervo is the core member who trains VBS directors in the different churches. Together with volunteers Warren Racelis and Lyn Reyes, they also form the VBS music team.
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Asuncion Binas, also a core member, has been a VBS volunteer for 4 years. She participated in VBS distribution, trainings and core group planning. She also teaches kids in the primary level.

Another VBS volunteer for four years now is core member, Allan Sarte. He participated in VBS trainings particularly in the Teens level (NCR) and actively assisted in all preparation and distribution of VBS materials

Core member, Esther Calahat, leads the VBS mock-up or rehearsal. Marlyn Abano, another core member, covers the VBS trainings for the teens level while core member, Janette Guinto trains for registration and handling the pre-school level. Rhodora Hamada, also a core member, leads the training for the primary level and the crafts session.

To give you an idea of how much VBS has impacted the lives of children, trainors and teachers, here is VBS coordinator for Ilocos, Lolit Simpao's story:

It was 1998 when left over materials with the "Son Rise" theme was given to us by Operation Blessing. Our DVBS was a success!

But it did not end there. Our annual church convention was held a week after our DVBS at Claveria, Cagayan where I was one of the speakers and I talked about Children's Ministry. We brought all the unused materials and distributed them to 40 small churches. In return, they faithfully submitted the required reports. As I remember it right, it was reported that 1,200 kids benefited from the said materials!

With these results, the burden and the conviction of reaching more children for Christ became stronger within me. Something inside me kept on telling me that Operation Blessing is the answer to our vision of reaching out to children for God and uniting churches of different denominations.

That little voice gave me the courage and inspiration to continue my communication with the OB staff as well as doing volunteer work at the warehouse.
As I worked with them, catching OB's vision became more intense. As a result, a church was established in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Today, it is considered the first satellite church for OB in both Northern and Southern Ilocos. For two years now, 60 different churches yearly meet in this church every summer to secure their DVBS materials instead of going to Manila for the said purpose.

Last May, I was one of the teachers' trainors in Bicol. The training was attended by 18 different churches. Their enthusiasm during the training gave us more energy. I had a chance to share with them what God is doing in the Ilocos region and they were inspired and hoped that same will happen in Bicol.

The same thing happened in Pangasinan with different trainors from different churches. In my opinion, our harvest is not only for children to know Christ but also uniting all churches as one. It's like getting two birds in a shoot! As the Scriptures say:

Ephesians 4:3 - Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond
of peace.

Colosians3:14 - And all virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Psalms 133:1 - How good and pleasant it is when brothers (churches) live together in unity.

Walls between churches can be likened to the walls of Jericho. But I have seen it happen that DVBS washes away differences between churches. Why do I say this? MRCP Bangui, Ilocos Norte now has its core and it is composed of different leaders and workers from different denominations!

The same thing that we did in Manila, Pastor Ernie Buenaventura and myself caught OB's vision and that made us decide to form a core to help this ministry become more successful for the glory of God!