From Luling to Nazareth

St. Charles kids step back in time to Jesus’ home town

Everyone knows what it is like to hear your mom tell stories from your childhood. Can you imagine the kinds of stories Mary could tell?

Luling kids got to travel back in time this week to the Nazareth that Jesus grew up in. The Bible Center Church hosted a Hometown Nazareth summer camp that began Monday to teach children about Jesus’ youth and how to stand up for their faith.

“There was a lot of singing upbeat songs, going to a marketplace set up like in Bible times and doing crafts,” said camp director Sandy Arnold. “They also visited Mary’s house and she told them about Jesus as he was growing up.
“It shows them that he was a child just like they are and yet he was without sin.”

About 100 kids ages 5 to 12 years old attended the non-denominational Christian camp.

“We don’t teach doctrine, we strictly want them to hear about the boy Jesus,” Arnold said.

Hometown Nazareth is part of a national program by Group Publishing, a Christian ministry organization. The camp started off with an upbeat worship time of songs and activities. The kids were broken up into color-coded “tribes” of about 10 kids each and given matching headbands, which some used as armbands. The tribes then traveled together throughout the church to visit Mary’s house and a marketplace with different stations where they had the opportunity to build a tzedakah (or charity collection) box, try wool-felting and sample unexpected snacks.

The church wanted to offer something new this year to step away from traditional summer Bible school.

“Several churches in the area do the same thing that we normally do and this was an alternative to give the kids something a little bit different,” Arnold said.