Bishop Manor, an apartment complex in Santa Ana, was far from looking like your average apartment complex last week. Instead, Bishop Manor took on the appearance of a packed community Kids’ Zone! It was the first time Project City Hope put on a Vacation Bible School for that specific area, and according to the amazing volunteers (who might have had a better time than the kids had), God definitely gave everyone there an incredible time.

According to Gary Cox who was one of the main leaders of the VBS at Bishop Manor, the volunteer team had no idea of how many children to expect, and to their pleasant surprise, each day saw the numbers increase until they were at 70+ three to twelve year olds by Wednesday! There were also several teenagers who looked on curiously and wanted to attend, but hesitated because of that universal “cool” factor that often gets the best of teenagers. Apparently, though, there were about 3 older boys who sat together off to the side, but were seen coloring pictures of a cross like the rest of the group.

During the week, the kids got to have the traditional VBS experience where they learned bible verses, heard stories from the bible, did crafts, and played games. And for the volunteers, it was an extremely rewarding thing to know that they had a major part in affecting the lives of these kids who had never experienced anything like it, or who had never been around Christian adults whose only goal was to serve and love these kids – kids who may have gone through more struggles than is fair for their few years up to this point.

By the end of the week, everyone had been impacted in some way, and one group leader even had 16 kids in her group accept Christ! For that and so many other reasons, PCH thanks the amazing and willing volunteers who served at Bishop Manor. If you’d like to do the same at the next VBS or in some other area, call 949-609-8333.