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Is Vacation Bible School Worth the Effort?

This year I was privileged to be the director overseeing Vacation Bible School. I was not expecting the amount of planning, managing, and directing this title entailed. Seriously (I thought to myself), I have led Marines so Vacation Bible School should be a breeze. That was my initial reaction, but I was greatly surprised with the amount of work that goes into directing Vacation Bible School. Therefore, to all of you veteran Vacation Bible School directors out there, I give you a standing ovation.

Over these last few days, I began to think about the importance of Vacation Bible School in a postmodern, skeptical, and overly sensitive society. Has Vacation Bible School run its course in effectiveness? Does Vacation Bible School have a place in the modern world? Why does the church continue to resource this week long summer program? And, should the church continue to do so? 

The answer: a resounding, exciting, and colossal, YES FOR VBS! Vacation Bible School remains one of the greatest resources for the church to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with children and families. Vacation Bible School exists as an effective outreach strategy to introduce children to the greatest news that humanity has ever received, Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. By the way, Vacation Bible School also has the ability to reach families with the same good news. 

I would like to present three groups of people that benefit from the Vacation Bible School program.

#1) The Children. The planning takes time, the managing can be exhausting, and the responsibility might be defined as enormous for directors, but when those children walk in each night with excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces, it is all worth it. Jesus valued children during his earthly ministry. Look at these words recorded in Matthew's Gospel, "Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and went away" (Matthew 19: 13-15). Jesus demonstrates the value of children in the kingdom of heaven, and that means that the church should value children just like Christ. Children come in excited to be at Vacation Bible School at church. They come in pumped up to give their tithes for missions. They come in thrilled to learn about the hope only Jesus Christ can provide. Vacation Bible School provides one of the most important ministries to children in the community, and the children get to know that there is a God in heaven that made them and loves them. This reason alone should place Vacation Bible School as a top priority during the summer months.

#2) The Church. The church benefits from Vacation Bible School as well. Vacation Bible School does not have the potential to be great unless it has great volunteers that love Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Volunteers are an essential part of Vacation Bible School. These volunteers come from their jobs to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. These volunteers spend weeks preparing lessons, preparing crafts, getting food ready, and decorating in order to show the love of Jesus to the children that God brings. Vacation Bible School has the potential to revive the body of believers with excitement and enthusiasm for gospel proclamation. Why does this happen? I think the children that come excited to learn about Jesus Christ bring with them the child-like faith that some of us adults forget about. Jesus taught, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4). David Platt comments on this verse, "Like a child, you thrust yourself upon God and confess your need for Him."[1] These children excite the church body because in some way the children remind believers of our faith in Jesus Christ, and the excitement we find in the new life Christ provides. 

#3) The Caregiver. The church through the event of Vacation Bible School has the opportunity to be a blessing to the families that bring their children. The parents, grandparents, or person that has custody of the child can know that the child has been placed in a safe environment with godly adults (as long as the church provides this type of environment). The parents can have a date night if your Vacation Bible School is in the evenings or the parents can get some errands run all alone if your Vacation Bible School is during the day. If you have children, running errands without children is like watching the sunrise on the beach- peaceful. Therefore, Vacation Bible School has the ability to bless and build relationships with families in the community. 

Vacation Bible School does not primarily focus on getting children and families to your church, but Vacation Bible School has the primary focus of getting the gospel of Jesus Christ into the families God brings. A byproduct of getting the gospel into families could be God entrusting those families into the care of the body of believers that hosted the Vacation Bible School. However, this should be viewed as a byproduct, and delivering the good news should be the primary purpose. 

I believe in the value that Vacation Bible School provides for advancing the only hope this world can cling to, and that is Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord of this world. May God bless you, and your Vacation Bible School in which he advances his name to the ends of the earth. 

[1] David Platt, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 237.


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