My First VBS

Key verse: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

My First VBS

Last week marked the first time I participated in VBS at our church. It took forty-three years to get me on board. In the past, I led nighttime VBS for our teens. I have also been part of many camps in Canada where we combined a half-day VBS with a sports or arts camp to provide full-day daycare options for parents during the summer. But this was the first time I was not working and not traveling during my church’s VBS, so I bravely [or foolishly] volunteered.

I became a Christian at age 28, so Vacation Bible School was not on the radar growing up. Instead, I would ride bikes, play in the local creek, and hang out with my two younger brothers. Last week, I was a rotation leader for a group of nine children who had just completed kindergarten. Thankfully, I didn’t have to navigate these foreign waters alone. I would like to pretend that I learned all of the motions and words to the songs, but you just had to watch during the opening and closing assemblies to see that I was clueless. My attempts provided comic relief.

Jesus, the Light of the World

My group of little people was the “Headlamps”, reflecting this year’s theme, Illumination Station, based on John 8:12. Throughout the week, the children learned that Jesus is the promised, perfect, powerful Son of God. He was not an ordinary person, a gifted teacher, or someone who just lived two thousand years ago. Jesus was and is the Light of the World.

Teaching children about Jesus is critical. Childhood is when most people come to a saving faith. The most commonly quoted Barna statistics are:

• 43% of Christians accepted Christ before age 13.
• About two-thirds (≈64–67%) accepted Christ before age 18.
• Fewer than one-fourth came to Christ after age 21.

I was lucky.

Cutting through Conflicting Messages

My group of kindergarten graduates had the added challenge that many had not yet learned to read – that would happen in first grade. So anything that was projected on a screen looked like mumbo jumbo to them.

God gave Moses Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, turned the ten into 613 foundational commandments as a a fence to ensure you never accidentally broke one of God’s Laws. But what was simple (Ten Commandments) became very complex for the average Jewish person.

The message of the Scriptures has been muddied similarly. Many denominations claim to be Christian, often with conflicting claims about Jesus, God, and Salvation. Couple that with Christians on social media and in the news displaying hate as their dominant “spiritual gifts.” The world is as confused about Christianity as my kindergartners were about the words on the screen they couldn’t read. They needed Vacation Bible School to boil down everything they heard into a few short messages:

• Jesus is the Messiah, the promised and perfect Son of God who came to be the Savior of the World (Matthew 16:16)
• Everything Jesus said and did demonstrated that He was the powerful Son of God (Matthew 28:18)
• Jesus lived, died, and rose to life to be our Savior, now and forever (Mark 15:39)
• Jesus is God’s plan for forgiveness. All must Admit, Believe, and Confess (Acts 2:38)

Training the Next Generation of Church Leaders

I saw one more thing in my short four-day stint as a VBS rotational leader. In addition to our adult volunteers, we had 70 youth helpers engaged with crafts, music, games, rotations, Bible story, and missions. The leaders knew not to put teenage boys in charge of snacks!

Many, like two helpers for my group, had been VBS participants last year. What a wonderful opportunity to work alongside the next generation of church leaders, pouring into their lives as we poured into the children going through VBS. These youth are future pastors, missionaries, choir members, youth leaders, and more. We, the adults doing VBS, had the opportunity to model Christ-like behavior, even when a kindergartner has a huge smile on her face as she hit me with a water balloon.

Two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, told their mother afterwards that VBS was always their favorite week of the year. We’re doing something right!

An Opportunity and a Blessing

Vacation Bible School is an opportunity to be God’s Hands & Feet. For many churches, it is their largest evangelical outreach each year (Matthew 28:19-20). Half of our participants were not church members. Many had no church affiliation. We like to sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” With VBS, we get the opportunity to show it, reflecting the heart of Jesus (Mark 10:13-16). I’ll be back in 2027!