I have an ugly confession. When I was in college, studying to be a full-time youth worker, I had a prejudice about VBS. Actually not about VBS at all. Since I was a kid, VBS has been craft-making, Kool-Aid and homemade cookies, middle-of-the-summer awesome-ness. I’ve always loved it.
My prejudice was against the parents who sent their kids. Not those who dropped their kids off at VBS at their own church, but the parents who used VBS as free daycare in the summer. Each week–a different VBS.
My prejudice intensified as I got older and became a VBS volunteer. Because it’s true. Anytime a place offers drop-off childcare in air-conditioned safety during the record-breaking heat of the summer, parents sign up fast and furious. For free childcare.
And now that I’m a parent, I see that this phenomenon is really, really true. Because, as you’ve heard me say before, the summer is one big black hole of time to fill. The kids and I can do it all–have Bible studies here, run errands, play outside, swim, keep up the kids’ school skills. And when we’re done? It’s almost nine a.m.
I wish I was kidding.
This summer Catie has been to VBS at three different churches. And it’s still only July.
What my younger, prejudiced self didn’t see was the astounding effect these VBSs have on my kids’ faith life. Yes, all my kids. Even though Catie is the only one old enough to attend, she comes home enthusiastic about church and Jesus and the Bible.
Wow.
And the churches that do it well?
Awesomeness doesn’t begin to describe this phenomenon.
This video of Sam dancing was after the Big Show at a local VBS where almost four thousand kids in our community are spending their week. No, he’s not singing about Jesus or memorizing Bible verses. But Catie is. And every day we drop her off and pick her up and Sam and Ellie see the enthusiasm for God’s Word.
I could go on and on about how exciting it is when other people share Jesus’ love with my kids. Suddenly God isn’t just something Mom and Dad talk about, but a thing that teenagers (Catie’s personal celebrities), and other moms, and hundreds of grown-ups are dedicated to.
VBS has come a long way from coloring sheets and Dixie cups of punch on the playground–most in our area hire professional actors and marketing firms.
But a week of Jesus smack-dab in the middle of the summer is so effective at helping kids become life-long learners of His Word and love.
And isn’t that what ministry is all about?
