When God called Roger and I to Whites Creek Baptist Church going on 15 years ago, I was told that I was the VBS Director because I was the Pastor’s Wife. Soooo for 15 summers I have directed VBS.
Every year I get really, really scared that I will not have enough help and every year, I always have more than enough help. Our entire church gets involved….the young and old; male and female. I was asked by our Associational VBS Crew how I managed to recruit so many workers and my reply was…”Well the same year I was told I was the director by default I was also told that I would have to reach out to other churches and the Association for help because all of the members of Whites Creek Baptist Church had served their time in VBS and had since retired from working in VBS. I prayed about it and then stood up and told them that as long as they were breathing, God had a place for them in VBS. When God got ready for them to retire, he would just take them on home.”
For some reason ever since that year, I always have lots of workers. (I guess they are afraid to say “No”……..afraid that God will call them home. Smile.) If you can’t get them to willingly volunteer and can not shame them into help…just do as I do and scare them into working. Smile.
My oldest VBS worker was almost 90 years old. I do not turn ANY worker away…..even non-Christians. (Of course I do not allow them to teach or be a leader, but I have let them guide a group of students around to the different areas or be a helper somewhere. I figured that by allowing them to do that, they were hearing the Word too.) I have had to even create positions………the almost 90 year old sat in a soft chair and passed out candy to the kids when they told him their memory verse.
Anyway…I have directed our VBS for 15 summers and every year I learn something or experience something new. This year we had a unique situation. One of my Craft helpers was very pregnant and due in a month. She worked in VBS Monday and Tuesday nights and then mentioned on Tuesday night that she was leaking. To shorten the story, her and her mother-in-law left VBS thirty minutes early, called her doctor and went to the ER where they determined her water had broken during VBS so they admitted her to the hospital and induced labor. Cayden was born at 6:00 the next morning, weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz. which was not bad considering he was 5 ½ weeks early. His lungs were not fully developed so he did have to stay in Children’s ICU for a little over a week, but he is now home and doing very well.
So…this year in VBS, we truly had a VBS Baby. On Friday Nights, we have our Family Night and at the end we show a slide show of the kids participating in different activities during the week. Candice, the mom, was shown in her very pregnant state and then later there was a picture of Cayden in ICU and mom sitting beside him. A true VBS Baby.
On Sunday, we had two folks to join our church by salvation and baptism as a result of VBS.
I say all of this to say…..VBS is hard. It takes a lot hard work and takes lots of people working together. BUT….it is oh, so worth it. There has never been a year that I did not receive a blessing from the week. It is a blessing just to watch all of our adults working together every night.
I am sure most of you have a VBS Story to tell. I would love to hear it.
Every year I get really, really scared that I will not have enough help and every year, I always have more than enough help. Our entire church gets involved….the young and old; male and female. I was asked by our Associational VBS Crew how I managed to recruit so many workers and my reply was…”Well the same year I was told I was the director by default I was also told that I would have to reach out to other churches and the Association for help because all of the members of Whites Creek Baptist Church had served their time in VBS and had since retired from working in VBS. I prayed about it and then stood up and told them that as long as they were breathing, God had a place for them in VBS. When God got ready for them to retire, he would just take them on home.”
For some reason ever since that year, I always have lots of workers. (I guess they are afraid to say “No”……..afraid that God will call them home. Smile.) If you can’t get them to willingly volunteer and can not shame them into help…just do as I do and scare them into working. Smile.
My oldest VBS worker was almost 90 years old. I do not turn ANY worker away…..even non-Christians. (Of course I do not allow them to teach or be a leader, but I have let them guide a group of students around to the different areas or be a helper somewhere. I figured that by allowing them to do that, they were hearing the Word too.) I have had to even create positions………the almost 90 year old sat in a soft chair and passed out candy to the kids when they told him their memory verse.
Anyway…I have directed our VBS for 15 summers and every year I learn something or experience something new. This year we had a unique situation. One of my Craft helpers was very pregnant and due in a month. She worked in VBS Monday and Tuesday nights and then mentioned on Tuesday night that she was leaking. To shorten the story, her and her mother-in-law left VBS thirty minutes early, called her doctor and went to the ER where they determined her water had broken during VBS so they admitted her to the hospital and induced labor. Cayden was born at 6:00 the next morning, weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz. which was not bad considering he was 5 ½ weeks early. His lungs were not fully developed so he did have to stay in Children’s ICU for a little over a week, but he is now home and doing very well.
So…this year in VBS, we truly had a VBS Baby. On Friday Nights, we have our Family Night and at the end we show a slide show of the kids participating in different activities during the week. Candice, the mom, was shown in her very pregnant state and then later there was a picture of Cayden in ICU and mom sitting beside him. A true VBS Baby.
On Sunday, we had two folks to join our church by salvation and baptism as a result of VBS.
I say all of this to say…..VBS is hard. It takes a lot hard work and takes lots of people working together. BUT….it is oh, so worth it. There has never been a year that I did not receive a blessing from the week. It is a blessing just to watch all of our adults working together every night.
I am sure most of you have a VBS Story to tell. I would love to hear it.
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