When You Hear The Words
When you hear the words VBS, you may think about rooms full of screaming kids, glitter, crazy contests, and wild theme songs (none of which is inaccurate.) But if you give me a moment of your time, I'd love to reframe vacation bible school for you. Just in case you've missed the eNews updates, the Facebook updates, the in-church announcements, and the giant "CandyLand" decorated cart in the church lobby, our very own VBS is around the corner! In fact, by the time this blog post hits, it will only be 31 short days away. Many of you have signed up to donate items, and some of you have signed up to volunteer the week of June 19th through 23rd- and for that, I am so grateful.
This year, our list of kids filled up in record time. There was a big need within our church, and our community, for a safe and fun place for kids to go this summer. Kids have invited their family, friends, and even neighbors to join them this year. While some of these kids already come to NUMC, and others go to different churches in our area, there will be kids coming that do not know Jesus. We get the incredible opportunity to capture their attention for a few short hours and give them life-changing, and life-giving information. We get to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our entire theme for VBS this year is "knowing Jesus changes the game." Right in the middle of all the fun, chaos, and noise will be Jesus, (who is a big fan of kids by the way). This wide array of attendees will come together- different ages, different backgrounds, and different denominations, all united as the body of Christ. It's going to be beautiful, and I absolutely cannot wait.
Now, an event of this size and magnitude does not materialize on its own. It takes the love and time of our faithful volunteer base. VBS takes people showing up to help for it to be successful. This truly is a Kingdom event, and a Kingdom effort. My heart was touched to see volunteers signing up from other churches to help our VBS. Even pastors from other churches in the community! They see the "why" and the eternal significance of the work we will be doing that week. It truly is a capital "C" Church event. And although it is a blessing to have others from the community partnering and helping, we need more help from right within our own church body. This is an opportunity to truly show up and make a difference in the life of a child. If even one kid comes to know Jesus that week- every hour of planning, prepping, organizing, scheduling, setting up, decorating, training, money spent, and time spent pleading for volunteers is worth it to me. All of it.
So here it is...the big ask. Our VBS is June 19th through 23rd from 9 AM to Noon. Our biggest need right now is for adult small-group leaders. You do not have to be a teacher or a Biblical scholar to do this. You just need to love Jesus and be willing to have fun with some kids that week. We will do the Bible story teaching for you, and we will help and equip you to wrap up the lesson with some applicable ways to talk to the kids about it. It's not hard or scary- I promise! We also could use some security and people to grill on Friday for the big family lunch on the final day. I know getting off of work all week is not always an option, so if there is a day or two that you can work, that would still be very appreciated! For the protection of all the kids, we do have safety measures we take for everyone working with children. There is a VBS training meeting to get everyone's safe sanctuary certified/renewed and background checked after church on May 21st at 12:15 PM or June 8th at 6 PM (food is provided!). If you want to join the volunteer team this year, please email me at christineg@navarreumc.org.
Last, I would like to ask every one of you to commit to praying for the kids and volunteers that will be joining us that week. Kids are going to have fun, relationships will be built, and the Gospel is going to be the heart of all we do. Pray for ears to hear, and hearts to receive what the Lord has for all of us that week. I am counting down the days!