Vacation Bible School has come and gone. We planned for nearly six months, dressed up with crazy hair and bright blue t-shirts, spent sleepless nights thinking about details, recruited over 80 volunteers--and it's over. I have very mixed feelings about the whole experience. I was definitely stretched in new ways and grew tremendously in my trust and faith in God.
When I saw the blank VBS Director slot glaring at me at the Ministry Fair last fall I decided that maybe this was my chance to use some of the "waiting gifts" that God has given me. I have taken many surveys and quizzes throughout my life that have reaffirmed my organizational, encouragement, and serving skills. But, I have also seen the word "Administration" staring me straight in the face. I think that most of my God-given gifts fall into this category, but I had never been given the opportunity to take them to the next level and I feel that God put this Vacation Bible School in front of me at just the right time. The previous directors were stepping down and a replacement was needed.
I jumped on all of the organizational components of pulling off a huge event like this. My spreadsheets were all filed away in the correct folders, e-mails were sent in a timely matter to communicate with the volunteers, and most of the work was done far in advance. Throughout all of the planning and details I honestly tried my best to keep my focus on the Lord because this VBS was in His hands and He already had a predetermined plan for the week. I feel like my faith deepened as I placed my trust in Him. My "waiting gift" was being discovered and practiced and I couldn't believe my eyes to see it all coming together the week of VBS.
Over 120 children participated this year. Only 22 were regular attendees/members of our church and the rest were from the community. Amazing! We tried some new things and steered the group into new territory. First, when I saw the curriculum I immediately thought of the countless faith bracelets (black, red, white, green, blue, yellow beads) that we made on missions trips and in Sunday School. It tied in so nicely with the theme each day and the storytellers agreed to permeate their lessons with a "color and concept of the day". On Friday, each child made a bracelet for him or herself as well as one for a friend and the Pastor gave a short message reinforcing the meaning of each bead. He also gave the children an opportunity to accept Jesus into their lives by admitting their sinful nature and asking for his forgiveness.
Now this is where my mixed emotions come in. It was a "chill bump" experience to hear all of the children repeating the prayer to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. However, I can't help but wonder about the authenticity. There is truly no way to know if each child fully understood the words they were repeating and the significance of their decision. There's also the question of follow-up. What now? We had so many kids say the prayer aloud, but what about when they go home to non-Christian parents? The Pastor sent home a great letter encouraging families to attend Sunday School and Wednesday night classes, but how many will really come? I guess you could say I'm struggling with the open ending. That's where I, again, have to have faith in God and trust that He will speak into these children's lives through a variety of circumstances and people. How could we not give the children the opportunity to become Christians? That's what Vacation Bible School is all about!!! I pushed and pushed for this and now I'm not sure where to go from here. Do we do it again next year? How can we make it more authentic? How can we infuse more of the gospel into each area of the week?
This year we created memory cards. The children really got into it and memorized FIVE scripture verses. They repeated them over and over and over again....but do they remember them now? A whole week later? Do they still have the Scripture written on their hearts?
Only God knows which children called on Him to be their Father. Only God knows which families hearts opened up to His message. So it's time for me to let go and let God. I keep telling myself that but it's hard to fight the control I want to have over everything.
Overall, I learned that as a leader/coordinator, the most important thing you need to do is keep bringing people (including myself!) back to the true meaning of it all. Yes, the details are important, but you cannot have a VBS without a clear vision of what God wants for the children. Will I do it again next year? We'll see :)
