This week I am reflecting on Salem’s just completed Vacation Bible School… It was a pretty huge undertaking… involving around 700 people by the time all was said and done. It has me thinking about the bigger questions of ministry and how (and why) we plan and execute these type of projects.
Sometimes people ask me if it really is worth it to recruit that many workers and spend that much time and energy and money for five days of ministry with kids. And it is true that many families in our community tend to place their kids in every available VBS that churches conduct, so by the end of the summer you do run into kids with a serious case of VBS fatigue.
But for me it always comes down to the number “1.” What do I mean by that? The other day I ran into a friend and before I knew it we were in a random discussion of VBS. Out of the blue, he mentioned that he became a believer during a VBS when he was a kid. The conversation reminded me of dozens just like it I have had before. There is just something about putting kids in a daily Gospel centered environment that prepares them for salvation like nothing else.
So what about that “one” kid who defies the odds… The one who emerges from a broken home environment, a painful family situation, unbelieving parents, abuse, or poverty, (or privilege for that matter), and suddenly they find themselves in a VBS. Then towards the end of the week they hear the good news of salvation in Christ and reach out by faith for the promise of Jesus! As long as churches still believe that “one” kid is worth all the insanity of VBS there is still hope.
If you have chosen to hang in there with your AWANA ministry or your kids Sunday School class, or VBS or Kids choir, etc… may I just tell you straight out You are my hero. But more importantly you are the lifeline to that “one.” So thank you! At Salem this week we had about “63” instead of just “one” reach out for that hope in Jesus. I hope we will still be just as willing and excited to carry on, even if it is just the “one.”
You Shall Know the Truth
J Beckett