VBS Changes Lives

Back to VBS: Impacting the Next Generation

spgwebmaster — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:44:32 +0000

I am a children’s minister at a church that has had tremendous growth in the last four years. It is a smaller community of about 7000 and the church attendance is averaging 600. Many adults who had not been attending for several years are now coming back to the church. They want their kids to have what they grew up with, a church home, and teaching. Many times when asked why you came back at this time in your life they answer because I remember going to VBS…and I want my kids to have the same experiences I did growing up.

VBS does make a difference in children’s lives!

VBS Changes Lives

spgwebmaster — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:41:18 +0000

VBS changes lives all over the world. Stories of how God used a church to plant a seed in the life of a child and that child since has chosen to follow Jesus and change the world around them.

Share your VBS story of how VBS has changed your life or your families life. Send your story to vbschangeslives@standardpub.com or leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Share how important the outreach of VBS is in this world. Check out Standard Publishing’s current VBS at www.vacationbibleschool.com.

Read stories of how VBS changed the lives of others below.

Disclaimer: By submitting your story, you are stating that the story is true to the best of your knowledge. You also give your permission for Standard Publishing to publish and/or use your story in future VBS campaigns.

A loving neighbor

standardvbs — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:31:57 +0000

I am the Christian Education Director at our Church and I love working with kids babies – 18 years of age.
I was raised in a non-Christian home. My parents did not go to Church. I could go as long as I did not preach at them and as long as I wanted to but I would never be forced to go. We had a wonderful neighbor lady (we lived in the country outside of a small town). She had 7 children of her own some close to my age older and younger. She took me to VBS when I was quite young and as my dad would let me she also took me to SS and Church and later she made sure I had a ride with her kids to youth group and youth group activities. I loved ever bit of it. As I grew up I married a wonderful Christian man and we raised two fine boys who both have families of their own that attend church also. What if she’d been to busy with her Church work (very devoted teacher and worker at church) or to busy with her already busy load of 7 of her own children? Thank goodness she wasn’t because this was my exposure to God. I didn’t have the example of a loving Christian mother in my own home. A fun VBS – very loving example by my neighbor and many fine examples at Church. My husband carried on this example for me and has always supported and encouraged me to work with kids, Church, VBS, etc. as he’s helped right along side of me.

Janet-

A great Christmas gift! Clothspins!

standardvbs — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:46:04 +0000

It’s Christmas day and I have to say this is one of the best Christmas’s I have had. The family all came over this morning and we did our usual Christmas morning ritual. We opened presents, watched the kids play with their toys and ate Christmas breakfast. As we were finishing up breakfast a knock came at the door. I went over to open it and a young women was standing there dressed in a winter coat and hat. I did not recognize her, but felt like she was someone I knew. I invited her in and wished her a “Merry Christmas.” She replied back in a shy, sort of way. I said, “I’m sorry, I think I should know you, but my mind is shot this morning due to all the kids being here.” We laughed and she relaxed. She began to talk and started to tell me of a story of over 20 years ago. She said she and her parents and siblings used to live on our street. She said they used to ride their bikes in front of my house and used to wave as they played. As she talked I started to remember some kids that used to live a couple of houses down and how nice they seemed to be. I asked her her name and she said Allison. I invited Allison into our living room and asked her if she would like some tea. We talked more. She told me of how her mom and dad moved away when she was around 13 and how she missed this area. The one thing she told me is that one summer our kids were going to our VBS at church and were challenged to invite neighbors and friends. We invited Allison and her siblings and took them to VBS. That year at VBS I was in charge of the crafts.

Allison shared that at that VBS she heard the story of the birth of Jesus for the first time. That day we made a craft, it was a wooden Nativity that was made out of clothes pins. Allison pulled the Nativity that we made that year. It was still intact! Allison said that she kept that Nativity because it reminded her of a wonderful summer and how she learned that Jesus loved her.

I wish I could say that Allison went on to be some great missionary or something like that, but she had a lot of struggles. She went through a rebellious stage, had a marriage that fell apart after 9 months, and had a child from that marriage that the father has nothing to do with. Allison said that she always kept that Nativity and when times were the hardest she remembered the story of Jesus. Years later, Allison decided to have a real relationship with Jesus. She committed her life to Jesus and now helps families that are on their way to being homeless. She shares the gospel on a daily basis and loves each family as if they were her own.

Actually as I type this, she did go on to do something great!

Allison is now married to a wonderful Christian man and has a total of 4 kids which she makes sure go to VBS each summer. She also holds VBS on the streets of the city to families and kids who may never hear the story of Jesus.

I write this to say, invite the kids to church, hold VBS, do the crafts and more.(even if you think they aren’t worth it). We never know what sticks with kids, we never know what they will hold on to, we never know when the seed will sprout and grow and move on to plant more seeds and harvest more for Jesus.

Allison and I will keep in touch and I think I will even help this summer at her VBS. I love how kids learn and will always be amazed at how God used clothespins to teach his message.

Merry Christmas!

Jeri

Immeasurably More

standardvbs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:22:34 +0000

I have been a VBS director many times over the last 25+ years, but this year I found myself amidst a challenge like never before. This financial woes known to so many also hit our church this past year, and several budget cuts were necessary. All ministry areas felt the crunch, but none as severely as VBS.

Early in January, our Children’s Director contacted me with the news.

“Lynette,” she started, “I don’t know what we are going to do. Our VBS budget not only got cut, it was eliminated. I think maybe we should just not do VBS this year.”

I could hear the disappointment in her voice, and could very well understand the defeat she was feeling. You see, we did not lose a few hundred dollars. Our church has long stood behind Vacation Bible School, and has given generous financial, physical, emotional, and spiritual support. Now we felt as though all of that support was gone. We lost $6000. (By the way, we are a rural church of about 500 people. Six thousand dollars is a LOT of money!)

My response was quick and sincere, “Great!”

Her reaction was just as quick and sincere, “What?!?!”

I explained that without a budget we were no longer confined to work within the limits of our checkbook. We were now free to let God be the director of our 2010 VBS and that was exciting because He is able to do immeasurable more than we could ask or imagine and He alone would get the glory! (Ephesians 3:20,21) She “got it” and we were off and running! Every part of our VBS was placed in His hands!

Now, we did not see record attendance, but we secured all needed supplies, volunteers, financial help, spiritual and physical strength needed AND THEN SOME!!!! All of our needs were met and our cup was over-flowing well in advance of our August VBS. We reached more new families than ever before. We had the best attended ADULT vbs study ever. We had more “rookie” volunteers. And we raised more for missions than in any previous VBS.

Hero Headquarters provided a wonderful backdrop for our season of trust. We found that not only can we all be heroes for God by Doing the Unexpected, Taking Action, Stepping out on Faith, Saving the Day, and Standing for truth, but that there are many, many unnamed heroes right in our own midst. God truly is our Hero!!

Thank you, Standard Publishing, for a great theme, but to Him alone goes all the glory!!

Lynett-IN.

A lifetime of changing lives

standardvbs — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:35:41 +0000

The love of kids has been a lifetime passion for this young 85 year old woman. She has always taught Sunday School, VBS and held most of us as babies in the nursery. She is an amazing woman. What we love about our friend Hatie is that she remembers the names of a lot of the kids who have came through VBS. She tells us stories of how Jimmy* became a missionary or how Susie* became a State Senator and how God has used all those kids to make a difference for God.

Hatie loves kids and the kids love her. She takes the time to make sure each and every child knows the Bible story, knows their memory verse each day and has a Bible. I can not begin to tell you how many Bibles she has given out all these years. Her passion is to make sure each and every kid that she comes in contact with knows Jesus. The kids can truly say they see Jesus in Hatie.

As each VBS has come and gone I look in awe at how Hatie has spent a lifetime making a difference in kids and families lives and how much I hope, just a little, that I can be more like her. The stories of lives she has touched never cease to amaze me. Hatie is a true servant and a true person that changes lives every day!

Corrine-Indiana

*names have been changed

What a great week!

standardvbs — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:11:05 +0000

Last week our VBS ended. It is always sad to me to see a wonderful week end, but I know that people are affected by what they learn. We had 212 kids at VBS on average and most of those kids do not attend our church. Our church is a newer congregation and is surronded by communities of young families. We realized a couple years ago that most of the families did not attend church on a regular basis or have a church home. Summer VBS is one thing that we started to try to get them to come see and attend church.

Out of those 212 kids we had 27 families come back this past Sunday. 27! We were so excited to see them Sunday morning. We asked several of the parents what made them come. They all stated it was their kids that wanted to come and bring them. Several also said they they were impressed with what the kids learned at VBS this summer as well as other summers and wanted to see what was going on. We truly believe in the outreach of VBS and how it reaches kids and families in ways other events in the church do not. I can’t wait to see what this Sunday brings!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

standardvbs — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:46:29 +0000

A friend of mine shares this story and I want to share it with all of you!

When my friend was a youth pastor, their church had VBS. There was a lady in the church who picked up kids from her community and brought them to church. One was a small boy, maybe 5-6, whose family did not attend church anywhere. He loved VBS, but the teachers did not love him. He was VERY active and had difficulty sitting still. However, he had discovered God loved him, even when he was bad. He was so excited about the fact that God loved him. When VBS was done, oh my – to the teachers’ regret, he came to Sunday School every Sunday. He loved God, whom he knew loved him. Christmas that year was on Sunday, and my friend planned a huge birthday party for Jesus. The little boy was SO thrilled, because he wanted to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, who loved him. On Christmas Eve, the little boy and his family were in the family van Christmas shopping. Their van was hit head-on by a drunk driver and the little boy was killed. At his funeral, his teachers were ashamed because of their attitude to him, but they realized also that because of VBS he was singing Happy Birthday to Jesus face to face. VBS works!

Shared by Diane W.

The Power of One!

standardvbs — Wed, 19 May 2010 06:31:21 +0000

As a preacher’s kid I’ve been to more VBS’s than I can remember. I loved going to VBS- the crafts, the stories, and the songs. But it wasn’t until I was a senior in high school that I understood the power of VBS. That week I was asked to play a leading character much like the ones in Hero Headquarters. I got to interact with the kids and be part of the skits at the opening and closing each day. On the last day at the closing ceremony I had the opportunity to offer an invitation to the older students to talk to someone more seriously about what it means to become a Christian. Several that we knew were from non-Christian homes accepted that offer. I don’t know where any of them are today, or even if they are Christians. But I do know that a seed was planted in their hearts that day and that they are now jewels in the crowns of those who lead them to Christ, including those volunteers at VBS. From then until now I have never doubted what God can do for children and adults through silly songs, wacky games, and simple Bible stories.

Alicia-KY

Just an Actor

standardvbs — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:30:16 +0000

I was working at VBS one summer as the Mechanic that talked to the puppet which was a car. I dressed up in my dad’s oil stained mechanic clothes.

I remember this one little girl who came up to me everyday and gave me a hug. She said that I reminded her of her “daddy”. The thing about this is that her daddy did not live with her and this girl’s mother. It made me feel something inside that I can not explain in words. I was glad that I could make this little girl smile.The little girl and her mother started coming to our church. A few years later this little girl was baptized and saved by the Christ’s love. I think the VBS where I was at made a difference in her life and I am forever grateful for that VBS!

Curtis-Ohio