Vacation Bible School is a lot of work. It costs a lot of money. It requires a lot of volunteers. It’s exhausting to organize. So why do it? There are many benefits! It transforms our campus into another world – one where the imagination can run with the year’s theme. It encourages volunteers to give their best, to test their limits and give past what they thought they could. It brings children from all across our community into our church so we can demonstrate God’s unfailing love and devotion to them. It draws families into our church family so we can love them through whatever circumstances may be presented during the week. It presents the Gospel to children who may never have heard it or have another opportunity to do so. It plants seeds for future salvation decisions. It unites our church in a way few other outreach opportunities do.
This year, our children learned the story of Noah. We went deep in the story, this was no surface swim! We learned about the disobedience of man, Noah’s righteousness. We learned that early man was smart, and not ape-like! We learned about the flood and the catastrophic damage that was done to the Earth’s topography. This was not the result of millions of years of erosion, but could have happened quickly through the devastating flood. We learned ways to counteract the culture as it tries to discredit the Bible. We gave children answers to some of today’s questions! God’s Word is true, and we can depend on it!
We were blessed this year to have over 320 children enrolled, an average of over 300 children per day, with at least 90 volunteers! That exceeds any previous year that Trinity has held VBS! While the children kept enrolling, our groups got bigger and bigger. We certainly stretched what we thought we could do! With God’s power, we were able to introduce these concepts to many of our community’s children. Through our presentation of the gospel, 20 children made decisions for God!
Our volunteers were amazing! They were dedicated, sincere, driven, and present! I include “present” because they engaged the children individually and directly. They took time to love on children, to be patient with them, and get to know them personally.
I am very impressed with our church’s presentation of the Ocean Commotion theme. I love all the support our church family gave while decorating, serving, and giving to our VBS. Our main verse for the week was found in Genesis 6:8 – “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD”. I know God was glorified through actions on our campus.
Kristine Hoskins
Preschool Director
