Last summer I had an exciting experience. I had never helped
with vacation Bible school that Mary Swartzentruber and her team put on. I
heard she needed help so I felt led to go. What I experienced there was very powerful.
Believe it or not my only responsibility was to help serve lunch but even that
was life changing.
How was lunch life changing? You see I don’t really like
tuna and don’t like cottage cheese at all. But one day for lunch Mary had
created these sandwiches by mixing tuna and cottage cheese together which
initially grossed me out but then she said just try it and I did. It was
wonderful. Wild but wonderful. Not only is that a tasty combination but it’s incredibly healthy. This
sort of illustrates my entire experience there and why I’m inviting you to join
me this summer.
Last summer this vacation Bible school happened at the
breakaway facility which is right next to the Smithville school campus. This
was an ideal location as the hundreds of kids who come to break away, that is
Christian education release time that happens throughout the school year, are
super familiar with that place. And so the kids showed up in mass.
I’m talking about up
to 127 kids on the high day. That is wild. Probably half, if not more, did not have a church
family. This is a wonderful. outreach opportunity but it was intense. Kids
were all over the place and the 25 volunteers had their hands full. By the end
of the week I realized I want to be a part of this and so we just had a
planning meeting for this summer. I want to let you know what I know at this
point. Why? If you want to help, you can get on board. If you want to send kids
you can start telling them.
Here's the scoop on VBS summer 2025:
When is it? June 16-20, 10am to 1pm.
That’s right Monday to Friday with lunch included. Helpers
should show up 9am and plan to stay till 2pm. Helpers need to have a background
check done and submitted before it starts. The SMC check will do the trick.
What’s the theme? Celebration!
We will look at holidays we celebrate and relate those to
Godly Biblical principles and practices. Like Birthdays. We celebrate our
physical birthday but the spiritual birthday is even greater. Other holidays
we’ll explore at this point are Memorial and Valentines day, 4th of
July, Mothers and Fathers days.
Who can come? Grades K-12
That’s right-there will be classes for all those grades.
Bigger classes will be divided between boys and girls. Smaller classes may be
combined. Things can be rather fluid in that regard-but if your kid comes there
will be a class for them.
What’s the schedule?
10am begin on the lawn with music
10:20 classes begin all around the campus
11:30 lunch begins with the youngest to the oldest
12:15 group game/relays
1:pm kids are picked up
What are the needs? Teachers, helpers and prayers.
Teachers will teach a class from 10:20-11:30am. Lessons will
be provided. Teachers should plan to be involved all day as they will be needed
to assist with keeping the kids in their class on task and location. Teachers
should be able and enjoy teaching a simple lesson.
Helpers will assist with whatever needs done. Being in a
class, serving lunch, helping with a craft-wherever an extra and responsible
person is needed. Helpers should be able to be flexible and enjoy pitching in
with whatever.
Every great ministry needs prayer. If you can commit to
praying for this VBS let me know. I will be posting concerns to this article on
my blog as they come in at the bottom under PRAYER CONCERNS.
Questions or concerns? Let me know and if I don’t have the
answer I’ll call Mary.
I miss having VBS at SMC but this is a great opportunity to
help a thriving VBS right down the road. I hope you’ll consider how the Lord is
calling you to engage.
PRAYER CONCERNS:
Pray that adults will step up to teach and help, and that
the details will come together.
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