Inspiration

MOST REMEMBERED VBS

By Connie Arnold

With Vacation Bible School season well underway here in our area, I thought it was a good time to post this piece about a memorable VBS from many years ago.

Everyone in the church world knows that VBS stands for Vacation Bible School. From the first time I was able to toddle by myself into the beginners’ class until I was in the teenage class, I attended for two weeks every summer. Our class was a group of our friends—just one year older. During that time, the VBS wasn’t used as an outreach activity, although some children did attend who never came to our church Sunday school classes.

I remember staying at my grandmother’s house so that I could attend a VBS in her neighborhood. That one sticks in my mind because we built the Old Testament tabernacle. For two weeks our craft class built the tabernacle walls and all the furnishings. Sad to say, we couldn’t overlay our altars with gold, nor could we use precious gems on the priests’ garments. But we colored our pieces correctly, furniture folded and pasted together with precision, and the Holy of Holies curtained away as commanded by God. I, also, remember that I met a new friend at this VBS and ate frozen Polar Bear candy bars. I no longer remember the new friend’s name, and I don’t think they make these candy bars anymore. I did see a picture of her the other day when going through old papers: we stood arm-in-arm, two blond-headed eight-year-olds.

When I became too old for VBS class, the director asked me to teach. My first class was a group of six-year-old boys. I had been well trained. I had watched our VBS director put together the program every year with remarkable success. She trained her teachers, gathered craft materials, and learned new missionary stories that she told each day. Weeks before the VBS started, the call went out to save empty bathroom tissue rolls, paper-towel rolls, and various other ‘collectables’. We used popsicle sticks and chenille wires prodigiously. (We weren’t allowed to call chenille wires pipe cleaners)

Years later, my husband took a job about four hundred miles from our home. We started attending a church that had never had a VBS. We had two young sons, and I wanted the experience for them. I never asked myself if I could do it. I just jumped in with the suggestion of having one during the summer. The workers were enthusiastic and plentiful, so that was half the battle.

By the time I started planning the VBS, the publishing houses had started assembling craft projects in kits—no more salvaging for materials. That may have taken some of the advertising and anticipation away, but it was much more convenient. Most mothers in the neighborhood were stay-at-home moms. The one-income households did not allow for extras, and the church had no budget for a program such as this.

I reached out to my mother. She was more than eager to buy the craft kits for each student. I didn’t come from an affluent family, but my family was generous when giving to church projects.

Lately, I read of a worker assigned to a foreign mission field who started a VBS where she was stationed. It brought to mind my VBS. I certainly didn’t feel ‘called’ to move four hundred miles from my home, but it was a fulfilling experience. The Lord blessed the endeavor with a spirit of cooperation and with the privilege of praying with young children.

We had nearly one hundred children in attendance. I don’t know if they held another VBS after we left or not. I trust that at least one person went out with something to share with others.

It wasn’t much. But Jesus said, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward,” (Mark 9:41, KJV).