June 21, 2014August 2, 2014 Peter Witkowski Vacation Bible School

The State of VBS: Reflections on VBS 2014

It seems like only yesterday VBS 2014 was just a calendar item off in the distant future. Now after five days of God glorifying craziness, FBCE’s International Spy Academy VBS is at an end. As I reflect back, I happy to report that VBS 2014 was (by the grace of God) a resounding success!

Negatives

Admittedly, not everything was easy. FBCE encountered some struggles located around the registration tables, the pickup zones, and occasionally in our very coolly decorated classrooms. We even had to temporarily dismiss a few Truth Force Agents. Lord willing, we (especially me, your children’s pastor) hope to learn from our struggles and be even better prepared for VBS 2015! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

Positives

And now that all the posters are down and the lights have been turned off, I can confidently say FBCE effectively ministered to 320 children throughout the week, having almost 200 kids on campus each night. Everything from the meals, to games, to missions, to the buses transporting 66 kids went great – albeit a little bonkers at times! Every child left healthy and happy, raving about their time at FBCE. More importantly, all of these children left aware of the Gospel of God! Even the agents who got sent home for misbehaving were confronted with their need for a Savior! They learned firsthand that sin brings sorrow – the immediate sorrow of going home! But they also were presented with Christ who gives the freedom to overcome sin! But the greatest news is that we have had children repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ this week! God has been good to FBCE!

As we all head home for some well-deserved R&R, I wish to thank each and every one of the over 130 people who worked, sacrificed, and faithfully shared Christ to make VBS 2014 a God glorifying success! I especially wish to thank Darla Faulk, Joy Quinones, and Joe Daniel for their insights, support, and endless hours of hard work! FBCE could not have succeeded without you!

Lastly, I wish to thank the staff at Answers In Genesis for creating another wonderful VBS curriculum that faithfully proclaimed Christ! You have been a great encouragement to FBCE!

VBS 2015 here we come!!!

June 11, 2014August 2, 2014 Peter Witkowski Discipleship, Vacation Bible School

VBS Exit Interviews

Very soon, my church will be overrun with joyous little faces attached to bodies containing more energy that a nuclear power plant. For the next five nights these guys and gals will clap, scream, run and eat until even the hardiest of volunteers is ready for a soft bed surround by the beauty of silence. And when the lights are switched off and the doors are locked, what will these kids say about VBS? What will they take away from the hours of fun?

For years, I have been content to hear kids say that the best thing about VBS was the Samurai game or the colorful craft with the Styrofoam dolphins. As my ears buzzed with kids talking about how much fun they had at church, I would pat myself on the back for a job well done. We’d connected to the little people and could count on them coming back.

Recently, I realized how far short my standard fell from God’s standard. One of my favorite things in children’s ministry is exit interviews. During these informal encounters in hallways and super markets, I pepper kids with a short series of questions such as, “Do you think we should do the event again?” One day after getting past my preliminary questions with a child who had had great time at one of the church’s spring events, I asked him, “What was the best part of the day?” I was ready for a bunch of different answers ranging from the open access to junk food to the craziness of the games played. But I was not ready for his answer: “The best part was the lesson.”

A light bulb went off. In spite of my church’s heavy emphasis upon Christ, I still expected kids to leave our church impressed with our programming and smiling teachers. In some ways, my expectations were driven by a humble understand of salvation. I know that my teachers and I could not save (John 6:63). Consequently, I did not want to make baptisms our standard of success. I had no desire to start manipulating kids into false professions by offering to repent for them through formulaic repetitions of the sinner’s prayer. But in avoiding one extreme, I slid into the other of being of people pleaser, or more accurately a kid pleaser. I was content to let some activity about Jesus appear to be more attractive than Jesus. I had not been helping kids grasp that Christ is better than everything.

And while I want children to have a great time at this year’s VBS, my goal now goes beyond giving kids some summer fun to talk about. This year, I hope the kids leave talking about Jesus. Yes, my church will use upbeat songs, cool crafts, and exciting games to connect with the kids. And yes, I want every child to feel the welcoming love of Christ while they are at church. But these are not the goal of VBS or of our children’s ministry for that matter. They are tools Christians use to help kids fall in love with the all-powerful creator who sent his son to save sinners! The Lord Jesus is way cooler than any cheesy song, decorated Popsicle stick, or slimy game. Jesus offers real life and freedom from the despair of sin! Let’s make our boast in him! Some unbelieving kids may be bugged by our gospel centeredness. But whether it’s as a praise or as a complaint, I pray that every child leaves VBS talking about Jesus!

As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:15b

If we hope to hear kids chatting about our awesome God, each of us must passionately love Jesus. I fear that kids think Jesus is boring because we portray him as a distant moralistic deity that we talk to every other weekend. When we fail to walk closely with our Savior, we cannot help our kids love Jesus. As Jack Klumpenhower reminds us:

Students sense the difference between a teacher with integrity and a fake. There’s nothing they demand more than integrity. Not hipness. Not entertainment. Not even solid Bible teaching. They want- and need – for us to be practicing believers in everyday life. (pp. 193-94)

To rekindle and grow in our love for Christ, we have to be daily communing with God by reading his Word (John 8:31-32). We should pray, thanking God for his good gifts to us and asking him to work in the universe (James 4:1-3). Then, we need to worship with our church family so that we will be encouraged to love and do good works (Hebrews 10:23-25). Lastly, we can start studying our lessons a day or two in advance, applying the scriptures to our hearts before we teach them to our kids. If we love Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind, kids will see that our God is amazing (Luke 10:27).

In days ahead, I’m sure I’ll have many opportunities to conduct VBS exit interviews in grocery stores and restaurants around my might little town. And when I get to my final question, I hope and pray that each little respondent says that the best thing about VBS was Jesus!

Works Cited

Klumpenhower, J. (2014). Show Them Jesus: Teaching the Gospel To Kids. Greensboro : New Growth Press .

May 21, 2014July 8, 2014 Peter Witkowski Children's Ministry, Discipleship, Vacation Bible School

The Summertime Gospel

V…B…S…V…B…S…V…B…S

Hundreds of kids running around downing Jell-O incased gold fish is just one of the many things that make Vacation Bible School one of the craziest but most exciting events on the church calendar. As the week of crafts, games, and singing unfolds, Christian parents and youth have the chance to pour the gospel directly into the heart of kids. But as with all good church programs, Christians must actively work to keep VBS focused on preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

The Purpose Of VBS

Several VBS publishers have begun to tailor their programs to church kids. These curriculums emphasize God’s love, obeying parents, or caring for schoolmates. They want kids to bounce out of the closing ceremony with a better understanding of how to be good Christian.

Though well intended, the move to make VBS into a summer camp-style-refresher course on the merits of moral living is not the best use of church resources. The people of God are called to be evangelistic. We are to follow Christ and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15). Our goal should not be to turn outreach programs into members’ only ministries. Not too long ago, the evangelical church redid Sunday school, changing it from a program designed to reach poor, inner-city kids into a muffin filled fellowship time for adults. Now I don’t think adult fellowship times are evil. But we must be careful not to become so focused on meeting our own needs that we close our eyes those outside our walls. One program that traditionally has had an outside focus is VBS. Let’s keep it focused on the Great Commission by inviting the community to attend.

Though reaching the community is hugely important, an effective VBS also needs a message that connects to those outside the church. If we call unsaved kids to be good without offering them the power of the gospel, we will confuse them in one of two ways. Either they will leave depressed because they cannot be meet the impossible standards of Jesus or they’ll leave a VBS t-shirt wearing Pharisee, who is convinced they can conquer sin through sheer will power. Let’s not leave kids hopeless or help them cover up their sin nature with some spiritual self-esteem. Let’s faithfully proclaim the gospel, trusting that God will work mightily!

Now when it comes to preaching the gospel this summer, we do not need to restrict it to an emotional display that climaxes with a pastor passionately asking kids to accept Jesus because “He will make everything better!” After all, who wouldn’t sign up for their best life now by repeating the short phrases of a sinners’ prayer?

A better option is to make all of VBS be about the gospel. We should choose curriculums or create programs that help the kids singing in our pews to understand the depths of their sin. Then, we direct these energetic souls to Christ who has paid for their sin. We offer them the hope of eternal life while reminding them that to gain true life they must abandon their self-centeredness. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

What About The Church Kids?

Now some might be concerned that a VBS focused on the gospel might fail to connect with the church kids. First, we need to remember that our good church kids might not be saved. They could be all about the nice things in life because they hope their mission’s offerings and Sunday school attendance will get them into heaven. Second, we need to remember that our goal is not to help kids pretend that they don’t need a savior. Even saved children still need to be reminded of the cross and of their need to depend on Christ alone as the live they Christian life. “The cure for kids who feel burdened by sin is not to ignore the topic (they feel the burden anyway, even if that aren’t talking about it), but to administer large doses of the good news so that their faith Jesus grows” (Klumpenhower, p. 39). The gospel is relevant for every kid regardless of how many times they went to Sunday school.

This summer, let’s make the VBS all about the gospel!