From the Pastor’s Desk (205)
Summer is almost over. That means almost all the churches’ Vacation Bible Schools are also over. So let me address all the parents on an issue that may be a little uncomfortable to hear.
Over the years, I have noticed that New Life parents send their children to multiple VBS’s during the summer, which struck me as odd. I grew up going to just one VBS each year and that was the one at my home church. I played and did school projects the rest of the summer.
Why, then, do New Life families send their children to multiple VBS’s? There could be several reasons. One, they sincerely want their children to learn about God. Two, both mom and dad are working and they need to figure something out for their children to do to fill up their time. Three, stay-at-home parents just don’t know what to do with their children during the summer or need some break from their own children.
I am aware of the fact that not all pastors think like I do. Therefore, I would like to share with you what and how your pastor thinks in regards to New Life’s VBS so that you can make a conscientious decision in regards to sending your children to other churches’ VBS’s next year.
First of all, what is the purpose of doing VBS? For me, it is twofold. One is to come alongside of New Life families and help them teach their children The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40) which is to love God and love our neighbors. During the summer, when children have a lot of time on their hands, we dedicate one whole week to do VBS for New Life families so that their children can immerse themselves in God’s word, learning what it means to love God and love their neighbors.
Another reason for doing VBS is to provide New Life families with an opportunity to fulfill The Greatest Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). We all have VIPs that we pray for and make an effort to reach out to because we love them. I also know that some of our little children have their own VIPs and make their own unique efforts to reach out to them. This is the power of modeling and we have done a great job of teaching our children the importance of caring for our VIPs! And VBS is a great opportunity for all of us, both parents and children, to fulfill Christ’s Greatest Commission. Some of our VIPs who may not be interested in coming out to our house church may be interested in sending their children to our VBS during the summer. And almost every single time, when the children of our VIPs come to our VBS, they thoroughly enjoy it, including all the songs that they learn from it.
Therefore, our VBS is not for families and children who already go to different churches. We are not interested in having a big turnout during our VBS because many children from different churches showed up. Rather, our VBS must be filled with our own children and those VIP children that our families and children are trying to reach out to.
I may be wrong but I think that other pastors whose churches are hosting VBS are doing it for similar reasons. In light of this, I feel uneasy about New Life families sending their children to other churches’ VBS multiple times during the summer. Again, other pastors may not mind this and may even welcome it. But I personally am not too thrilled about our volunteers serving those children from different churches when they can use their time and energy to serve our own children and the children of our own VIPs. We only have a limited amount of time and energy so we must use both wisely. Besides, these children from other churches usually have their own VBS.
Perhaps there could be some exceptions. For example, if your children attend a Christian school that is run by a local church and if the church welcomes your children to its VBS, or if a church indiscriminately welcomes children from different churches to its VBS, then I guess it should be okay to send your children to other churches’ VBS.
Parents, I suggest that you be mindful and respectful of other churches’ policies and practices and I encourage you to reconsider sending your children to other churches for VBS next summer. Instead, let’s put all of our energy into hosting a great VBS so that our kids will grow and our VIP families will be attracted to Christ.
Your pastor, Eric
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