Can you imagine an event at your church:

• where seven months of ministry growth is gained in one week?
• where the Gospel is shared daily?
• where more than half of attendees have never been to your church before, and more than 20 percent do not attend any church?

Vacation Bible School is this kind of event!

Churches across Alabama have VBS annually, and every year lives are changed during a week’s time.

“VBS is the number one evangelistic tool for reaching people,” said Jamie Baldwin, with the Office of Sunday School & Discipleship at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

The office works to train associational leaders throughout Alabama with the skills needed to lead a successful VBS. Those trained then teach VBS volunteer workers in local churches.

Associations often act as “connectors” to help churches share resources with each other, Baldwin observed.  He said the association can also serve as a catalyst to get the community excited about Vacation Bible School.

Baldwin said he has seen a church with fewer than 30 members have a VBS for two children, and churches with more than 1,000 members have hundreds of children. He said the size of the VBS is not as important as using the opportunity to share the Gospel with the youngest generation.

“More people will be saved through Vacation Bible School than through any other ministry or event a church has to offer,” Baldwin said. “Even unchurched parents will send their children to VBS because it had such a positive impact on their childhood.”

The Office of Sunday School & Discipleship suggests that churches use LifeWay’s VBS material because of its missional focus with resource kits for churches of every size.

The LifeWay material aims to be age-appropriate and evangelical.

This year’s VBS theme is “In the Wild: Amazing Encounters with Jesus.”

Whether a church uses LifeWay resources or not, Baldwin said he is sure lives will be changed through VBS at Alabama Baptist churches this year. Between crafts, music, and games, he said children are sure to have fun and hear the Gospel.

Seven months of ministry in one week alone: Is your church ready for Vacation Bible School?

For more information, please contact State Missionary Daniel Edmonds, director of Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries, at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 285, or (334) 613-2285, [email protected].