Photo by Alex Blankenship
It’s summertime, which means Vacation Bible School (VBS). Churches are being filled with children singing and dancing to VBS songs and having fun all while learning about Jesus Christ.
According to a recent LifeWay article, 89% of Americans who attended Vacation Bible School (VBS) as a child agree it positively influenced their spiritual growth.
In the article, the author wrote, “The driving message of VBS is the same whether you have five kids or 5,000, whether you’re in a megachurch or on a mission trip. Whether you have high-tech production resources or simply your Bible and a teaching picture—it’s the message of Jesus Christ.”
At Central Baptist Church in North Little Rock, Executive Pastor Jace Tubbs said they “love intentionally focusing on kids for a week to teach them to walk with Jesus and help them learn to follow Christ as their savior.”
During the week of their VBS this year, they had more than 30 kids indicate they wanted to have a relationship with Christ.
“Now we get the opportunity to continue the conversation with them. This opportunity includes understanding what salvation is, the importance of baptism, and how to grow in their faith,” Tubbs said. “VBS is a total church effort with over 100 volunteers each night, as well as many others who set aside time to decorate and build an atmosphere that is inviting to kids. We love how VBS toward the beginning of the summer sets the stage for what God wants to do throughout the other events that are planned for the season.”
At Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock, they host Camp Geyer – their version of VBS. Children’s Pastor Brad Franklin said Camp Geyer focuses upon teaching God’s Word from the Scriptures and emphasizing God’s work through missions. Each year children participate in a variety of activity tracks, such as cooking, science, stomp, soccer, painting, and much more. This summer’s offering was given to the Amazon Outreach.
In a Geyer Springs FBC Weekly update email, the church shared, “What an incredible week it was at Camp Geyer and Camp Geyer Jr.! On average, there were 810 kids and volunteers here each day. A total of $4,336.66 was given in a special offering for Amazon Outreach. This offering will help feed families, build a well, and contribute to building a new church planting boat. The week ended with over 800 people in attendance for Family Day. Thank you, Geyer Springs, for your tremendous support!”
“The Lord blessed Camp Geyer with an incredible week of ministry to the church and the community,” Franklin said.
In Earle, First Baptist Church hosted VBS in June. Lending a hand at the VBS were folks from Bayou Baptist Association in the Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes of Louisiana.
“We had a good week,” said Mike Mathena of Grand Caillou Baptist Church. He was one of the 24 Louisiana Baptists to go on the missions trip to the Arkansas Delta. “I love Vacation Bible School, telling kids about Jesus. You get to sing them crazy songs and move around like you ain’t got a bit of sense and have fun with the kids.”
“It’s always good for us. You get out, take your faith, and share it with other Christians,” he said, noting part of their goal with the missions trip is to serve as an encouragement to the church in Earle. This was their third year serving in Earle and their sixth year in the Arkansas Delta.
At First Baptist Church in Benton, Children’s Minister Karlee Couch said their VBS, called Zapped, is a highlight for their whole church body each year.
“One of the most encouraging things is seeing the amount of volunteers who come together for it. We had about 150 adult volunteers and 60 student leaders,” she said.
Couch said a big win for them is, since they have a daytime VBS, they can extend the invite to the Boys and Girls Club and local daycares. “It is so cool to see our church body extend love to so many families that we may not have met otherwise,” she said.
FBC Benton’s VBS theme this year was “Live it Out.”
“We learned about Jesus welcoming the little children, Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus’ forgiveness for each of us, and how the church can live together,” Couch said “We are thankful for good fruit from the week as we saw salvation, readiness for baptism, and questions asked about the Gospel. This is the why! For kids to grow deeper in their faith and relationship with God. We are now praying for seeds that were planted to grow.”
These are just a few examples of the numerous Arkansas Baptist churches hosting VBS throughout the state.