Rocky Bayou Baptist Association is collecting supplies to aid small membership churches in their Vacation Bible School endeavors.
The association came up with the idea to take donations after a member of a small church visited the association office. Ministry Assistant Gail Hawkins said the member shared that their church does not have a budget for Vacation Bible School. They then talked about how sometimes people buy supplies, use them, and then put them in a closet only to decide to throw them out five years down the road.
They thought, why not give those supplies to assist others?
Hawkins then published the idea in the association’s February newsletter. It states they have “churches wanting to conduct VBS, Block Parties, etc. this summer but have no budget to purchase supplies. It doesn’t matter how old your stuff is as long as it’s usable stuff. Anything will help. So … let’s clean out those closets and help out our sister churches.”
Hawkins, who is also the women’s ministry leader for the association, said the same thing is done within women’s ministry.
“Big churches, they have stuff leftover. They don’t want it because they’re never going to use it again. I thought if that works for women’s ministry, it will work for VBS too,” she said.
Vacation Bible School is very important, Hawkins said.
“VBS, you cannot underestimate the good that comes out of VBS. … And kids in our area, they are not regular church goers and VBS may be the only time they get to hear about Jesus,” she said. “My husband was saved at a VBS. A lot of our adult leaders got saved at VBS. All it takes is one to make it worthwhile.”
According to a 2018 Lifeway Research article, of 1,200 American adults surveyed about their experience with Vacation Bible School, one in six remember making a spiritual commitment at Vacation Bible School.
“We’re just going to keep going forward and doing the best we can and working with what we’ve got and if we get supplies, we’ll use them and if we don’t then we’ll come up with something else,” Hawkins said.
To donate supplies, contact the Rocky Bayou Baptist Association office at 870-322-8458 or email rbba72536@gmail.com to schedule a pickup or drop-off time.