Niagra Falls from Maiden of the Mist

I visited Victoria Falls in Zambia in 2005 and thought I would not be impressed with Niagra after seeing them. However the view from the maiden of the mist boat is very impressive. The sheer volume and power generated by the horseshoe falls makes me wonder how one can not see the majesty of God in his creation.

Kidz Blitz highlights

VBS highlights video

Thanks to Richard Maddox for this highlight video from VBS.

Final VBS thoughts

I wrote this last week during VBS - just some thoughts in the middle of a good VBS

Vacation Bible School this year has been terrific. We have a terrific group of volunteers, a wonderful leadership team, record attendance and a fun theme – Sonforce Kids. As of this writing (Wednesday morning) we have averaged 250 kids a night and over 300 kids have come at least once. Those who know me well know I am reflective and analytical and this is a good time for me to think through and then re-think through the reasons why we do VBS.
So what are the positives of Vacation Bible School? For many people kids getting saved is the best thing. I really pray this happens but if you know me you know I have also developed the philosophy that for kids salvation is more of an ongoing process rather than an earth-shaking event. The key is long term exposure to the truth and love of Christ rather than simply repeating a prayer. The Bible uses words like believe and trust when it comes to salvation and for kids those things don’t happen in one event. They grow into them. So VBS is another chance to help kids grow in their belief and trust in Jesus.
There are other great things that happen at VBS. It is a chance for lots of people who can’t normally volunteer in kid’s ministry to be exposed to what we do. Kids in the Roanoke Valley love to invite their friends to VBS. I am really proud of the first class carnival we put on every year at the end of VBS. It is so great to see so many families form the church and community enjoying this evening. I love the high energy worship of a room full of bouncing kids. It helps some new kids develop friendships in the church. Wow lots of great things!
So what do I not like about VBS - a couple of things. First of all are finances. We spend about 28% of our yearly budget on one week – VBS (plus a couple extra thousand from VBS offerings and concessions sales). More than Awana, more than Sunday School, more than Kid’s Worship and more than Nursery which are all ongoing ministries? In fact to a degree some of those ministries suffer because of VBS. We have some really old microphones in Kid Kove that need to be replaced and if we did not have VBS we would have new microphones in Kid Kove.
I also see how VBS can develop a one-time mentality. It is so obvious that you can not effectively reach kids with a one week strategy but so many churches and so many church people think that VBS is what children’s ministry is all about. The truth is most of the positives I listed about VBS happen in an ongoing way in kid’s ministry all the time! Also I wonder is VBS just another time for kids and their parents to be at church separated again.
So what do we do? A big part of my job is to do the best with what I’m given to develop a comprehensive strategy to reach kids and their families for Christ. That means to continually evaluate and re-evaluate what we are doing, what we are spending money and who we can do all this better! So I need to ask some tough questions in the middle of an incredible VBS. Questions like can we do something wonderful like a three day kid’s crusade with a first class speaker for a third of the budget and still have a great event for kids and their parents? Is their a way to do this and help whole families enjoy this together? Could we join together as a bunch of different ministries and work together to do a great carnival that lots of budgets shoulder and create an event bigger event for the community? Do we have the courage and desire for a year to try something new and different?So what’s in store for next year? I don’t know yet, but I would invite your constructive dialogue and prayer. Will we have VBS or something different? Stay tuned!

VBS Carnival

I always love the carnival on the last night. We put alot of hard work into this and spend a big portion of the budget on it. I hope that everyone enjoys it. The weather this year was great.

VBS Day 4 and 5

We wrapped up the regular VBS program tonight. Tomorrow we still have the carnival. It was a very good week and the carnival hopefully will be great too. Patsy got a pie tonight even though the girls won the offering contest. She said she was "so confident" the boys would lose she didn't even think they could bring in $400 for the week and if they did he would take a pie no matter what. Well they doubled that and so three of us got a pie tonight, Patsy, Grant and myself. I will post video later.

Some VBS stats
average attendance - 250
Total number of kids coming through - 318
Offering total - $1,775
Who knows how many volunteers! At least 100.

Special thanks to our directors

Preschool Pastor Grant Beecher
Games director - David Raymond
Preschool Games Director - Robin Kingery
Head Teacher - Shawnee Leonard
Crafts director and Elementary Worship - Patsy
Preschool Worship - Dee Lupiya
Head Coach - Sara Willard
5th/6th Grade Boys Director - Becky Reed
5th/6th Grade Girls Director - Phyllis Booth
Registration and Office - Jody Hendrix
VBS Nurse - Angie Lauridsen
Snacks Director - Judy Avis
Offering Counters - Opal Keller

Day 2 and 3

Some more fun pics from last night and tonight!

VBS Day 1

We had a pretty decent start to VBS last night with over 240 kids here plus a bunch of adults and teens. I will try and post a few photos from each night every day. We'll see how that goes!

Pie in the face

In anticipation for this year's VBS here is last year's Fiesta offering result.

VBS is almost here

July 29th through August 3rd

6:30-8:30 p.m.

Carnival on August 3rd!

More VBS photos

Enjoy these photos. The bottom one is of my good friend Chris Parker. He always helps in Children's Ministries whenever he can. What a great guy!

VBS

We just wrapped up a great week of VBS at our church! We used the Fiesta curriculum from Group and we really did have a party. We averaged 221 kids with around 130 volunteers each night. The carnival on the last night was the best with somewhere around 500 people roaming the grounds using their free tickets! I have heard of over 20 different kids coming to Christ during the week as well! Que padre!
One group of kids was visiting their grandmother here from out of town and told their grandma that VBS was the best part of their summer vacation. I'll post more pics later. Personally I think I look like Antonio Banderas in this one. El Zorro rides again!