Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School has been around for a long time.  Its origins can be traced back to a program begun in 1894 by a public school teacher named D.T. Miles in Hopedale, Illinois.  Miles felt that the short period of time she had with her Bible students on Sunday mornings was not enough, so she came up with the idea of organizing a daily school for teaching Bible during the summer months, and VBS was born.  The first Bible school enrolled forty students and lasted four weeks.  Local school facilities were used for classes, and a public park was used for recess. 

VBS has changed a lot since that first experiment.  Young people are a lot busier than they were 100 years ago.  Churches have had to adapt to our full schedules, cutting the original month-long programs down to four or five days.  Still, VBS is important because it gives churches and parents a fun tool for teaching their children the most essential lessons for their lives from God’s word. 

This year, the theme for our VBS at Ashville Road is “God’s Game Plan—Seeing His Plan of Salvation.” By examining four examples of conversion in the book of Acts, we hope to impress upon our young people the urgency and simplicity of God’s plan for saving man. 

We’ll be looking at lessons from the conversions of the Philippian jailer, Saul of Tarsus, the Ethiopian eunuch, and Cornelius. In each case, we can see the hope Jesus brings, the believer’s proper response, and the joy that follows obedience.

Every night begins with singing and Bible drills with Mr. Tim in the auditorium.  After the young people are dismissed from the auditorium, they will be guided through five stations: the Story Station, the Memory Station, Crafts, Games, and Snacks.  There are class divisions for all ages, up through the adults.  VBS always ends back in the auditorium with more songs and fun with Mr. Tim. 

On Wednesday night, VBS continues, but as an added bonus, our adult class will continue our Wednesday series, “Animals of the Bible.” Charles Cochran will be our speaker. 

I hope you are inviting friends.  VBS is not only good spiritual training for our young people, it is always an important evangelistic opportunity.  Many people who would be hesitant to visit a worship service would not mind bringing their children to VBS. 

I have always been proud of our VBS and I am thankful to Will and Jenni Brooks and the other volunteers who work so hard to make it such a good experience.  The fun begins Sunday night at 5 p.m. See you there!

Drew Kizer