How To Survive VBS Without Getting Shipwrecked
Promise yourself that you will survive VBS.
Go to the Captain, plot your course, and you won’t shipwreck
on the shores of giving your time.
Full disclosure here.
It’s been several years since I volunteered to be a teacher for Summer Vacation Bible School.
But when I was, ahem, younger, I taught two weeks every. single. summer.
Many of those weeks I spent sinking, nearly drowning, sucking in air, so I could stay above the waves of children’s ADHD-like action, me-me-me demands and a tiny bit of just plain down-and-dirty badness. There were many others right there with me pulling ropes and adjusting sails, who may or may not have known what they were signing up for when they came on board.
Well, you either learn to swim with the sharks, or you quit.
We couldn’t bear to quit.
Although I got into helping produce VBS instead of holding the hands of little children, I still call myself a survivor.
I survived teaching Vacation Bible School.
And you can too!
Here’s how to plot your course to survive VBS…
1. Go To The Sources: God and His Bible
The Captain of this ship called Vacation Bible School is God.
He is the destination you want every child to aim for, and the end plan for their life’s journey.
Finding their way to that Safe Harbor is not up to you, even though you may think it is. You might believe you have to do Christian the right way and make sure they learn all the verses and sing all the songs so that they will learn what they need.
No.
The best way to lead is to follow. Follow God. Learn His Bible.
You feel a little shaky, so you wish you had this whole teaching thing down pat. You worry how you’ll get the kids to do what they’re supposed to, so just stop.
This is not about you being the perfect example to the children.
It’s not about impressing the other teachers with your skill in teaching.
It is about you holding God’s hand. It’s about asking Him to help you with the right words at the right time, with filling in the gaps when you feel as if you’re missing chunks of teaching opportunities.
And He will. The person who asks in sincerity can relax and let God lead. Even when you don’t feel like a success, believe that He was there, giving impressions and drawing hearts while you were busy putting out fires and trying to be heard.
God works in mysterious ways. We’ve seen it in VBS so often. The child that can’t sit still or ever stop talking is the one who will surprise you with a story of how God helped him in a scary situation.
So just ask God for help every day. He should be the rudder, so let him steer. He wants to draw the children, and He will do the work. You need not stress.
That takes care of the spiritual part.
The physical side is up to you.
2. Plan Plan Plan.
In the Teacher’s Manuals of most VBS courses there are introductions to teaching and ideas on making a success of volunteering.
Read these introductions. Read all the information you can get your hands on. Ask other teachers how they prepare, so you can become the captain of your little ship, to continue the metaphor.
The more prepared you are, the smoother the ride will be. Plot your course so you can pretty much go on auto pilot when the little passengers come aboard.
3. Get All The Things Together.
Anyone who’s been around active, happy, healthy children knows that the way they stay happy and healthy is by being active.
And don’t underestimate even the little ones. They’re savvy and selfish and you want to keep things rolling smoothly, so don’t ad lib or play the same games every day. Keep them surprised and excited by varying activities and telling the Bible stories imaginatively.
To do this, all preparation has to be done ahead of time, so take your spare time of that month to prepare for one week of VBS! You won’t regret time spent. Things will roll so much more smoothly.
Practice telling the stories, out loud, in front of a mirror. Don’t read them word for word from the printed page. Make them your stories, told in your way, but with the basic knowledge that they are God’s stories that He wants the children to hear.
Pick one emphasis for each day. If the lesson is Zacchaeus, make everything about seeking God. Tell little details about sycamores or how to climb trees so they can see the story. Get them to remember the little man and why he climbed a tree. That way they can climb higher some day when life is keeping them down. A former student of our VBS ended up in prison, and he said he sang Bible School songs and remembered Bible stories every day to help him through it.
After teaching several years, you will start to collect ideas through out the year. Keep your VBS box stored in a handy place so you can add the ideas when they hit you. During VBS, keep it supplied, like an emergency kit or go-bag, that you can grab for the day’s class and know all the crayons, glue, little scissors and extra paper will be there. One of the lessons I taught was about the sick man who was let through the roof by his friends. I collected paper grocery sacks through the year so I had enough to make enough little houses so we could let our little sick man through the roof.
4. Above All, to Survive VBS, Enjoy Yourself.
Make a promise to yourself that you will enjoy volunteering.
No picking at quirks of the other workers. Believe that the superintendents and/or leaders know what they’re doing, and are doing it the best way they know. The daily details are not the big picture. The little annoyances will never be noticed by the stars of this party: the children. And be sure, very sure, you don’t let attitudes affect the way you relate to the children. This week is about them. Everything you or anyone else does should involve what is best for the students.
Your actions, thoughts, words might be the only way they see God.
They may not see Him at home with their family.
They may not know anyone who is heart-centered on living like Jesus.
Keep the big picture in mind,
and VBS will be super fun,
with a ship full of random hugs and warm little hearts.
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