Who is the Greatest?

I want to take a moment to ponder this question, who is most important in VBS? Here are some possibilities:
1. The leaders who meet and plan everything. 2. The leaders of the pre-school,crafts, games, snacks, bible lesson and music. 3. The people who purchase all the stuff for the snacks. 4. The folks that help mow and spray the Grove. 5. The pastors who share during unity service. All these are super important and I thank God for each and everyone, because without them VBS would be a mess.

Now the kids we are ministering to are what it is all about, they are the future of the body of Christ. They are our example of what we are to be like to be partakers of the kingdom of God-

(Jesus) said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

Since the kids are the focus it makes sense to me that the most important are the group leaders who are with the kids for the whole week. They are there one-on-one being Jesus in the skin to these little ones. They have the privilege of being with these kids when they hear the gospel for the first time! They get to see the awe and wonder in the face as they get to hear stories of Jesus walking on the water, healing the sick, raising the dead, for the first time in their life! They have the privilege of praying with these little guys as they walk with them into the throne room of God. They sweat with them, play with them and eat with them. They are Christ to them. We all are Christ to them. Let us pray that God will continue to bless us with great volunteers and great group leaders this summer!

Zero Tolerance

Hello VBS folks,

I recently heard some statistics that I wanted to pass on to everyone. 1 out of 3 girls in America are sexually abused. 1 out of 5 boys are sexually abused. 10% to 15% of kids in the church are victims of incest. 98% of sexual abuse that happens to children is perpetrated by someone they know.

This is some very sad information that surely breaks the heart of God. So the reason I bring this up is so that we are aware of problem and sin around us. Community VBS should be a safe place for kids to come and hear the gospel and so far we have had no abuse incidents being reported. I thank God for everyone who loves God, loves kids and gives up valuable time to serve in VBS each summer. But to take a stand against child sex abuse, I am planning to ask the VBS committee to require all adult helpers (myself included) to sign a pledge to protect VBS kids and bring them no harm . I would love to be able to afford police background checks on all adult helpers to insure the kids safety, but it is unfortunately too expensive. This pledge would simply be the voice of Community VBS making a stand that we will not tolerate abuse, be it sexual or physical.

We continue to have leaders keeping an eye out for adult strangers hanging around the Grove during VBS and we ask them to move on for the kids protection. Now we want to make a simple statement with everyone involved that we will love and respect the children that God brings to VBS. A pledge of zero tolerance of child abuse.

I look forward to our meeting this Saturday morning (April 7th at 10AM at the Methodist church), I will answer any questions in relation to the pledge. We will also pray about leaders and helpers and overview this summers VBS. See you then!