Highlighting Vacation Bible School
As June comes around each year, VBS always brings with it feelings of both excitement as well as uncertainty. Without a youth director, I was initially unsure of how much help we would receive. I also feared that with travel restrictions lifted, many volunteers and kids would not be around to participate. Nevertheless, I was excited for a normal VBS without having to worry about covid. I also looked forward to shining Jesus’ light with this year’s out-of-this-world theme: Stellar!
First of all, I was astounded by the amount of kids that signed up. On Day 1 of Stellar VBS, I was overjoyed to see room 5 filled with so many kids, both regulars and new families! Through all the excited chaos, I really saw how we were able to shine a light to our community. As the week went by, it was heartwarming being able to witness the friendships being made as well as the connections being built between volunteers and the children. In our closing times, we talked a lot about “God Sightings,” or clues that show that God is present everywhere and everyday if we only take the time to look. Seeing the kids become more comfortable and open up to each other was one of the many God Sightings I got to spot during VBS. It was a great reminder of all the astronomical plans God has for each of us. He definitely brought everything together for our Stellar VBS to make it the best it could be for everyone that joined us!
As for all the volunteers that stepped up, they did a wonderful job in the roles they were assigned, even if it may have felt like a stretch to them. With lots of younger youth volunteers this year, I had pushed many to take on larger roles such as being “crew leaders” and being in charge of their own groups of kids or leading stations with various activities for each crew. I can say I was definitely “over the moon” with not only how everyone willingly accepted their roles, despite it being outside of their comfort zones, but did an absolutely stellar job! I am so thankful for all the amazing volunteers that dedicated their time to make this VBS memorable for each of the kids. It was a joy seeing such a multigenerational group of volunteers all coming together to work towards the same cause. The unity I saw among each volunteer was encouraging and definitely a God Sighting!
Finally, the support we received from the entire church community was incredible and this VBS could not have happened without the contributions of everyone. We are very grateful for all of the prayers, those who came out to our donation collection event, and invitations sent to friends and relatives to sign up their kids or volunteer!
We truly had a blast being able to spend time with all the volunteers and children as we learned how to “Shine Jesus’ light” to those around us, no matter the circumstance. I was able to feel God working through every aspect and am beyond grateful for every outcome. While the week flew by like a comet, our VBS was definitely “Stellar” as God went beyond any expectations we had. Praise God for making the sky the limit!
