Create your own neighborhood VBS
Do you have unchurched children living near you? Do your children or grandchildren have friends who are not involved in church activities? Perhaps there is a ministry with your name on it just waiting to be tapped into.
If you are reading this blog post, you are already somewhat computer savvy, right? You probably know how to search the Web to find answers to your questions and music videos to fit your mood. Have you discovered Pinterest with its amazing craft and food ideas? Did you know there is a website that can help you create your own puzzles? If you can do these simple things online, you can find resources to create your very own VBS right at home.
Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC, has published three Bible story titles to date, and includes posts with ideas for supplementing the stories to create a VBS scenario. You can see these on this link: VBS or Bible Studies Perhaps you will want to try these ideas, or you might prefer to create something from a different Bible story.
Children’s Bible storybooks make great springboards for neighborhood VBS lessons. This “Christian Children’s Authors” website includes many Bible storybooks under the “Our Books” subheading. More books can be found by clicking on Book and Media Reviews in the sidebar. Keep in mind the age of your children as you select books and activities, but don’t become overly bogged down with age-appropriateness. If you are excited about the story and you have a wide age range of children, your enthusiasm will become contagious. You might be surprised how much younger children will pick up from you or the older children.
Know your Bible story. Read it directly from the Bible two or three times before sharing it with children. Consider studying it from more than one translation. Bible storybooks are great for entertaining and capturing a child’s attention and imagination while your supplemental activities can help children learn more of the story, especially if the book is written for younger children than those within your outreach.
Resources at your fingertips online:
- Online coloring pages – here is one for starters. There are several other options online for this. Free Bible Coloring Pages
- Christian songs – again there are several to choose from. Sing Hosanna is one channel on YouTube with several VBS classic songs. You can also search for Bible songs with a specific Bible story in mind.
- Pinterest – resource for crafts, refreshments, and games. Type in VBS Moses for ideas to use with a theme about Moses. Search for any VBS theme idea and discover a wealth of ideas at your disposal.
- Puzzles – make your own. PuzzleMaker offers many types of puzzles to choose from. Use them to reinforce the story or to encourage the children to dig a little deeper.
Your VBS can be as big or as small as you want to make it. The important thing is that these unreached children will know that you value them, that you care. It could be as small as one-on-one time with a neighbor child, or it could include several children from within your sphere of influence. Pray about it. God may increase your ministry as you exercise your faith to reach out to the children.
by Janice D. Green, author of Jonah, the Fearful Prophet, The Creation, and Baby Jesus . . . Messiah!
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