Get Your Youth Involved in VBS

Maybe it’s too late for this suggestion, but if your church is running a Vacation Bible School later this summer, consider getting your entire youth group actively involved in the program.  My experience is that this will bring a wonderful energy to the VBS, and it will have a long-lasting impact on both your youth group and youth involvement in the church.

If you want to give this a try, go after your youth group members with determination.  Don’t let them blow this opportunity off.  Push them and encourage their participation. Team up the students with adults who are involved in VBS. (If you have some very mature youth group members, you could pair several of them together and allow them to work with a group of VBS kids.)

Make sure the students are actively involved in the planning and the teaching.  If they are simply assistants, they will not get as much out of the experience, nor will they give as much to the experience.

When we involved our youth in VBS, it blessed our program in a number of ways:

• We needed the extra help, and the students filled that need nicely.
• The youth group quickly put the youngsters attending VBS at ease.
• The VBS participants seemed to gravitate towards our youth group volunteers.
• Even months after VBS, the children and the youth group volunteers remained friends and were always happy to see each other at church.
• Many of our youth group moved from VBS to Sunday school volunteers.
• Our youth group felt involved in our church in a way they never had before.

So if it’s not too late, consider this idea.  If it is too late this year, I’ll try to remind you much earlier next year and you can consider it then.