• Engage

    To Hold the Ropes

    We are about to transition from our busy spring schedules of graduations and end-of-year activities to an equally busy summer season. Mission trips are a big part of church and ministries’ summer schedule. In preparation for that, I suggest we prepare to “hold the ropes” for those who are venturing on mission adventures, church camps or even just helping in VBS. One of Christianity’s most compelling mission stories is of William Carey, called “the father of the modern missionary movement.” In 1792, William Carey, a poor English shoemaker, felt God’s call to take the gospel to the unreached in India. The mission society of his church appointed him to go,…

  • Heartprints

    A Free Evangelism Gospel App for VBS

    What we know as “Vacation Bible School,” originally began as “Everyday Bible School” at a New York beer hall in 1898. According to a Lifeway article:   “Initially, it was a plan of a compassionate doctor’s wife who sensed a need to get children off the streets of New York during the summertime. Mrs. Walker Aylett Hawes went to New York City from Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband who was specializing in a medical ministry to children. She noted that many of the children attended to at her husband’s clinic received injuries as they played in the streets of New York City. She surmised that they needed something safe and…

  • Heartprints

    Separation Anxiety and VBS

    Separation anxiety can appear in infants as early as six months and may continue through the child’s first year. This is a difficult time for parents, children and caregivers! But with patience, love and understanding, it too will pass. Remember, your VBS program is five days in length for one week (assuming you are following the traditional schedule). The infant or toddler’s enrollment in this program represents a deviation from the child’s normal schedule and routine. Couple this with the absence of his parent (or parents) and small wonder the infant or toddler cries in fear and frustration! How should VBS workers treat separation anxiety? I have a few suggestions.…

  • Heartprints

    VBS in the Nursery? Seriously?

    Some find the notion radical. Teach infants? Surely they would understand so little, if anything. Teach one year olds? Their attention span is so short that you couldn’t possibly teach a lesson. Teach wiggly, antsy, two year olds? It’s easier to herd cats.  Vacation Bible School (VBS) has a history of being radical. Eliza Hawes (who arguably pioneered the idea of VBS) begin a six-week summer program which included Bible stories, games, verse memorization, nature study, cooking, and sewing for underprivileged children in New York City. Unlike most Vacation Bible Schools held today, Hawes held her program in an unusual location–not in a church, not in a school, not in…