This week, many of our church members are gearing up for our Vacation Bible School. Next week, our church grounds will be flooded (I hope!) with 5 year-olds through sixth graders coming to get their Game On! It will be a big week for our church; perhaps the biggest of the whole year.

You may wonder why churches, and ours in particular, still host Vacation Bible Schools each summer. It takes so much preparation, it’s exhausting, and uses many resources. Plus, churches all over do it. Why not let a few just have it?

First, it’s one of the few outreach events churches offer to which parents are still willing to bring their children. According to a recent Lifeway research poll, 69% of parents polled stated they would allow their children to attend VBS if invited. Did you get that? Seven out of ten, even among the unchurched, are okay with their kids going to VBS! This research alone should motivate churches to get behind VBS.

Second, children are the most receptive to the message regarding their own sinfulness, Jesus’ giving of Himself to the cross to pay for their sin, and His glorious resurrection. According to Southern Nazarene University, 85% of those polled say they trusted in Christ between the ages of four and fourteen. This means that those attending our VBS, the target audience, are the most willing of all the age demographics to respond to Jesus.

Finally, VBS is vital for the formation of biblical truth in its participants.  The same Lifeway study referenced above found that almost 90% stated that VBS helped them to understand the Bible more. The same percentage retained memories of good experiences in VBS. Almost everybody polled have positive views of VBS.

Here are some memories I have of VBS. I remember that the first time I ever ate a “goldfish” cracker was in VBS as we learned about Jesus blessing the little boy’s lunch and then feeding 5,000 from it. (The goldfish were the fishes, oyster crackers served as the loaves.) I remember wrapping somebody up in toilet paper and then calling him (Lazarus) out of the grave. I remember that when you really “grew up” was when it was your turn to help out in VBS. Kool-aid (too often watered down), butter cookies that looked like daisies, off-brand Oreos, and snow-cones still remind me of snack time forty years ago. Memories!