All over Alabama, preparations are under way for the Vacation Bible School (VBS) adventure of a lifetime, courtesy of “Amazing Wonders Aviation.”
According to LifeWay Christian Resources’ 2012 VBS webpage, the weeklong experience will take kids on an imaginary journey to some of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders.
Each day will begin in the Worship Rally Hangar and then move on to Bible Study at Victoria Falls, Missions Under the Northern Lights, Music at the Matterhorn, Crafts at the Great Barrier Reef, Recreation at the Grand Canyon and Snacks at the Paricutin Volcano.
The theme was drawn from Psalm 147:5: “Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite” (HCSB).
“We want everyone who attends VBS to know the power of our awesome God,” Jerry Wooley, LifeWay’s VBS specialist, said when announcing the theme last summer. “He has the power [to] create these awesome natural wonders, but He also has the power to make an awesome impact on our lives.”
Longtime VBS songwriter Jeff Slaughter composed the music for “Amazing Wonders Aviation.”
LifeWay recently announced that this year will be Slaughter’s last as VBS songwriter, an annual role for him since 1996.
Even though VBS is a summertime event, the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) always begins the leadership training process well in advance. This year’s state VBS faculty was assembled in September and has been in preparation mode ever since, said James Blakeney, an associate in the SBOM office of Sunday School/discipleship.
“We met for the first time at Shocco Springs (Baptist Conference Center in Talladega) in November,” he said. “Then we trained at Ridgecrest (Conference Center in North Carolina) in January. That’s where we write the skit we present at the clinics and make other plans.”
After their training was complete, faculty members geared up to spend the week of Feb. 20 on the road conducting five VBS clinics in five cities (Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery, Enterprise and Monroeville) in five days.
These clinics, strategically located to be within an hour and a half drive from any point in the state, are designed to train associational leaders, who, in turn, train their churches for VBS.
With 16 years as state trainer and promoter of VBS under his belt, Blakeney is appropriately known as “Mr. VBS.” Largely thanks to his efforts, Alabama Baptists lead the Southern Baptist Convention in VBS training.
“Tennessee is trying to beat us,” he said with a smile. “But they haven’t caught up with us yet.”
At the clinic at NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association, Daniel Edmonds, director of the office of Sunday School/discipleship, reported that in 2011, approximately 253,000 children were enrolled in VBS in Alabama. Of those children, 6,603 made professions of faith.
Those statistics, Edmonds said, underscore the importance of VBS in leading children and their family members to Christ.
“VBS is still the No. 1 Southern Baptist attractional evangelism event,” he said.
Even churches unable to manage VBS on their own following the massive April 27, 2011, tornado outbreak found that other churches were willing to make it happen for their kids, Edmonds said.
“Not everyone will respond to the message, but everybody should have the chance to hear,” he said.
“Some of the most memorable times you’ll ever have in evangelism are through VBS.”
During the clinics, several associations (see sidebar) were recognized for 100 percent VBS reporting from member churches. But the news wasn’t all good. Of the 2,900 churches reporting, 800 did not hold VBS in 2011, a number that bothers Blakeney.
“That’s a lot of churches that don’t have VBS,” he said. “And that’s why we keep doing this (training).”
For more information and resources, visit www.lifeway.com/vbs2012/yourvbs/.
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