Evangelism is at the heart of Vacation Bible School (VBS) — sharing Christ with children, their parents and anyone who will come and listen. For that reason, VBS can be a missions opportunity outside the church walls as well.
For the fourth year in a row, missions volunteers at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Moulton, in Muscle Shoals Baptist Association took the message of Christ to the people of Honduras through Bible school.
Neil Carter, associate pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist, and five church members traveled to the village of Seis de Mayo June 11–18. Partnering with Evangelistic International Ministries (EIM), the team concentrated on VBS, teaching children about Jesus through simple stories, crafts and games.
Carter said getting children to come was not really a problem.
“Children are everywhere and anytime there is an activity going on, they head that way,” he said.
Recruiting volunteers for a VBS missions trip is the bigger challenge, especially when the trip involves going to a country where the children do not speak English.
One way Pleasant Grove Baptist members got involved was by collecting items for “shepherd bags.” EIM’s Shepherd Bag Ministry provides children with bags filled with hygiene supplies, small toys, crayons and a coloring book with the gospel message. Carter said distributing the bags provides another opportunity to present the gospel.
Team member Debbie Moss, who has been on four missions trips to Honduras, prayed that the message got through to the children, despite having to be translated from English to Spanish.
“The children were so eager to listen and ask questions, but we do have to scale it way back to simple basics,” she said.
Carter said VBS missions requires adaptability on the part of volunteers. For example, the classroom where he taught was not large enough for the 40 or so youth who came, so they moved into a nearby field, found some shade and he taught his lesson.
Despite the challenges, Carter believes that VBS missions, and missions in general, is a responsibility all Christians have. He knows that if volunteers are willing, then people will hear the gospel.
“In VBS, like any missions work, we simply have to trust God,” Carter said. (TAB)
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