Happy Birthday from Your Friends at VBS
Thousands of churches concluded VBS 2013 over the weekend, and for thousands more this is day two. Approximately half of all schools will be conducted during the first three weeks of June.
This news tempts many leaders to believe the work of VBS is over for another year, but in reality, just as VBS ends the real work begins!
Now is time to make continued connections a priority – not only for the next few weeks but for the rest of the year.
When an unchurched family filed out a VBS registration card you were given a gift. A precious gift that gives you everything you need to build on the relationship begun during the week of VBS.
I have gone to the archives, and for the next few weeks I’m going to share ideas for continuing the connection.
The following idea comes from Sue Owen in Wyoming:
At registration get the child’s date of birth as well as school grade. Ask a few members of the church who are good at sending cards to be responsible for mailing out birthday cards throughout the year. Include a VBS bookmark, an ABC Memory Card, or other reminder of VBS, as well as information about upcoming events.
Since few children get mail addressed to them, the parent should be interested in who it is from and see the reminder of the great experience their child had at VBS.
As a middle school student I attended a Billy Graham Crusade. During the response time one of my friends asked if I would walk down with him. The lady who counseled him took the time to thank me for encouraging my friend and asked for my name, address, and birthday. I never met her again, but for the next ten years I received a note of encouragement and prayer from her on my birthday. She wrote the book on continued connections!
What a simple, but GREAT idea…pinning this to my VBS board! A wonderful thing for those adults to participate in that cannot help out with VBS the week of VBS.
Great idea, and great example!
We have a 12 passenger can we use for team kids on Wednesday nights it gets full weekly. We don’t do follow up from vbs because we rent a 72 passenger school bus to being kids for that week of vbs. we don’t have the transportation to get all them year round. Any suggestions for follow up would it be bad to follow up knowing that we can’t transport the kids after vbs. we offer parents to come on bus none do so we don’t think they would bring them.last year was my first year as vbs director and it bothers me that we do nothing after!!
Christine, I truly understand your challenge, but I hope you will lead your church to embrace the idea that making continued connections is why we do VBS. The unchurched families attending your VBS are a gift. To conduct VBS without following up with the unchurched families is like receiving an unwanted or unappreciated birthday gift that is quickly thrown aside and never acknowledged. There are many ways to make connections without promising transportation. The birthday card suggestion is good but that is only one contact per year and possibly months and months after VBS.
Is it possible to enlist church members living near the unchurched family to be the contact? Or, if there is a large number of unchurched families from one neighborhood, is it possible to plan a monthly two-hour event in a front yard or neighborhood park.
The goal is to build on the relationships established during VBS, so the challenge is not in what you do but the attitude in which it is done.
I know changing attitudes can seem as overwhelming and impossible as changing the direction of the wind, but that is part of our calling as VBS leaders. I’m praying for you and your church today.