What Gift Are You Giving Your Workers the Week Before VBS?

Last Tuesday I wrote about Flake’s Formula. A five-step process for growing your Sunday School that I believe also applies to VBS. After all, knowing the possibilities, enlarging the organization, providing space, enlisting workers, and going after the people is as vital to growing your VBS as it is to any other ministry.
 
You may have noticed I left out a portion of Step 4: Enlisting AND TRAINING workers. Too often we enlist a worker by handing her a leader guide and almost dismissively saying, “It’s easy. Everything you need to know is in the book.” This form of enlistment creates an environment for failure – both for the worker and the growth of the school.
 
No one wants to feel or appear unprepared, yet when we fail to train workers we are robbing them of the opportunity to feel confident and enthusiastic for their assigned tasks.
 
I enjoy searching for synonyms to words we use everyday. Here are a few I discovered for training: coaching, guidance, grounding, readying, sharpening, and tune-up. I especially like readying and tune-up. For new workers training is readying them for the assignment. For experienced workers training is a tune-up to sharpen their skills and recharge for the tasks ahead.
 
You may be thinking it is too late to provide training for VBS 2016, but don’t despair. FREE training for Lifeway’s Submerged VBS is available at ministrygrid.com/web/vbs for workers with preschoolers and grade school-age kids. All that is needed is a computer and 15 to 20 minutes and your workers will receive a quick overview of how to use their leader guides and leader packs. They will also receive tips and suggestions for making preparation easier.
 
Question: What gift are you giving your workers the week before VBS? How about giving them the gift of training by sharing the link to ministrygrid.com/web/vbs.