“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world,” says the popular children’s song. Jesus also said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 9:14, NIV). That all sounds good, but as far as I know, Jesus didn’t have to teach vacation Bible school (VBS). He just blessed the kids and gave them back to their parents.
Now let me just say that God did not gift me to be a children’s teacher, although I served my time in children’s Sunday school classes for many years before graduating to being an adult Sunday school teacher. Let me also say that as a pastor’s wife, I know I am expected to be a team player, and as it is often harder for a VBS director to recruit teachers than for the moon to reverse its orbit, I generally get thrust into this job when VBS rolls around. There is simply no way I can dump teaching VBS, particularly pre-school, on anyone else. And, after all, if Jesus went to the cross for me, I can teach preschool VBS for Him, right? Even though He only had to go to the cross once, and I’ve had to teach preschool VBS year after year after year after . . . Lord, couldn’t you just plunk me down into a war zone in Afghanistan and command me to preach to the Taliban?
There is often a big difference between being a children’s Sunday school teacher and a VBS teacher. For one thing, a Sunday school teacher only has the kids for one hour once a week, whereas a VBS teacher has them for several hours five days in a row. VBS children are often from unchurched families in the neighborhood who are anxious to get rid of their kids and obtain free babysitting for several hours. After VBS is over, we won’t see these kids (or their families) again until next year, despite following up with them after the event. Most of these children have no idea how to behave in God’s house. Now I understand that one of the main purposes of VBS is evangelism, and one never knows what seeds are planted in the minds of these children, but it is rare to see any fruit from the young participants, particularly when they are busy smacking each other over the head with Bibles. I know God’s Word is referred to as a “sword,” but somehow I don’t think He intended His sword to be used in this fashion as a literal weapon.
Speaking of fruit, these children give me the opportunity to practice the Fruit of the Spirit, but I often find myself lacking in the fruit of patience, joy, love, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. I do manage to maintain faithfulness, as I continue to show up every night, even though I would rather have a root canal without Novocain. Does faithfulness count? At least I can claim one fruit out of nine, which is better than nothing. Generally, I can exhibit the majority of the Fruit of the Spirit on any given day; it’s just the week of VBS that I find it difficult.
Not only does the thought of dealing with unruly urchins in VBS cause my head to feel as if there’s a little man with a jackhammer trying to tunnel his way out, but there’s the other stressful matter of the massive amount of required preparation. In the old days, when I was a child, VBS consisted of a Bible story, making something out of construction paper, a simple game that didn’t involve expensive props, and generic cookies and Kool-Aid. Now, every VBS has a “theme,” around which all other activities revolve. Elaborate decorations must either be purchased or created (did I mention I am not artsy-crafty?); games involve hours of preparation and expensive items for five-minutes of play; the music is specialized and choreographed to the theme; crafts are costly and complicated, also based on the theme, and even refreshments must conform. There are even theme-related VBS T-shirts, of which I have a whole closetful, none of which I will ever wear again.
I recently read an article from a pastor saying how his church had just finished up VBS and how much he enjoyed VBS as a child. He had such fond VBS memories from his childhood, he went so far as to say that he wished we could extend VBS to two weeks, instead of one. I certainly hope he didn’t give anyone at my church any ideas. Otherwise, I might have to kidnap him and force him to teach pre-school VBS. It would serve him right.
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