WHO’S READY FOR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL??

We are so excited about VBS 2018 at SPL! God is at work in the preparation, and we hope your family plans to join us. Here are some things you may want to know about VBS 2018:

The Details

You are invited to experience “SHIPWRECKED” – VBS 2018 taking place at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (1 Bachrach Court) Monday, June 11th thru Friday, June 15th from 9:00am-12:00pm daily.

It helps us tremendously to get as many kids preregistered as early as possible. We do accept registrations even at the beginning of the week of VBS, but if you know your family is already planning to come, please register early. Online registration will close June 4^th, but you can still register on paper at St. Paul’s after June 4^th.

YOU CAN REGISTER A PARTICIPANT HERE.

Participant Ages

VBS Participants are any children who will be 3 years old by June 11^th up to kids entering 5^th Grade in the Fall of 2018. Children who are older than entering 5^th grade are invited to serve with us as Volunteers.

This Year’s Theme

This year, our VBS theme is SHIPWRECKED: Rescued by Jesus.

Life is not always easy. This is true for adults, and it is also true for kids. This year, we want kids to walk away from VBS knowing that no problem, no fear, and no hurt are too difficult for God. We want kids to understand they are loved by our powerful God who longs to rescue them.

T-Shirts

We provide special T-Shirts to all SHIPWRECKED VBS participants. These shirts are solid colored with the VBS logo, and the kids are encouraged to wear them daily. There is no charge for these T-Shirts (and no charge for VBS), but if you’d like to contribute toward the cost of the T-Shirts, you can do so when you pick up the shirt. These will be available in our Fellowship Area on the weekends, beginning June 2^nd/3^rd and June 9^th/10^th as well as during the week of VBS.

Our Awesome Team

This year, our VBS Director Team includes three amazing ladies who have been an absolute “dream team”. These ladies have been working hard preparing crafts, planning décor, and creating the awesome VBS donation display in the SPL Fellowship Area (I feel like I’m on a tropical island when I walk under those trees!). They have been thinking of creative solutions to improve the VBS experience for everyone, contacting potential team members, prepping stations, and much more. In addition to these three wonderful ladies, there have been others already working hard behind the scenes at tasks that no one will ever even know they completed.

Why We Do VBS

All this and more is done so that the kids of our congregation and community can experience the love of God this summer here at SPL. Vacation Bible School is so much fun, and it is a great time to tangibly show our children that they matter to us and in the Kingdom of God.

That’s why I love VBS. There are many, many blessings to completing a Vacation Bible School program. The best part of it for me is the way it shows our children that we love them and that they matter. Every child who walks through our door matters. They matter, not only because they are our future leaders, but also because they are precious children of God who need to know they are loved by God and loved by us.

When hundreds of people in our congregation work together to make VBS happen, and when we transform the entire building for a whole week, we show the kids they matter.

It is my prayer that God will grab hold of every child who attends VBS, and that He will never let them go. I pray that His love will go down to the core of who they are and be the defining force of their lives. I pray that His love will so consume them that fear will not hinder them in their lives, and that His love will be a mighty force in our world bringing light and hope into dark places.

I know it is a big prayer, but we serve a big God, and childhood is a crucial time in the spiritual formation of children.

Bags of Hope Mission Project

During VBS we will be collecting items for Decatur Kids Bags of Hope, a ministry of SPL that provides weekend food bags to kids in the Decatur Public Schools who are at high risk for food insecurity. Please consider sending any of the following with your children to support this ministry. There will be a fun contest going throughout the week to see which groups brings in the most food 🙂

• Water Bottles
• Microwavable Mac N Cheese Packets
• Granola Bars (no nuts please)
• Juice Boxes (100% juice)
• Applesauce/Fruit cups
• Ramen Noodles
• Toaster Pastries
• Oatmeal Packets

Raft Contest

With VBS Registration officially open, we are celebrating by launching the SHIPWRECKED VBS BUILD-A-RAFT Contest. Similar to last year’s robot contest, children are invited to make their own rafts to be used as VBS décor the week of Vacation Bible School. Contestants 12 and under are eligible for the grand prize (a giant stuffed sloth and a $25 Target gift card) but all ages are invited to join in the fun and submit a homemade raft. Voting will take place in the Fellowship Area in the form of monetary donations the first two weekends in June. All proceeds will benefit the Decatur Kids Bags of Hope ministry.

Here are the other raft contest details:

• All rafts must be turned in my May 29th.
• They do not need to float (they will not be put in water – just for decoration).
• They need to be 24 inch X 24 inch or smaller.
• They can be made out of any materials.

If you have any questions about this year’s VBS at SPL, please contact Jennifer Power, Director of Children’s Ministry, by phone at (217)423-6955 or email at jennifer@spldecatur.org.