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Why Start Thinking About VBS 2017?

December 8, 2016
Why Start Thinking About VBS 2017?

The Church Health team invited Jerry Wooley, LifeWay's VBS Specialist, and Mark Jones, co-author of "Decorating Made Easy," to give Arkansas Baptist churches a sneak peek at LifeWay's 2017 VBS resources before they released on December 1. An additional bonus of the day included a presentation from Sara Walker of Second Baptist in Arkadelphia on prayer ideas for VBS. 

The 2017 VBS Bible studies are directly connected through "The Gospel, God's Plan for Me" track. The days include: The Relationship Began (Genesis 1 and John 1), The Relationship Broken (Genesis 3), The Restoration Promised (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1, and Luke 2), The Relationship Restored (Mark 15-16), and The Relationship Continues (John 21 and Acts 1). You can find more about the theme and content at www.lifeway.com/vbs.

Mark shared decorations that support the theme and provide a setting for learning, such as a backyard scene for the worship rally, a Bible study clubhouse, and rotations under the stars. In addition to the ideas in the curriculum, Mark is providing additional ideas and resources at www.MrMarksClassroom.com.

Why do we start thinking about VBS now? Because it has the potential to impact families with the good news of the Gospel. Here is the impact we are seeing from last year across the Southern Baptist Convention:

  • There were approximately 26,795 events with 2.9 million people attending.
  • Those events saw 77,583 salvation decisions and 1,442 milestone decisions (baptism, call to ministry, etc.).

God is at work through the ministry of VBS! For a copy of the prayer ideas shared at the sneak peek, contact the Church Health Team. Or to get a jumpstart on VBS for 2017, attend one of our VBS trainings this April! You can also watch our webpage and the Facebook group Arkansas Children's Missions and Ministry for other training opportunities and resources.