VBS Mission Project Idea – Providing Beds to Orphans November 6, 2009

Because Sunday, November 8th is Orphan Sunday, I wanted to let you know about a mission project opportunity that deals with helping orphans. Statistics say that there are more than 143,000,000 orphans in the world (some say up to 210,000,000), and as you are beginning to plan your Vacation Bible School, consider doing a mission project that will help meet the needs of these orphaned and abandoned children.

There are many organizations that do work to aid orphans around the world, but I want to let you know about one that was founded here in Middle Tennessee that is called Sweet Sleep. This non-profit organization was started by a friend of mine, Jen Gash, after she went on a mission trip to Moldova and saw the living conditions at the orphanage she visited.  The mission of Sweet Sleep is simple – to share God’s love by providing beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children.

This organization means so much to me because there is an orphanage in Moldova that I have been going to for the last 3 years, and Sweet Sleep has provided a bed for all of the children that I know and love from that orphanage. Sweet Sleep has provided beds for many of the orphanages in Moldova, and they are now working in Haiti and in Uganda.

Consider doing a “Build-a-bed” mission project for your 2010 VBS.  Their website provides information on how to do the project, plus resources like downloadable videos and craft project ideas.

Just to give you a glimpse of what they are doing in Uganda, here’s their latest video, which you can download here.

VBS still top outreach event! November 4, 2009

According to a survey conducted among 801 Southern Baptist pastors by LifeWay Research, Vacation Bible School is still the top outreach event in the SBC! Here’s an excerpt from the article:

LifeWay Research reveals top evangelism activities

Written by Mark Kelly

NASHVILLE, Tenn., 10/7/09 – When it comes to evangelistic outreach, the most common methods Southern Baptist churches use these days are Vacation Bible School, feeding ministries, visitor follow-up and prayer for people who have not made a decision to receive Christ.

Most pastors, however, struggle to lead by example in personal evangelism, and churches don’t make the most effective use of available media to communicate with people who are unchurched, meaning those not associated with any church.

These were the key insights drawn from an online study, conducted by LifeWay Research, that asked Southern Baptist pastors more than 30 questions about their personal evangelism efforts, evangelism in their preaching, their church’s evangelism methods and advertising outreach methods used to reach their communities.

Events and ongoing activities

By far the most common outreach event conducted by Southern Baptist congregations is Vacation Bible School. Eighty-five percent of pastors say their churches held VBS in the past 12 months.

To read more of this article, click here!