Thanks to LifeWay News for a little coverage on how we are thinking about Vacation Bible School, even during the Christmas season!! – Check out Ho, Ho, Yes! It’s VBS!

And as a Christmas gift to you, we are giving away 2 free downloads of Worship KidStyle songs from Lifewayworship.com. Enter the code CHRISTMAS2 during checkout to receive your two free downloads

Maximum value $3. Must be used in one session. Expires 12/31/09.

Two of our VBS Preview Events are already sold out (January 8-9 at Ridgecrest and January 29-30 in Nashville), so you’ll want to go ahead and register soon to make sure you have a spot!

AND – To celebrate our newest preview event locations (Ft. Worth, TX and Las Vegas, NV), we are giving away a free VBS 2010 Quick Scene Wall Art set (an $8.99 value) to anyone who registers by 12/15/09 for the following events (and if you’ve already registered for one of these events, we’ve got you covered!)

VBS Preview 1 – January 14 – 15, 2010,  Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX
VBS Preview 2 – January 15 – 16, 2010, Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX
VBS Preview Sneak Peek – January 22 – 23, 2010, Green Valley Baptist Church, Las Vegas, NV

To register by phone, call 800.254.2022.
*An email with a coupon for a free VBS 2010 Quick Scene Wall Art set to be redeemed at the VBS Preview Event will be sent to all Fort Worth and Las Vegas attendees who register by 11:59 PM on 12/15/09. Coupon can only be redeemed at the VBS Preview Event. Coupon will not be honored at LifeWay Christian Stores.

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.

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.

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!

We are about to start development on VBS Tools Online for 2010, and I need some help in determining what functionality needs to be added, tweaked, etc.  I started a forum about it on our VBS Community, but you can also comment here on the blog. Any suggestions?

At LifeWay Kids Conference last week, the Young Musicians Honor Choir from Oklahoma did such a great job with the premiere of the VBS 2010 Saddle Ridge Ranch music. I put together a video of some of the highlights for you, but I need to warn you ahead of time – I’m not the best videographer in the world (so you may experience some motion sickness while watching).

I really was blessed to see these kids worship as they sang these songs – It’s very touching to hear them sing “I just wanna be like Jesus” and be able to tell that they really do mean it!

While at LifeWay Kids Conference, I stuck my head into the room where the VBS 2010 classes were taught to see the decorations. Turns out the teacher of the class, Mark Jones (from the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma), had taken some VBS 2009 decorations and recycled them to work with VBS 2010! My favorite was the way he turned the Railway Station from Boomerang Express into Blazing Star Stables for Saddle Ridge Ranch!  Here’s a picture of that and some more decorations from the class:

Anybody else got some ideas about recycling your VBS 2009 decorations?

Although it’s not the primary reason we have LifeWay Kids Conference, it kinda serves as a first glimpse into VBS 2010 for those who attend. There is a premiere of the VBS 2010 musical, plus it’s the first time our VBS catalogs are available, and there are even a few classes about VBS there.

Besides giving a first glimpse of VBS 2010, this year’s conference promises to be GREAT! If you are a Kids Ministry Leader, make plans to join us in Arlington, Texas on October 12-15, 2009. In our general sessions, you’ll hear from keynote speakers and guests like Dr. Gary Chapman, D. Micheal Lindsay, John Kramp, Ken Davis, The Skit Guys, Dr. Mary Manz Simon, Dr. Richard Couey, and Chris and Diane Machen.

There are also a ton of workshops that you can attend! Click here for an alphabetical list of the workshops that are offered.

Early Bird registration rates have been extended until September 1st! And if you register and book your hotel reservation at the Sheraton Arlington by August 15th, you’ll be entered into a drawing to receive one night FREE during your stay!

Here’s a link to the LifeWay Kids Conference webpage where you can get more info and download a brochure.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks to our communication department for the great video of the activities from our VBS day! You can see some of the sets that were built and used during our VBS 2010 promotional video and photo shoot, see what the VBS shirts will look like for 2010, and hear from some employees who work on LifeWay VBS!

If you happen to live in Middle Tennessee (or happen to be in the Nashville area on Wednesday, July 29th), you are more than welcome to join us at LifeWay for our annual VBS Day on Wednesday, July 29th. For the past 5 years, we have celebrated the ministry of Vacation Bible School here at LifeWay by introducing our employees to the new VBS themes and allowing them to bring their child to work to participate in the festivities!

Registration for the day begins at One LifeWay Plaza at 8:00 AM. We will have a worship rally time from 9:00 – 9:30 AM featuring Jeff Slaughter and will have stations around LifeWay where kids can do crafts,  games, etc.  from 9:30 – 11:00 AM.

If you do come, you’ll want to bring your camera, as some of the sets that will be featured in the VBS 2010 catalog will be used during VBS day!

Here’s an “official” invitation!

You are invited to LifeWay’s 6th annual VBS Celebration Day!
Wednesday, July 29th
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. at One LifeWay Plaza.
Worship Rally begins at 9:00 a.m. in Van Ness Auditorium.
Rotation activities will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Lunch available in the LifeWay Cafe at 11:00 a.m.

Bring your camera!
Kids of all ages welcome!