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!

Here’s a great Facts and Trends article by Polly House on Vacation Bible School at Sidney Baptist Church in Sidney, Arkansas!

You’ll want to check out the pictures and video on Facts and Trends Online.

SIDNEY, Ark., 7/9/09 – It’s not Sydney, Australia, but it is Sidney, Ark.

VBS Director Jennifer Shaw and her crew of volunteers at Sidney Baptist Church took the Boomerang Express Vacation Bible School theme to heart and offered children, youth and adults of their small northern Arkansas community the opportunity to learn about Jesus through LifeWay Christian Resources’ Aussie-themed VBS curriculum.

Sidney is small – the population is about 250, and that includes people who don’t live in the town proper. But that statistic doesn’t even come up when Shaw and her volunteers talk about Vacation Bible School. They could list several reasons to not have VBS. After all, it is a challenge to host VBS in a small church, but Shaw and her team don’t whine or give excuses. They debunk them.

- Excuse 1: “Our community is too small and we don’t have enough kids.”

Sidney doesn’t have many kids either, but that provides an opportunity to reach out to the community. Sidney Baptist leaders encourage their church’s kids to invite their friends from all around the area. The ones who do, receive prizes.

- Excuse 2: “We don’t have enough workers to plan every detail for VBS.”

So what? Shaw used the VBS Super Sampler and said she had just about everything she needed, including instructions and suggestions. She ordered posters, inflatables and other items that made decorating easy. She handed off the appropriate information to the grade- level workers, the “snack ladies,” the audiovisual coordinator, the music leader and others. They all took care of their responsibilities and let Shaw know if they needed her help.

- Excuse 3: “There aren’t enough snack, craft or other ideas to keep kids busy, and they get restless.”

Sidney handles this by using ideas provided with the curriculum along with some original theme-centered ideas. For instance, a craft teacher at Sidney Baptist recycled the cardboard mailing tubes from the VBS posters and used them to make Aboriginal rain sticks.

It helps to have an experienced leader heading up the crafts. Joyce Hancock has served with VBS for 43 years. She knows what the kids like and how to customize craft ideas to appeal to them. “You have to make sure there is plenty for them to work on,” she said.

- Excuse 4: “We are concerned about security when the children leave. It’s too hard to keep up with them.”

You should be security-conscious. At Sidney, Shaw had every class return to the sanctuary for a 10-minute closing session. She had a prize giveaway, read announcements and offered a closing prayer. This time also allowed her to account for everyone. After that, children were dismissed to the person picking them up, and it wasn’t a free-for-all in the parking lot. Shaw knew every child was safely on his or her way home, and she didn’t have to worry about anyone being left behind.

- Excuse 5: “Our children and adults don’t have time to memorize all the songs and drama for our parents’ program, so we just don’t do one.”

Alana Green is the VBS music queen at Sidney Baptist Church. She’s also a certified financial planner who understands a good plan. She knows that memorizing all the words to the songs and the drama for the parents’ program is difficult, so she came up with a simple plan. On family night, a screen is placed at the back of the church so everyone on stage can see the words. Green said this relieved the actors’ anxiety and helped the singers feel more confident.

- Excuse 6: “We are a very creative church and we don’t want to do VBS ‘by the book’ like everyone else.”

VBS is all about being creative in telling children, students and adults the Good News of Jesus Christ. God is a God of creativity! Start with a VBS Sampler then find ways to personalize the program for your church.

Green said that several years ago she saw a white-gloved group use sign language and motions while singing under a black light. She liked the idea and, for the past few years, the youth and some older children have performed one of the slower VBS songs in the dark with glowing hands. She said the audience looks forward to that song because it’s different and fun. It’s not “by the book,” but it’s special to them.

At Sidney, they get creative with the snacks, too. The “snack ladies” prepare themed snacks, like this year’s kangaroo tails (chocolate-dipped bananas on a stick), but they also prepare other snacks the children like. This year, they supplemented with homemade chocolate-dipped strawberries and even some veggie-stuffed squash fresh from the garden.

In a small church like Sidney Baptist, the workers aren’t many, but each one has a heart for VBS. They look forward to each summer and spend hours in planning and preparation.

Part of that preparation is being alert to opportunities for outreach to children and youth throughout the year. Shaw said one of the special things about working with VBS in a small community is the awareness that many people with whom she comes in contact are past or future attendees.

“We draw kids from all around the area,” she said. “When I see little kids at school or in town, they look at me and remember me from Bible School. It’s funny; they look at me like ‘I know you,’ and say they went to Bible School.”

Now that the theme is out, I thought I would give you a look at some behind-the-scenes work! We had a photo shoot for the covers of the curriculum at a farm with real live horses! We had an amazing group of kids, and the pictures are great. The horses were even good! They were very calm and the kids were so excited to get to be around them. I’ll save the pics of the kids for the covers, but here’s a few pictures of some of the VBS team who were working on site and the animals! Enjoy!