VBS Survived

Brajen and I have been working for the past several months on planning, directing, and finally executing a citywide Vacation Bible School. Of course we didn’t do it alone – the VBS was planned through the combined effort of pastors and ministry leaders from all over Gurgaon. In addition to the 50 teachers and handful of volunteers, almost 250 kids (ages 4 to 16) came each day during VBS week, May 14th – 18th.

Phew. It was a lot of kids! But I can joyfully (and with a huge, contended sigh of relief) say, mission accomplished!

At times it didn't feel that way, namely when it seemed to melt into pure chaos. And, of course, there were the unforeseen bumps – no electricity on days 1 and 3, not enough classrooms or workbooks, undelivered craft materials, etc. The resulting blessing was seeing God work all those things together (tangibly by providing uncomplaining children and spurts of creativity to meander through the mess) and marvelously accomplishing what we had prayed would be the end result. Viz., to clearly and simply have the gospel proclaimed, children led to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and all encouraged in their young faith by the teaching of God’s Word. And by God's grace and power this happened! A large group of kids made a profession of faith and an even larger group of un-churched kids asked for (and received) their first Bibles (more on that below).

My role was mainly all the “fun” administrative type stuff leading up to VBS, for example, the accounts. I even tried my hand at a bit of the publicity, designing the posters and registration materials around a main theme, “Come Sing a New Song”. During VBS I coordinated registration (disastrous but we all survived with full heads of hair), teachers & volunteers (we had morning meetings and prayer times), and crafts (who knew my two Martha Stewart magazines and collections of ribbon and scrap paper would be my “two loaves and five fish” when there were no craft supplies delivered on Monday morning?).

It was my coordination vantage point that allowed me to see a blessing that will go beyond just our VBS week. I walked away fairly encouraged by the efforts that all these pastors and churches made to work together. Despite some challenging differences, these pastors demonstrated that they are ultimately committed to furthering the gospel in their city, specifically in the lives of their young people. VBS and the joint effort committee seems to have paved the way for other collective efforts – a citywide day of prayer, a “transformation network”, and a renewed interest in Pastor prayer meetings.

Please pray with me that this team effort attitude for the sake of the gospel will continue among Gurgaon leaders and that their efforts will lead not only to growth of local churches, but also to increased accountability and encouragement among Pastors and fellow believers.

Another blessing that will go beyond VBS week was a point of personal growth. My whole involvement in the committee, planning, and VBS week itself was a humbling lesson in cross-cultural communication. And by humbling I mean sometimes embarrassing (those stories will be archived for another day) but mostly just revealing. Revealing of the fact that dying to self is hard. Living for Christ, i.e., putting into practice the type of love so clearly demonstrated to us by Christ’s example, is hard. Daily, “keep at it”, press on, wearisome type of hard. And for whatever reason (perhaps all the miscommunication frustrations) VBS planning and VBS week chaos just brought out my need to work on listening lovingly, relinquishing my idea of the “right way” to the ideas of others if the end goal is being accomplished, and being patient – even affirming and adapting – with others’ differences (cultural or otherwise).

Please continue to pray with me that I will love sacrificially, that I will kill my pride, that I will communicate love, and that I will daily recall my own position in grace and so joyfully extend that attitude towards others. Pray that I will increase in brotherly (sisterly) love and affection for India.

So good, lasting blessings. Out of the actual VBS week itself my favorite blessing “snap shots” involved (not surprisingly) my interactions with the kids.

During the week I got to give a few devotionals to the junior group, kids ages 10-12. The given theme for one of the days was “Do Not Fear”. After making a list of things the kids feared (top of which were: exams, snakes, and big dogs), we looked up some passages that highlighted God’s power and sovereignty. I was about to spend some time making the connection between God’s character and why we don’t have to fear when one of the boys raised his hand. My heart did a little jig as I quickly realized he’d made the connection. I let him explain to the rest of the class why we don’t have to fear – in his terms, God is “the biggest and best” and also loves us, so we can trust him. He was afraid of the scary dog because it was “bigger” than him, but the dog can’t even compare to God, so he doesn’t have to fear. Three cheers for kids better understanding God’s character.

Please pray for these dear kids, specifically that they will continue to grow in their faith and knowledge of God. Pray that truths about who God is, how He works, and what He’s done will touch their hearts and that this new generation of Christian Indians will be desperately in love with Christ, ready to radically and unequivocally stand for Him!

My absolute favorite snap shot, or VBS memory, was from the last day. We had purchased 100 English/Hindi Bibles to give away to children who had none. My friend and I were organizing them while waiting for the closing ceremonies to end when word began to spread that Bibles were in the back. Despite the ongoing program, kids began to rush back to the table. My friend and I were pushed, crushed, pinched, pulled, yelled at… we were mobbed. Literally, mobbed. For Bibles. By kids. Some of them were mobbing me because they wanted something free, but there were those that had, all week long, been asking for a Bible because they truly wanted to read it themselves. Several of those shouted at me: “Ma’am, please give me a Jesus book”. Precious. I’ll get mobbed for that any day of the week.



Thank the Lord with me for His precious, alive Word and for the reminder these young ones provided of cherishing it and desiring it. Pray specifically that those who took Bibles for the first time will get opportunity to read it and that it would be read not only by them, but also by their parents. Also, praise the Lord for his marvelous work in orchestrating the details, bringing children, sustaining us through the program, etc, and for the ultimate example of his power in the group of children that responded to His offer of salvation. For the group that heard the gospel and responded, please be pray for their spiritual protection and growth.