2013 Top Ten VBS Countdown - #8 - Go Big from David C Cook

Go Big! VBS is a downloadable resource from Cook and is in 8th place in my 2013 Top Ten VBS Countdown. I'd personally love to see churches use this resource in June and then towards the end of July or in August hold their regular VBS - what a great way to get into your communities and then pull the children and families you contacted in the communities back to your church! Working along with a VBS this could be an amazing outreach!

Go Big!

David C. Cook Publishing

http://gobigvbs.com/

1. God is Creator - Genesis 1 - 3 - Creation
2. God Saves - Genesis 37; 43-45 - Joseph
3. God is Always With Us - Esther 1-10 - Queen Esther
4. God Loves You and Me - Luke 2:1-21; 22:39-24:12 - Jesus
5. God Wants Us to Be Part of His Story - Genesis - Revelation - The Big God Story

Setting – Back yards, parks, homes, churches . . . anywhere!

Message – Cook wants us to Go Big for God and reach out of our churches into our communities so kids will understand Who God is and the Story He is telling as well as their place in this story! As Cook says, “Inspiring churches to reach beyond their own walls into the hearts of their neighborhoods and communities.”

Focus – Evangelism, Content, Outreach

Strengths –

• Solid Bible lessons – I love the creative way of engaging children in the teaching of the Bible lessons by having them “illustrate” the lesson as it is told! Heavy focus on helping kids see the Big Story God is telling and their place in it!
• I love how the lesson is read from the Bible as you go along and children have the opportunity to "illusrate" it!
• Strong focus on small groups and building community – love the “plus” and “minus” activities
• LOVE the “blessing” given at the end of each day
• Love the activity as parents drop kids off – great way to engage parents!
• Love the celebration at the end of the week with parents! Clearly Cook is serious about using this VBS to connect, build bridges and develop community with un-churched people
• Family Remember & Celebrate Event is great ways to follow up on contacts made and to try to build more contacts with those reached through a church’s GO BIG! VBS
• Daily “dress-up days” add fun to the week

Would Like to See –

• Daily “live-it” activities to help kids take what they learn and go live it in their everyday lives every day
• Information on how to help involve special needs children
• Ideas to help children serve in their own communities
• More clarity regarding the safety/volunteer screening. It sounds like they “require” volunteers to give a lot of information to the church – I see the need for some, but others seem beyond what a church can ask of a volunteer.

Cook says, “GO BIG! VBS Inspires churches to reach beyond their own walls into the hearts of their neighborhoods and communities. GO BIG! is simple enough it can be taken out of the church and into a backyard, a park, a living room, or even a soccer field in South Africa. Although this VBS can be adapted to use on a church site, taking it off-site has allowed our families and parents to get involved giving them more ownership than we ever imagined possible.”  Cook is sure to bring an enthusiasm to VBS with Go BIG!