Get More Out of VBS - Mid Week Ministry

When you evaluate Vacation Bible School curriculum, be sure to think about how VBS resources might give you the tools you need for your mid-week ministry to children! You won't necessarily need an entire kit, but if you have the Bible lesson, games and craft books, as well as the music, you'll be able to expand the lessons by using one lesson for two weeks and find you have enough resources for ten weeks! Run your mid-week ministry similar to your VBS and the enthusiasm you have with your VBS can transfer to your mid-week ministry!

Three resources will give you enough materials for one year of mid-week ministry, so think about the curriculum scope and your vision/goals for your mid-week ministry then see which VBS resources give you the tools you need.

For example, most mid-week ministries have a strong evangelism focus as children from the community attend, so look for resources which give you the opportunity to introduce children to Jesus! If you had a difficult time deciding between two kits for your actual VBS, this is a good place to use the other kit - particularly if it had a strong application focus for children who do already know Jesus, as we certainly want our mid-week ministry to help these children grow in their walk with Jesus!

If there was a VBS kit where you really liked the content, but were not so thrilled with the music, this is a great place to use those resources - just replace the music with some from another resource! Add in weekly "live-it" activities, a service project for your community and one or two mission projects children can work on throughout the year, and you will be ready to go!

Begin each evening with large group singing - add in some object lessons which relate to your theme and then have children rotate to three different stations - Bible adventures, games and crafts . . . like they do for VBS. Bring them back together for more singing and to reinforce the evening's point for an over-all focused and engaging evening where children will be able to understand their need for Jesus and then grow in their walk with Him!

VBS resources are great tools for your Children's Ministry and can be utilized in more ways than just the traditional week of VBS in the summer. As you evaluate kits this year, stop and think about if there is another part of your ministry where they would be a great "fit"!