How to keep a “Big God” focus at your VBS

During VBS it is so easy to lose sight of what is really important.  The details take over the mission.  And today’s crisis can overshadow the purpose.

If you struggle with this as a director, do you think that your VBS volunteers might also be struggling to keep a right perspective?  Leading volunteers to have a right perspective of God and His grace plays out in how they interact with the kids coming to your VBS.  It shows in their words, actions, and reactions.

When we fail to show our volunteers how big God is, we are not equipping them to point kids to a big God who saves.  We may be sharing about God and how He is so wonderful, but when our beliefs don’t line up with our words, kids are going to see right through the charade.  What we believe in our hearts is what ends up coming out of our mouths and through our actions.  Jesus talks about this in

Luke 6:45 (ESV)

The good person out of the good treasure in his heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Leadership starts with you.

Take it a step back.

When you don’t have a proper perspective of who God is, it is going to show in your actions.  And guess what…your volunteers are going to see right through the charade.

Use the opportunity of VBS to paint a picture of what a mighty and powerful God we serve.  A God who is sovereign (completely in control), a God who is all-powerful, and a God who loves you and desires a relationship with you.  Consider these ways to lead volunteers to see a big God.

 

Share the Struggle

So often it feels better to appear to “have it all together” in front of your volunteers.  You may struggle with fear of man and seek the approval of man or you may fear the disapproval of man.  Either way, you are missing an opportunity to point your volunteers to a big God who takes care of your problems.  You are personally missing a chance to “see” God working.

Take time to share what struggle is real in your VBS preparation.  Share it with one volunteer or with your whole crew.  You will be blessed when your volunteers step up to meet needs.  You will be amazed to see how God works in and through the heart and hands of your volunteers.  And you will be armed with a story to share of how big God is and how He cares for our details.

By sharing your struggle, you will create an atmosphere of bearing each others’ burdens.  You will show your volunteers that it is ok to struggle and that it is ok to need help.  You will enable them to be real with each other and with you.  And by doing that, you are equipping them to bring glory to God by watching for how He works.  You can lead volunteers to praise God for working in and through struggles.

 

Pray Big and Pray Specific

I often find myself in the trap of praying small.  I don’t want to be disappointed if God should choose to say, “no,” to my request.  So I hesitate to pray for something big or to pray specifically.

Jesus could be speaking directly to me when He said, “Oh ye of little faith.”  Instead of speaking to the disciples about their small faith in the midst of a storm, He could be speaking to me in the midst of a VBS crisis.

My lack of faith is clearly seen in the way I pray.  Evaluate your prayers.  Are they big and audacious, believing and fully trusting in the big God we serve?  Or are they small and cautious?

Take a step in faith and trust the big God we serve.  Pray specifically and pray big.  What is God going to do?  Say, “no?”  If so, we can be sure that it was for our good and for His glory.  But we acted in faith.

 

Attitude of Gratitude

It sounds so cliché, doesn’t it?  And yet, this attitude will keep our focus on what God has graciously gifted us with.  When we recount, in thankfulness, what God has done, we are reminding ourselves and others what a big God we serve.  He is so capable of blessing us beyond our craziest imaginations (and us KidMin people have crazy ones!)

Instill this attitude in your volunteer crew as well.  It will not only help keep a proper perspective of God, but you will be amazed at the unity it creates on your team.

 

Speaking of unity, getting a group of very different people pulling together for the same cause…VBS – well that is the work of a BIG God.

 

Want an easy way to encourage thankfulness?  No form found  Place a basket in your volunteer area with the printables and pens.  Encourage volunteers to share a short praise or reason to be thankful on the cards.  No limit of cards they can fill out!  At the end of the week of VBS, draw one of the cards and give that volunteer a king size chocolate candy bar!  Who doesn’t love chocolate?  And it’s something else for your volunteer to be thankful for!  (Continue this through the year as well with your regular volunteers…draw a card at the end of the month!)

You can use the thankful cards as a reminder to volunteers throughout the year of God’s faithfulness or as a recap of how God worked in your VBS!