Use Your Gifts to Serve at VBS

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12)

Planning, coordinating, and running a VBS is a lot of work! It takes a dedicated group of people, each taking a little bit of the load, to get everything to come together. Each person has a vital but different role in doing this. God has given each of us different gifts to serve His kingdom. One of our Answers VBS leaders, Tim, recently experienced this firsthand.

I have been involved in Answers VBS in some form or capacity for the last seven years. In that time, I have helped direct a VBS week at my church, served as a small group leader, run the games station, and been an actor in the drama. Throughout each VBS program, there was a place for my gifts to be utilized best as I worked alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Recently, I had the humbling experience of finding where I do not fit . . . decorating. It is a privilege to serve with so many artistic people. I have seen them do fantastic work in decorating sets, transforming hallways and classrooms, but I have discovered that I am not one of those people. In stepping in to assist in this area, I understood that I fell woefully short as a decorator.

I fought with posters, tape, and animal cutouts to affix them to the large blank wall. When I finally thought that I had them posted, I would notice that they were crooked or I would watch them fall to spite me. Throughout the whole process, I learned more and more that this was dreadfully far from an area of strength for me.

So, does this mean that I am not needed?

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (1 Corinthians 12:15–18)

1 Corinthians 12:18 gives me great comfort that God has placed and gifted each person in the church according to His will. VBS cannot run effectively if the only volunteers are decorators. Nor can it run effectively if everyone is a director, game leader, or actor. God has appointed a task for each of us to do, given us the gifts to accomplish that task, and it is all to bring glory to Him.

While you continue to plan for VBS this summer, you know there are many roles to fill, but Answers VBS wants to help. The Ocean Commotion VBS: Director Guide provides a list of all the roles you’ll need and a job description for each of them on pages 53–58. We pray that you have a group of volunteers that are willing to serve wherever they are needed. But let’s remember that God has empowered each person on your team with different gifts and strengths for the good of His kingdom. Be careful to consider those as you make your volunteer assignments for the summer.