All About the Numbers

“Numbers matter—every number has a story, and every story matters to God.”

All of these have numbers associated with them, and once those numbers are told, opinions are formed. I have a phrase I use for VBS, “Numbers matter—every number has a story, and every story matters to God.” This is how I view various numbers.

Registration

This is the number of children we get to share the gospel with every day of VBS. Getting more kids registered really doesn’t mean anything until you put meaning behind it. When you focus the number where it belongs—on God—then it explains why it matters.

Budget

If you don’t already, make sure you know your budget number. Now divide your budget number by the number of children attending to get your per-child cost. Know THAT number because when it comes time to talk to church leaders about the budget, this number matters. In Matthew, when Jesus talks about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), it was the one who used his talent wisely that was given more. VBS is no different.

Volunteers

VBS is run with a small army, and those numbers matter. “Many hands make light work” is a phrase we proclaim earnestly during VBS. But everyone should know exactly how many hands it takes.

Salvation

How many children received eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus? Everyone wants to know this number—it can be seen as a small victory when the number is high. Several years ago, I stopped giving that number. I do feel that is an incredibly important number, but how do we really know? I mean, isn’t it up to God to determine this? I also believe that if we only measure those who receive the gift of eternal life during the week of VBS, we are discounting those where the seeds were planted, those who are renewed in their fervor for Christ, or those who received a Bible for the first time.

A few years ago, a teacher came up to me with tears in her eyes and told me the story of a little girl in her class. She said the girl had all sorts of questions for her and told her she already knew Jesus but was really feeling the need to commit further to her faith. This struck me like a bucket of cold water because I had never considered the impact a strong VBS could have on those who already know Jesus. What about those kids who know Jesus but for one week during the summer are surrounded by others who live out their faith? How about the volunteer or parent who hears the same message every day and quietly receives the gift of eternal life along with the children? Those souls matter just as much as the students traditionally counted as the number.

I have turned my response to the question, “How many children received eternal life this week?” to these answers:

“We got to present the gospel daily to X number of students. We asked them to pray with us and offered to answer any questions they had. But on this side of heaven, we don’t know the answer.”

“We were able to hand out X number of Bibles to students who wanted to know more or had further questions.”

I make sure everyone who talks to me about VBS knows that I take my job very seriously and that just because I don’t have the exact number doesn’t mean that we didn’t have an eternal impact on many lives that week.

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6)