Overcoming Obstacles
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:8, 9).
Israel had faced obstacles from day one. From fighting kings who kidnapped relatives (Genesis 14) to life-threatening famine (Genesis 41—43) to slavery and attempted genocide under a tyrannical leader (Exodus 1) to the Red Sea which left them vulnerable to Pharaoh’s army as they fled for freedom (Exodus 14) to hunger and thirst (Exodus 16, 17) to the passing of an entire generation in the wilderness due to unbelief (Numbers 14) to evil enemies who plotted their demise (Numbers 22—25) to the death of a revered leader (Deuteronomy 34), God’s children knew what it was like to meet obstacles in their attempt to obey Him. So, when Joshua picked up the mantle of leadership from Moses, he knew success would only come through challenges. This is why God encouraged him to courageously dismiss his doubts and fears and to lean on the only formula for success Israel had ever known: faithful dependence upon God and obedience to His Word. Joshua would only lead Israel successfully over every obstacle that stood in front of them by trusting God and courageously doing what God said.
This formula has not changed over the course of time. Throughout the last two thousand years, no matter what obstacles God’s enemies have thrown in front of them, churches have come to expect and enjoy success by the same encouragement: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth…and then thou shalt have good success…for the Lord thy God is with thee” (Joshua 1:8, 9). Whatever you are planning to help your church fulfill the Great Commission, do not be surprised when obstacles come, but plan for success by staying true to the Word of God and courageously, intentionally obeying all He has commanded. Certainly, God is with those who humbly, obediently depend upon Him.
What obstacles can you expect as you plan and host your Vacation Bible School?
1. Volunteers
It is challenging to find enough volunteers to do everything needed for a successful VBS. Even after you have all the slots filled with the volunteers needed, last-minute backouts, drop-outs or unplanned emergencies can leave you with volunteer vacancies. One way to combat this is to have backups in place, a plan for merging classes if needed, as well as someone to serve as a floater in case of a volunteer vacancy. If your church does not have enough members to fully staff a VBS, consider partnering with another local church of like faith and order to host a joint VBS or combining leadership forces to host each church’s own VBS.
2. Schedule
Rarely does a VBS schedule go as planned. Schedules are great and desperately needed, but sometimes one teacher or station will go longer than planned, leaving other groups waiting. Prepare your schedule with allowances for flexibility, warn your volunteers to be prepared should the schedule require flexibility and adapt the VBS material to fit a schedule that suits your church’s needs best.
3. Space
A successful VBS will require extreme patience, flexibility and buy-in from the entire congregation, since most churches will want to utilize as much space as possible for VBS. Even with everyone on board, it still may be challenging to find enough space for everything you envision for your VBS. Be creative. Remember, VBS is an immersive experience, so students will be more open to cram into tighter spaces if they are mesmerized by the decorations.
4. Registration
One of the biggest obstacles regarding registration is getting parents to sign their children up ahead of time. When they wait until the first night of VBS, it can create a bottleneck of people and increase the likelihood that guests will get frustrated and leave. Plan accordingly. Get the word out early. Put registration cards in the church bulletins weeks in advance. Offer a prize to the first twenty registrants. Have extra volunteers on the first night just to catch the overload of people. Registration does not have to be an obstacle.
5. Content
The volume of VBS material can be overwhelming and even confusing. Which elements do you want at your VBS? Which products should you avoid? How can you make sure leaders and teachers are equipped to do their best when the time comes? The best way to overcome this obstacle is to purchase a VBS Sample Kit as early as possible, sort through the materials and give them to your volunteers months ahead of time. Have planning meetings with your volunteers to prepare and familiarize yourselves with the content.
6. Things Outside Your Control
Weather, emergencies, accidents, family issues. Events like these cannot be controlled, but they do not have to derail your VBS success. You can prepare for these by having contingency weather plans in place, a security team, floating teachers and even the pastor on hand to help sort out these unplanned events as they happen. While you may not be able to prepare for specific events outside your control, you can plan how you will respond if or when they occur.
Here is the good news: the way to ultimately overcome all these obstacles is to go back to the spiritual purpose of your VBS. What are you trying to accomplish? Any of these obstacles can make your VBS fall short of your expectations, but none of them have the power to derail VBS if your purpose is to share God’s love and God’s Word with people.
Prepare for the unexpected as much as possible, but also remember you are involved in a spiritual undertaking with the power of God at your behest. God can use everything that happens at VBS—those planned and those unplanned—to accomplish His desires through His people. Our job is to remain flexible, humble, usable and excited for what God can do. You may not be able to overcome every obstacle, but God can.
Mark Clements,
Editor in Chief