Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, writes about some of his work among them. He says the following in chapter 2, verse 8: So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

Vacation Bible School calls this verse to mind for me every year. Every year, I see members and staff sacrificing their time and their talents to quite literally give their own selves to our children and children in our community for a week. They embody the Gospel to our children, and more than that, they speak the Gospel into the lives of those same students in fun and developmentally appropriate ways. 

More hours go into VBS than it’s possible to quantify. Hours of prayer, hours of preparation, and hours of planning begin in January, and it all culminates in 75 students spending three hours a day on our campus hearing about how much Jesus loves them. As our students hear that great news, they see older students and adults sharing not only the Gospel with them, but their very selves in an overflow of love that they themselves experience in their relationships with Jesus. 

That being said, a couple of quick thank you’s from the NextGen Ministry at DPC: thank you to all of our volunteers for selflessly giving of yourself this week and for many weeks prior. Thank you to our children and their parents who trusted us to speak and show the only words of life this week. Thank you to the staff of DPC who unsurprisingly but generously moved out of their job descriptions and did whatever was asked of them this week. Thank you to our congregants who prayed for our students and volunteers this week. And finally, thanks to Jessica Keith and her team for their tireless work in planning and executing this week. We’re already looking forward to next year – Soli Deo Gloria.