The Youth & V.B.S. at work – Day 2

Background info:

In June I posted about how V.B.S. is a great service opportunity for youth during the summer.  In case you missed it, you can read that post here.  In it, I highlighted 5 reasons why this should be a very viable option for your youth program to help out with.

Well, this week is V.B.S. week at Cedar Run and because of this I am going to give some give real-time examples of how the 5 reasons really shine through. Yesterday I talked about how helping out with another V.B.S. is a positive way to support another ministry in your Church.  You can read it here.  Today is Reason #2.

Reason 2: It’s a local Mission Trip!

In my June blog about this, I said:

Having the youth help out and work with the Children’s ministry was a perfect opportunity to add another type of service during the summer. Every year, our church offers 2 mission trips – one international (open to the whole church) and another to a domestic location (youth only trip). Even though scholarship is available to help students go on these trips, helping out at V.B.S. provides a local, free option that students can have while still feel like they are giving to others and serving.

Here is how this was flushed out at this year’s V.B.S..  Of the 22 youth and young adults who are helping at V.B.S., 13 of them were not, for some reason or another, able to go on either of our 2 other “mission” trips.  Therefore, without helping out at V.B.S., they would not have had an experience to give and serve in this capacity all summer.  What a great opportunity for them and a great opportunity for these children.

What I believe makes this just a little bit better than a typical mission trip is that these youth and young adults are ministering to and building relationships with young children in their own church.  What a great model of investing in the younger generations and seeing children grow up to be teens and young adults having relationships with an older generation.  Tons of mentorship possibilities abound because of the investment being made during events like V.B.S.

So, when you are looking at service opportunities for your youth next year or even during the year, partner up with the Children’s Ministry and see how small little investments not only benefit the children but also the youth and young adults as well.