Ministry can be difficult, and an event like VBS can require an all hands on deck kind of initiative. Most churches, of any size, need to use the older youth as assistants, or even major players, in their vacation Bible schools. This should not be an afterthought or a last ditch effort to fill spots, but a planned and well executed training effort to prepare students for real, impacting ministry! After all, these youth will be adults in less than 7 years! Training them now will encourage them to be involved in the LORD S work later but throwing them to the wolves at the last minute may give them a sour taste. They are students, and need to be taught, prepared, and equipped to handle the stress that a week of VBS can cause. And like most adults, they need to be constantly reminded of the purpose behind such events leading people to Christ. It s easy to side tracked with all of the minutia of a fun event, or the drama of being a teenager! Below are the steps to have ready, student leaders sometimes more willing and able than adults! I. PRAYER Even if you have more than enough adult workers to run your event, including students can be a sanctifying experience for them. Setting them apart from their other peers as servants. Pray about the students you intend to involve. Pray for the areas in which they will work, and pray about how this will affect them on a personal and spiritual level. VBS, like all of ministry, should be us doing God s work not us inviting God into ours. Using student leaders should not be a hurried proclamation on the day before, but a prayerfully reached decision, based on; 1. The desire to raise up solid, Christian workers. 2. The immediate need to fill positions. Bathe these students with as much prayer as you do your VBS. II. RECRUITING & SAFETY CONCERNS A. SAFETY We all know that not every student is spiritually, or mentally ready to take on a class of first graders single handedly. The number one safety issue: You are recruiting students who are under 18. They may be super mature for their age, but legally they are still minors. You need to remember that fact. Permission slips and registration forms are just as important for 1
them, as they are for the children to which they are ministering. Some of these items can be found on the printable section of the administrative VBS CDROM, others can be found in free Pdf form with a simple internet search. Most of them are editable, and you can make them fit your needs. Also, medical information is important, in the case of a medical emergency while they are hanging things from the ceiling! Finally, in your plans to utilize these students, wherever you intend to work them, ALWAYS have an adult present. It can be difficult to get adult help with VBS because of the week long commitment (if that is the option your church goes with). However, if it is the responsibility of a trained, student leader to teach the lesson or prepare the game, the adult s job is made easier and coming to VBS every night after work suddenly doesn t seem so daunting. B. RECRUITING (HANDOUT A) Advertising during service and youth nights is the best way to get students interested in serving. Once you get them, make certain that you identify them as the Student Leaders with specialized T-Shirts or name tags. It is also true that not every student in your youth group may be mature enough to work in VBS. The simplest way to separate the wheat from the chaff is to take applications. The handout is full of simple questions to figure out how serious a student is about working, or if they may think that this is another fun, youth event. The most important item on the list ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? And a close second. CAN YOU SHARE YOUR FAITH? Yes, there will be evangelism training and scripture memorization, but if this question is met with any ambiguity, having their information right in front of you on an application gives you the right to call them up and ASK them if they would like to know more about Jesus. If you find that they haven t accepted Him YAY! There is nothing better than new Christian zeal to fire up a VBS worker! Interview prospective students. Find out what their attitude, spiritual level, and logistic difficulties may be. A student might be a fantastic asset, with a deep understanding of Christ, but their parents can t bring them every night. Alternatively, you may have a very keen youngster, who has no issue with transportation or anything else, but they have serious issues with authority, and only want to come because their love of the moment will be in attendance. You need to know about these type of things ahead of time. 2
III. LEADERSHIP/ EVANGELISM TRAINING SKILLS (HANDOUT B) A. Structure is the key to maintaining order and getting things accomplished. When you train the student leaders, structure the time so that everything that needs to be addressed can be. There are thousands of team building and leadership skill activities that both expose natural, leader potential and provide insight into which students do better with being the boss, and which need to be instructed constantly. Before you jump into the material or crack the first pizza box at your training event, fun activities will show you who is best suited to prepare and teach the Bible lesson, and who would be better at handing out snacks. B. Give the students a spiritual gifts test. A good one can be found at http://www.lifeway.com/product/spiritual-gifts-p005742365. Both student and teacher can know where to begin. Many students are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, but may get stage fright, not like crowds, or not get along with children at all! It happens! You can place them in registration, decoration, or attendance! C. EVANGELISM TRAINING After all of the getting to know you that has happened, you will certainly be aware of which students are extroverts, and which are shy. However, no matter if they are in the foreground or deeply hid away, they need to know how to lead a child to Christ like they know their own name. Look at the front of the leader guide in the VBS material. This plan is a great way to learn and share, as it provides verses and explanation. Teach them this, and any other way that you may know will impact a child, and have them practice on one another. IV. MATERIAL TRAINING There are several ways to acquaint student leaders with the material they will be using: A. If you have the time, the youth VBS material can be used to teach the students, on a level meaningful to them. Then, when given their own age graded packets, they will know the content, and will be able to more easily understand the preparation in the leader guides. Furthermore, if students are put in charge of games, recreation, or snacks, they will be able to connect, more effectively the activity or food they are preparing with the overarching theme for the day. After all, it is very difficult to teach something you do not understand, or aren t familiar with. B. You can also have the students prepare the material for their particular age group or section of VBS, and then share that with the others. If they have issues with content or delivery, or struggle to do an activity correctly, you, with the other team members, can help them overcome their issues together. AHHHH team building. 3
C. Finally, you can partner each student leader with their appropriate adult in charge of that area and have that adult train the student in exactly the way that VBS is done in their class. This is particularly good with individuals who have been doing VBS since its inception. They are permitted to pass on their vast knowledge, and the student gets to assist a VBS veteran. No matter what method you choose, the fact that the student leaders will know the stories, the games, the menu, the music, and the verses by heart before VBS ever get rolling, will give an advantage that will certainly put Satan in his place. It s preparing for rain! V. IMPLEMENTATION Student leaders need to be trained and ready before your first, official VBS meeting. You can assign unassigned leaders to adult workers who will need their help, and you get to become a VBS team, together no longer youth and adults, but VBS workers, all servants of the Most High! Any naysayers will be hard pressed to say nay after they meet and interact with the spiritual specimens that God has provided to work in what is possibly the most effective witnessing tool of the modern era! Train up workers! Approach your VBS with confidence! Win souls, build the Kingdom! Do it all for Jesus! 4
APPLICATION TO BECOME A VBS STUDENT LEADER HANDOUT A NAME: AGE: ADDRESS: PHONE: ( ) CELL: ( ) TEXT: YES NO EMAIL: SOCIAL MEDIA: YES NO 1. Write your testimony. *IF YES, TYPE 2. Give one example of how to lead someone to Christ, or an experience of when you led someone to Christ. 3. What areas of VBS are you interested in working? Our VBS is to. Can you commit to work the entire week? 5
HANDOUT B LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY OPTIONS These activities are designed to both allow the facilitator to watch students interact, and glean insight as to what skills each possess, while building the group as whole. 1. STRAWS AND MARSHMALLOWS Break the students into groups (as many as necessary). Give the groups a package of straws, a bag of marshmallows, and a bowl of folded papers. Tell them that they have to build a tower, and the tallest tower will win. Ask them to choose a paper out of the bowl, and on it is written what they must do during the challenge. In the bowls of all other teams, one paper says You are the leader. Guide the building of the tower. All others say, You are a follower. Do what the leader says. However, for one team, make all of the papers say, You are a leader, Guide the building of the tower. 2. AGE WITHOUT TALKING Mix the students up, then ask them to put themselves in age order (youngest to oldest) without speaking. 3. AIRPLANE Describe a fictitious airplane crash. Tell the students that they all survived, but they are all injured in one way or another. Have them choose from a bowl a piece of paper with an injury on it, and an amount of time that they will live. Choose a place of safety, and tell them that they have to help each other get to the safe place before time runs out. 4. TWO STORIES AND A LIE Have students sit in a circle, and explain that they each need to tell a little about themselves. They have to say three things. One is the truth, the other two are lies. It will be up to the group to determine which of the three has the truth. A good leadership book can be found at: http://www.lifeway.com/product/leadership-true-adventures-of-riskand-faith-ebook-shorts-p005581261 Other leadership games can be found online by searching, leadership activities, team building games, and corporate team building. 6