Seeing Moses’ Life Played Out

Vacation Bible School 2026

In the Book of James, we read that if you have faith, you will show it through your works. That is what happened during VBS this year.

I started contacting leaders in January, then helpers, small group leaders, and others. It is like a tree that sprouts, buds, and blooms all by itself. I follow God to them, and then I allow the leaders to follow God.

For some of the leaders, by March they knew exactly what they would be doing in their areas. Crafts was one group. Jade reported to me in March that she was ready and knew exactly what crafts and supplies were needed. Sharon was another leader who took charge of the decorations and ran with it. I did not have to worry about these groups at all.

Kids came to VBS expecting singing, dancing, fun, crafts, snacks, and stories, and they got all that plus more.

This year, I wrote our daily lessons, meaning our church did not purchase a VBS curriculum. It was so rewarding for me spiritually and personally to be able to write the program. We studied the life of Moses. Through our decorations, we traveled to Egypt, had a chariot, and walked across the Red Sea just as the Israelites did.

Let me talk a little bit more about my volunteers. My small group leaders might have had the hardest job of the week. They loved on our students, listened to them, taught them as they went over the story they heard, and guided them toward making decisions about God.

We had two students who made decisions to accept Christ into their hearts this week. That alone is awesome. Even if no one had made a decision, we were able to plant seeds in over 100 lives.

There are volunteers who do things that I have no expertise in. For example, Danny takes care of all the technology for the week. I have no idea how to implement the ideas I have in my brain when it comes to technology. We had a chariot in the lobby this week, and parents and students alike commented on how cool it was. All I had to do was say the word, and I had someone who made it happen.

We handed out many Bibles this year to students who asked for them. That was only one of the highlights of the week.

Other highlights included hearing kids say they wanted to come back. We had 54 preschoolers and 56 elementary students. This points to many young families coming in and seeing our youth programs grow over the next few years.

Satan was ready to attack and try to derail us, as he always does, but this year he did not have any success. On Wednesday, we had a youth become ill, and our skit was in trouble. But no! Another youth who had been working behind the scenes all week was able to step up. The skit went off without a hitch. Thank you, Lord, for this.

We are starting to see many of our youth being mentored into leadership roles. Sixteen youth were involved this year in many different ways, and I love watching them grow.

Thank you to all of my leaders and volunteers. They are doing the hard work and doing it well.

Pastor Todd Hixenbaugh