Vacation Bible School – Don’t Forget the High Schoolers

Before I tell you the story of how my life was transformed, I need to start with: Vacation Bible School (VBS) changed my life. I want to say that again for those who maybe didn’t hear me the first time. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL CHANGED MY LIFE.

When I was 16yrs old, I felt alone in the world. As a Sophomore in high school, I was awkward and unsure. I didn’t fit in, didn’t have a stable home life, and through a series of unfortunate choices and circumstances, didn’t have a lot going for me. My grades were too low to pass the semester. I’d maxed out absences and the tardy policy. My school counselor wasn’t even talking to me about future plans after high school. I had a few friends but I wasn’t a good friend. I’d dropped out of the sports I loved to play. It was an incredibly dark and painful experience for me, and even reflecting upon it now brings me to tears.

Nobody was looking out for me. Rallying me. Loving me. I felt like nothing.

A child of divorced parents, I spent the school year with one parent and summers with the other. So, at the end of school year, I flew to visit my parents that lived in Georgia as I always did.

Summer vacations were truly a break from my normal life; a reprieve from what I was experiencing during the day-to-day of my usual unstable home life and the school year. Only a few weeks into summer vacation, my older brother asked me if I would join him and his friends at Vacation Bible School. They were in charge of leading the high school portion of VBS at the church he went to.

At first I didn’t want to. Me, the broken and lost girl. Me, the disgusting and stupid girl. I felt like I didn’t belong at a place like VBS. I didn’t want to be judged and felt unworthy. But my brother was persistent, and so I went.

By the end of the week, I prayed a prayer that placed my life on a new trajectory. God spoke to me. Told me I was not leaving Georgia that year, and bless my parents, because they took what I said and instantly changed their own lives to move me permanently into theirs.

They enrolled me in the local high school where I had to play catch up. They enforced rules that, although much needed, I rebelled against. They loved me despite how difficult the transition was, no matter if I messed up or tried to sabotage myself. I made some wonderful friends who stuck with me despite my awkwardness. I joined the soccer team too. On Wednesdays I’d go to youth church. I graduated high school with nearly straight As and went to college where I went on to meet my husband and live a full and wonderful life. That’s not to say life was perfect and I suddenly became a different person after VBS. There was still so much to over come, but VBS was the catalyst to it all.

However, the story I just told isn’t unique to just me.

There is a whole generation of young people whose stories are incredibly similar to mine. They feel lost, lonely, unsure, and alone in the world. Teenagers and young adults, who just like I did, need something or someone to let them know they are worthy and loved.

Let it be God.

This summer, as VBS starts coming along, don’t forget about the high schoolers. Invite them. Invite them to Vacation Bible School. Invite them to participate without judgment or feelings of unworthiness. Show them and tell them how much they are loved. Wanted. Accepted. That they matter.

Vacation Bible School can be life changing at any age and help to develop a life long relationship with God. It can give hope and instill purpose into young people who didn’t have those things before. The people you invite don’t have to be members of your church. Their parents may not even go to church. But that does not mean that the youth of today don’t deserve the invite or chance to experience what Vacation Bible School has to offer.

It’s our job to love them.
It’s our job to accept them.
It’s our job to guide them.
And it’s our job to support them.

We can do that by inviting them into the arms of the One Who Is.