The Value of Vacation Bible School

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A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak. Or mine.

And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. How has VBS Vacation Bible School? Impacted your life or your faith journey, right? Maybe you attended as a child and it greatly impacted that, or maybe you taught. And that you have an amazing memory.

I mean, another question might be: what was one unforgettable memory associated with vacation Bible school, either again as a volunteer or as a participant, you know, something that y that you always looked forward to. You know, last year I Taught it at my church. And I guess the idea was to hit the pastor in the face with a pie. And, you know, I think a lot of them had a great memory with that. How about you?

866-348-7884 is a number to call in and share. And I can hardly wait. I really can. Dr. Carson, Dr.

Date, the word Carson. This was, as usual, his idea of a great topic. How has Vacation Bible School affected you in some way?

Some great memory, something unforgettable? 866-348-7884. Dr. Carson, you see the banners all over. It's getting cranked up.

It's that time of the year, Robbie. School's out, but it's now bad. Vacation Bible school time. And I go back as a child. We had it every summer.

And some of my fondest memories was vacation Bible school, lining up, carrying the Bible, saying the pledge to the American flag, Christian flag. And for me, I don't know, later on, I ended up becoming a pastor, but as I was growing up, they always had me carrying the Bible. And we'd say that pledge to the Bible. And it impacts your life.

So I'm hoping we have callers who call in and tell us about their vacation Bible school experiences. I find it to be one of the most valuable tools for God to use for the instruction of children and for the salvation. You always hear of a lot of people getting children getting saved. But my wife would tell us it's also a great opportunity for the older adults. To volunteer because when she worked at Thomas Road with their children's ministry in Vacation Bible School, she was a co-director.

They needed adult supervision. And it's like, well, I don't know if I want to do something with children when I'm in my 60s or 70s. And she says, I just need you to be in the hallway and direct people. Can you do that? Oh, yes.

And then they got to be a part of it and see all the excitement of it. Oh, it is. It is. And all the songs, right? I'm in the Lord's Army, and yes, sir, and all those things that are associated with it, you know, it's okay.

You don't have to get deeply spiritual here. You can just give us something fun. I mean, something you always, you know, that helped you get in church and get involved. 866-3487884. 866-3487884.

I was telling Dr. Carson before the show that. Um You know, I taught special needs at Calvary for 20 some odd years. And we would always do vacation Bible school with our special needs folks, even though a lot of them weren't kids. And we had two gentlemen that were in their 40s, probably, but They were extremely special needs.

They were not vocal. I never heard either one of them speak. And actually, they were both pretty standoffish. One of them. Robert, he always would hold his hands over his face.

You'd never see him. And the other one, Marius. He would never look at you straight. He he would back away, you know, pretty distant individual. Um But as we went through vacation Bible school one year, and I understand neither one of them did I ever hear or speak a word.

I mean, they used sign language some. They weren't fluent in that either.

So you could get some communication going with them. But that year, that particular year when Vacation Bible School rolled around, we get to that famous part where you do the ABCs, admit, believe, and confess. And so when we got to the part where I said, okay, guys, and the whole class, you know, I said, who would like to asked Jesus in their heart, who would like to do the ABCs? And fascinatingly, here's this class of, you know, I don't know, several of those students were extremely functioning, but the two that raised their hand were Robert and Marius. And I was like, okay, so we walk them through the steps of admitting, believing, and confessing, and saying that you have Jesus now and those things.

Here's the part that blows my mind. Number one, I never would have asked that question of these guys had it not been for Vacation Bible School, but number two, Their lives were really changed. Robert, I'm telling you, he always held his hands over his face. But after that, he would put this big old smile on. He would lay that smile on you.

It was unbelievable when you saw it. And Marius, who would usually keep distant, now I know until the last day I saw Marius, he always had to have a hug. And he would come in, shake your hand. He was. He was so excited to see you and would give you full-on eye contact.

I mean, they were remarkably different, and I wish everybody could have seen Marius pray. I mean, he had a gift of prayer. It didn't say anything, but you could see that there was something going on. He did make some noises sometimes. But again, just amazing stuff.

But how about you? 866-348-7884. We got Jamie is in Booneville, North Carolina. Jamie, you're on Truth Talk Live. Hi there, how are you?

I am excited to hear your story. Yes.

Well, we just wrapped up our vacation bobble school on last Friday. How often do you have to do that? It was absolutely amazing. Mm. I can hear the tears.

Yeah, we all can. What happened? We had Twenty-one souls baked. Wow. Oh, that's just glorious.

Amen. Amen. kids we actually had three fathers got saved on Sunday. The kids had come to Bible school.

So that just Yes. Right, the spirit was alive and well. What church was it? Allen Ford Baptist Church in Jonesville. Isn't that wonderful?

Island Fox. Oh, I can tell you, isn't he? And he does it amazingly through and and I imagine you and every volunteer involved, they'll never ever forget this summer. Absolutely. Absolutely not.

It was amazing. Those kids had such a wonderful time to see the smiles on their faces. And to watch 'em learn and grow in Christ is just There's just no words.

So what what theme did you have or what would you what would you attribute to the great movement of the spirit there? First of all, I would say it was God himself. His Spirit was filling that church. Our pastor is absolutely wonderful with the kids. And all the love that the kids get from love and attention they got from all the workers.

Oh yeah, wow. Oh yeah. What a testimony. Yeah, what a testimony. Mm-hmm.

You know, they're just an example of Christ, and I couldn't ask for a better group of people. work with and You know, we all prayed for those kids before Bible school started and we prayed for them during Bible school and God answered a lot of prayers. That's key, isn't it? That is definitely. I'm so glad you mentioned that because that's just absolutely huge.

So wonderful, Jamie. God bless you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your call. Makes my day, really. Yes.

I'm glad because it's back my week, and I'm just bubbling over. God has just. filled my cup full and it is still pouring over. And you know, in heaven, there's a lot of rejoicing going on, just like Jamie's. Yes, absolutely.

Why? Because of Vacation Bible School. That's so awesome. It is. And you know, some of these kids might not hear about God if it wasn't for Vacation Bible.

That's right. You're exactly right. That's exactly right.

So I'm a firm believer in it, and I just want to thank God for All his many blessings. Oh, yeah, me too. Me too. And your call is what I'm thanking God for.

Well, we got, thank you, Jamie, so much. And we got Michael waiting in the wings in Ohio. He's going to join us here when we get back. But we need your call, 866-348-7884. How has Vacation Bible School impacted you?

What's a favorite memory? 866-348-7884. We'll be right back. Truth talk Bye. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. How exciting today! Vacation Bible School kicking off all over the place. What testimonies we've already heard, but we need to hear yours. How has VBS impacted your life, your faith?

Your faith journey, or you know, what's an unforgettable memory? What would that be like? 866, the phone number to call, 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. We got Michael is in Ohio. Michael, you're on True Talk Live.

How are you doing today? I'm excited to hear your story. I can tell you right now. You probably won't believe my story. Oh, good.

I like it. I'm even more excited to hear it now. I've been blessed by VBS as a small child. All the way up to seventh grade, my church was a non instrument or a Not a denominational church. We had two weeks of it when I was a kid.

Really? And I have not only been a kid going through seventh grade, I also became a helper, I also became a teacher. And ultimately, I became a missionary for VBSS. I served in Africa and for 15 years, and I was. I was able to actually Do a VBS with the Um with the lady who used to be from my home church.

who moved to another church and later on in life I became her last VBS missionary. Wow. I can't tell you the importance of VBS because I've even put them on in Portuguese. In my African country, we had people from my home church come to visit. They brought with them the supplies to do a VBS.

They could speak no Portuguese. We translated what we had to. But VBS is a stronghold of getting young kids mindset in the right way. And it I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed. We've dropped it to four days Uh, we've dropped most churches, even drop it, period.

Yes, and uh Yeah, you just wouldn't believe the things that VBS has has put me through. And I've had pies put in the face. I've had me too. I know that feeling. I didn't know what he meant and put me through, but now I do.

I've had goals blown away. Uh I want to give a little bit of encouragement to churches that do not invite a missionary into VBS. I did a church once. A friend of mine worked there. It was not of my faith, but It was Serving God and Jesus, so I did it.

and they told me at the beginning of the week Now We set a goal for $35. And I said, okay. And I've never been about money. I'm about getting kids to pray for me and pray for my family. My kids have never once got malaria.

Uh it was amazing. And uh They said, Don't worry, we as teachers will get together and we'll make sure you get 35. I said, Well, whatever happens, let's get these kids excited. The first day communion or the first day offering was five cents. Five pennies.

And I thought, well, I got more work to do. I've got to convince him what God wants us to do. And so by the end of the week, We've made over three hundred and some dollars. Ten times. Wow.

the teachers were amazed and I said, We have the Bible and that tells the story of Jesus, but no one can tell the story of Jesus better than Jesus. Just like a missionary can't tell you my passion in my country. more than the guy who lives it.

So I encourage people to always have a missionary. And that church, from what I found out later on, always had a missionary there. And the whole week just turned around because You're seeing a vision of what God's doing in another country that I was so blessed to be a part of to watch. That I can convey what their efforts did. And I just encourage every church, anybody that's listening, get involved in VBS, make it happen.

And you'll be blessed far more than you can bless anyone else. It sure has impacted your life, Michael. I'm almost in tears, so I don't want to keep talking about it, but. God is good. It really is.

It really, and I can tell you. You just gave me, I had never thought of having a missionary at Vacation Bible School, but I wrote it down in my notes. That will be a must. You couldn't be more about someone else and then have them come and tell the story, and it'll be different. I guarantee it.

That's awesome.

So, bless your missionaries. Have them there. You're awesome, Michael. God bless you. And thank you for your call.

It means so much to all of us. I listen to y'all every day. This is the first one that Pricked my heart. We're so glad you called. I'm so glad you thank you, Michael.

God bless. Bye-bye.

Alright, we got Ellie. is in Winston, Salem. Ellie, you're on True Talk Live. Hi, yes. I am from Calvary Baptist Church, and we are getting ready for VBS right now as we speak.

Our VBS is next week, starting Monday, June 23rd. And so we're in the midst of the preparation, but we have our eyes on the goal, which is to help kids see the hope that comes only from God. And so we're really excited to help kids this year see the bigness of God in the smallest of things. That's kind of our theme.

So they're going to see that a great big God cares about each one of them, even the smallest things about them.

So we're pumped for VBS next week. I'll bet.

Well, how about you, Ellie? Did VBS impact you in some way? Yes, I always tell a story. One thing that I love about VBS is I can picture being a little kid. I remember walking into our Bible study room, and there was this huge black tarp that was blown up And as we walked in, they sprayed water, and we felt the water, and we heard waves.

And we sat down under the black tarp and there was a lantern on and we learned about Jonah and the big fish while we were pretending to be in the big fish. And so like it brought the Bible to life. And I still remember that all these years later. And I'm like, that's what VBS can do. It's a unique time where we spend the whole week reading Bible stories, talking about the Bible.

And so I'm like, let's bring the Bible to life for these kids like it did for me when I was younger. What a testimony, right, Doc? Absolutely. You bring the Bible to life for children. They never forget it.

What an experience.

So, Ellie, again, this is Calvary here in Winston-Salem. Yes.

What time next week, Monday through Friday? Is it Monday through Friday? It is. It's Monday through Friday, and it's 9 a.m. to noon.

And we are preparing for as many kids as want to show up.

So we would love for everyone to join us. Awesome. 9 a.m. to noon. That's special.

That is wonderful.

Well, God bless you, Ellie. Keep up the year. Keep up the great work. That's awesome.

Look, she just said, this is the best week of the year. We think of Christmas, we think of Easter, but vacation Bible school, Robbie. Oh yeah, oh yeah. It's amazing.

So we got Jane is in Thomasville, North Carolina. Jane, you're on Truth Talk Live. Good afternoon. How are we today? We're wonderful.

What you got for us? I'm actually at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Okay. It says Tom it's like Tom, but it's Thomas Road. Thomas Road. Hey, Jane, Dwayne Carson here.

Okay. Hi, Mr. Duane. Hey. You know what?

I've been listening to everybody else, and I will say, we can I believe we can all echo the same thing. CBS changes lives. It changes your life as a kid. It changes the lives of the teenagers and the young adults that are serving. It changes the lives of the moms and dads and the veteran adults we call ourselves that still come out every year to DBS because it changes everybody's life to get to be a part of it.

It's an incredible tool that the local church can use to go above and beyond their fifty two week ministry to grow kids in Jesus.

So weakness actually finished our VBS at Thomas Road last week. Yeah, and how did that week go? What were some of the exciting moments?

So I mean, anybody can give you stats and figures. We had over nine hundred and thirty kids that came out every night to VBS. We had over 600 volunteers. Um but the numbers that really matter are these. Uh 92 children.

For the first time, prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. Wow. We are really proud of the process that we have at Thomas Road because we're very intentional. I think we've got to go to a break, Jane, but we'll be right back. You call 866-348-7884.

We got Brad, Monica, and Jane still to talk to. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to True Talk Live. Today, VBS Vacation Bible Schools cranking up. How has VBS impacted your life or your faith journey?

Or maybe you have an unforgettable memory or a lesson that you took away like we just heard about? The Jonah lesson. You know, those things, you know, people need these ideas that are doing vacation Bible school all over the place right now. You know, the idea of having the missionary come. All those things, you know, we all learn from what you learned.

So call and share 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. We still got Jane on from Thomas Road in Lynchburg, Virginia. You know, Dr. Carson's over here grinning from ear to ear, Jane, because apparently his wife Danita, for years and years and years, took a very active role there. I guess you knew that.

Yes.

Yeah. We uh figured out that this is the twenty seventh year that Thomas Rhoda has been doing VBS. And we produce our own original content every year, sets us apart a little bit so that kids will come and experience a week like they will not anywhere else. In town, but what we really love about VDS, it is. We can't take children away to a retreat like you can with a youth group, but children can come for this week.

They come to a big rally, they scream, they cheer, they have fun with friends, they build deeper connections with our incredible volunteer leaders, they play games, they hear Bible stories, but we create this special environment so that they can meet Jesus. learn more about God the Father, how much he loves them, the sacrifice that Jesus made for them, and then the gift of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to do good works and bring glory to God the Father. And that's really what it's all about. Like I said earlier, it's about life change. And it's about the family that we heard the story this past week that they just moved to Lynchburg the week of BBS last week, heard about our vacation Bible school, brought their kids for the last two nights, and this is an unchurched family, but they wanted something great for their kids to begin to connect to our community.

So they came to our vacation Bible school and the family of four came back on Sunday morning and brought their children to church.

So, VBS is an avenue for this local family, brand new to our community, to not only connect to our church, but maybe find Jesus and a personal relationship with him in the process. We are so excited about what is going to happen on the other side of Vacation Bible School for kids and for families as well. Amen. Thank you, Jane, so much. God bless you.

You guys have a great other side there. I love that. The other side of VBS. Thank you so much. We got Monica has been waiting a long time in Madison Heights, Virginia.

Monica, you're on Truth Talk Live. Hello there. I have been so blessed by your program today and just the emphasis on Vacation Bible School. I just simply cannot express nor put into words the value I believe VBS can be for the local church. We had our VBS last week, and we had actually prepared for about fifty to come out.

And our last evening, we were blessed with almost one hundred children. Yeah. God, it worked, right? How cool. to brag on Jesus today and and I so loved hearing Jane speak about TRBC's Vacation Bible School because we are a church plant.

We're 16 years old. This is the 12th year we've had Vacation Bible School. And TRBC played a huge role in our VBS this year because they actually let us use some of their materials, all of their materials that they had used several years back. And I just love seeing churches partner together in reaching kids for Christ.

So just a personal thank you from Oasis Church to Thomas Road Baptist.

So Again, we're so grateful for your call. And how about you when you were a child? Did you get a chance to do it? Oh, absolutely. I just feel so blessed.

To have grown up in a pastor's home.

So VBS was a part of every summer of my entire life, every summer of my entire life. And now just have the privilege of serving in VBS. Is there a special memory in all those years in your father's home there that something happened at VPS that, like, oh man, that one. I'll never forget it. I'll never forget that we had this huge kickoff event.

before all of our vacation Bible schools. And actually, a gentleman in a church that my father was pastoring in Greensboro, North Carolina, he had a hot air balloon company. And so we, I got to ride in a hot air balloon and then they cut the rope and we were in the car chasing my father and this gentleman down the road. And let me tell you, it really built excitement. And we had a huge group of children afterwards.

But I will never forget that vacation Bible school. I was probably nine or ten years old. You're off to see the wizard. Yeah. That's so cool.

That's amazing, Monica. God bless you. Thank you so much for your call. We just love it. We love it.

Let's see. We need your call. I know we need that. 866-348-7884. 866-348-7884.

We got Brad is in Augusta, Georgia.

Well, hey guys, how's everybody doing today? We are excited to hear what you have from Georgia. Yeah, we're doing awesome, Dr. Wood. Hey, Dwayne, how are you, buddy?

Awesome. Tell us about your vacation Bible school.

Well, you know, we actually do two in one day. We laugh and say we love DBS so much, we do. Two in one day for a week. We do one in our main campus in the morning. which is our larger you know, we have a thousand seat auditorium, it's mostly filled with kids.

And then we do another one that night out at our West campus Uh there at Harlem Middle School. And so We absolutely love it. I mean, it really is one, I said, my favorite week of the year. I can totally relate as a pastor. I I get it because you get to just really see God at work in so many different ways.

Just the church really open up and full all week long, right? It does. In the morning or night, whether it is. And I and I love hearing the contrast a minute ago between Thomas Road and then another church I had a connection with them. Large churches, small churches, you know, Normanty-sized churches, I like to say today.

And um you know they're our main campus, I mean Hundreds and hundreds of between the two, about one thousand one hundred kids and everybody on Tuesday morning, Uh But then a smaller one out at West Campus. But the one thing I wanted to say today and just encourage guys is for the pastors to be involved. And that is one of the things that we've made sure since we've been at Abilene, the last thirteen years, is that I am on the stage every day Sharing the gospel. And we really see the fruit of that when you when it comes to Invitation Day, where they you've got the connection with them, you are sharing and going over the gospel every day. And this year, going back to what one of the ladies said a moment ago, We had eighty, what, eighty-two kids.

give their life to Christ. One hundred and fifty three They came forward and we met with them one-on-one, but 82 kids gave their life to Christ at Abilene during this year's DBS. Praise God. How awesome is that? A red.

So to have that happen. How much work had to go on to take place to get these counselors ready. to be able to do that.

Well, you know, thankfully at Abilene, we keep what we call our encouragers ready. But we do put together a specific for DBS Lead Me to Jesus team. And um We have we have a system of bags. And when I walk back through there, You know, you had yellow bags, I think this year, yellow bags, green bags, red bags. And that kind of shared from the counselor's standpoint, hey, here's kind of where I think this child is after talking with him.

And uh but we sit down one on one. And do our best to understand, did the child understand? Did they surrender to Christ? Do they make a step toward Christ or hey, are they just not quite ready yet? And um But it's again, it's it's it is the best week of the year and So often the most important week of the year because of just the number of kids They'd give their life to Jesus.

Yeah, yeah. And families involved. You gotta think of Christmas. You gotta think of Easter. But The most important week, pastors out there listening to this, again, you're crucial to making this happen.

Your leadership, VBS, and the volunteers that get involved, we've heard that about how their lives were changed. And then you've got parents, their lives get changed. There's so much can come from this, that's just one week of intentionality. Just curious, Brad, early in your life, What has stirred you so much to be so passionate about Vacation Bible School? Was there something early in your life that did that?

You know, yeah. One of my earliest memories was when we were in East Tennessee. My dad was a pastor like one of the previous call-ins. And I remember having to go, we went to another church's BBS there in Athens, Tennessee, First Baptist Athens. But then I was raised in a church where, again, we had strong intentional focus on BBS.

Our entire ministry, we've always done that. And so you're just seeing The impact. Like vacation Bible school can have. And I go back to what I said a moment ago. Make sure as a pastor you are involved.

So every week, every day we're talking about the gospel. We use colors and characters. And we go back over the gospel every single day building on it. But then here's one thing we do that might be newer. Uh for some of the guys And that is on Thursday night.

We have Family Night. And the place is absolutely slam-packed. I mean, absolutely packed as the parents and families come in. They get to see their kids on the stage, they're singing the songs, they get to kind of see what a rally looks like. But then I get to get on the stage and tell the parents, hey, This morning, we had eighty two of your boys and girls who To the best of our knowledge, Trusted Christ.

Let me share with you what I shared with them. every day this week. And I go back through the gospel with the parents there, and then I give an invitation for the parents. And a lot of times, we'll see parents That will come to faith in Christ that night, during family night. Wow.

Well Intentionality. Thank you so much, Brad. God bless you. Keep up the great work out there. Thank you, guys.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. We got Logan is in Pennsylvania, but we need you. 866-348-7884. Logan, you're on Truth Talk Live.

Hi. Hi. Well, Robbie, I recognize that voice. That's my grandson.

Well, hello, Logan. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, uh so Tell us about your vacation Bible school experience.

Okay. I went black. And how was it?

Now tell our listeners, how old are you? Sick. All right, six years of age.

So, what made it so exciting? Um that we sing songs and that I was there with some of my friends. The songs. Do you remember any of the songs, Slogan? Not really.

I love that. Honesty is the best policy, Dr. Carson.

Well, how about you? What about your vacation Bible school experience? We'd love to hear. We're going to have more from Logan here in a minute, but we need you. 866-348-7884.

How about your vacation Bible school memory? 866-348-7884. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live today's show.

How has Vacation Bible School, VBS, impacted your faith journey or your life, either as a teacher or as a student, or maybe he got that favorite memory, like And the girl that was in the Jonah With the black tarp and the people spraying water on them. And, you know, I get the picture. You know, things like that that happen for a child, you know, impact them forever. I mean, they'll never forget that. The Bible came to life.

How did that happen for you? Because we could all use that information. Those of us who are working in vacation Bible schools, pastors, et cetera. We would love to hear your ideas. 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884.

And we still have Pastor Carson's grandson, Logan. Logan, you still with us? Yes.

Well, Logan, was there a Bible verse? Did you have to memorize scripture? When I went to Bible school, they always wanted me to memorize at least one verse. Did you have to memorize any Bible verses while you were at vacation Bible school? Yeah.

Which one did you memorize this week, this past week? Um Matthew eleven twenty eight Oh, that's a really good one. Papa D knows that verse. Yeah, chip off the old block there. What's it say?

Come to me and I will Yeah. That is awesome. Awesome, Logan. And and and six years old, right? He's got that and You know, you can rest assured, so to speak, right, Don?

Rest assured. Logan, would you tell other listeners that are your age whether they should go to vacation Bible school or not? Would you recommend Vacation Bible School? Absolutely. Yeah.

That is wonderful.

Thank you for that endorsement of Vacation Bible School from a six-year-old. Yes, Logan. God bless you. Keep up the great work out there in Pennsylvania. Yes.

Thanks, Logan. Love you. Bye. Bye-bye.

866, we need your calls. I was so excited that we'd have more and more people call in with ideas and things that they experienced. Come on, you don't hold back. Eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four, eight, six, six. Three, four, eight.

7884 is a number to call in and share. You know, it's it's one of those things that that you can see somebody Like I had several children last year, I wouldn't call them children, they were our youth, so they were 15, 16, 17, right? Never come to church. In their line, right? And then all of a sudden, they're hearing about things in the Bible, and you can see the wheels turning in there.

And I liked what that one, I don't remember whether it was Jane or which one, maybe it was Ellie, talking about the family that came for the first time on church. Right. The children come, they am, you know, they, and, and, you know, most vacation Bible schools, they have this big. Scene that they're going to do on the stage with dancing and singing and all these things. The children, of course, the parents got to come for that.

Yes.

And it gives the pastor that perfect opportunity, right, to um Crow is church. Yeah. Well, you know, when church Growth, we talk about creating those on-ramps. And you want people to feel. comfortable.

being able to explore what's it like to be at a church. Right. And Vacation Bible School creates that on-ramp. Children come, they're having a blast together, and they're learning. God's Word.

Singing songs. But then, as Brad said, you have that family. Like when we were growing up, it was always the Sunday morning service got totally turned over to Vacation Bible School. And so then it was the big invite. And then my memory is not only of the Vacation Bible School, it was second to only homecoming because we then had a big meal for all the families after church.

And people who don't usually come came on those Sundays.

So again, the value of Vacation Bible School, giving people that on-ramp. To be able to, what's it like to be at that church? I know you've got Vacation Bible School coming up at yours. We do, we do at Kildee Church. It's August 16th.

We're doing it. They haven't done it since COVID, and we reinstituted.

So we're excited to do that. But the thing that your grandson said. That somebody else actually said the friends. The reason why he said one of the things he loved was those friends.

Well, a lot of times they don't have any friends until they come to vacation Bible school and they make those friends. And those good friends, those good Christian friends, you know, that's a big part of what I know. I was always so grateful that my kids got involved and stuff like that because they made good friends that helped them, you know. Grow in their faith. You know, interestingly, I was at my granddaughter's first birthday party on Saturday.

And there were two girls that were there at that birthday party that... Went through youth group with Mariah. They went on to college with Mariah. In other words, these girls have been best friends for years and years and years. And guess where it started?

No. Vacation Bobby School. Amazing.

So we got Mike is in Dayton, Ohio. Mike. Hi, thanks for taking my call. You asked about a memory, and I am looking forward to it. Yes.

Yeah, and the memory was when I was 18. I'm sorry about my dog. He was 18. Did your dog have a good time at Vacation Buffalo? No.

I was eighteen, graduated from high school and I taught vacation Bible school with my dad. Really? Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah.

I took one class and my dad took another. And he always took vacation on his vacation Bible school. He took. Five or six vacation, you know, of vacation days. He took his vacation days.

That was that important thing. And I always thought that's the reason why they called it vacation Bible school, because that's when you're an adult, you take vacation.

So because that's what my dad always did. That's impressive. Yeah, and it was really it really had a lot of great friends and a lot of great people. And I was going in the Marine Corps and Matter of fact, all these kids that were sophomores and juniors, I was I was you know, I was leading the class. And they had a curriculum and you just basically read their curriculum and and you know it was great.

And uh my dad always prepared all that. That was that was really cool. And so did the pastor. And we had hot dogs a lot. And, you know, it was just memories that you could have.

How about I got to tell you, last year we had a watermelon spitting, seed spitting contest. Yes, make sure you say the seed spitting.

Well, it was classic, man. I mean, it was so cool to watch the kids. I mean, they really got into trying to spit them watermelon seeds.

So it was so funny. Oh, it was a blast. I would recommend it to anybody. You know, you want the kids involved. And, you know, this is your chance to spit for prizes, you know, as the case may be.

Well, my dad got a dunking booth once. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so he didn't let me throw the ball at it only one time because he got dunked right away. But the pastor and my mom was up there. All the kids love that, the dunking thing.

That's another great idea. Yeah, there you go. You dress up like Jonah and you put a whale down there. He's got me thinking about all these things. That is so awesome, Mike.

Again, your dad was such an influence. And you know, he brought that that story about David and and throw in the Um You know, throwing the rocks out there to the Sunday school class. That's the vacation Bible school. Make the Bible come alive, right? Have you heard this story, Dr.

Carson? His dad got where he could ping the light pole. From what, a hundred yards or something? Oh, pretty far, yeah. And he would literally with the swing and a stone, and he could hit it.

And then one of the boys said, Well, I bet you can't do that again. What happened, Michael? Yeah, he did it three times. And um and then the kids, you know, all picked out that he wanted a perfect round stone. And it was a sling that you slung above your head.

really fast and really hard and then you let it go. I don't know how he did it, but you let it go and he he was able to hit a basketball pole. It was pretty cool. Um he and then he taught on David and Goliath. And my dad did that for months in the backyard, and I thought he was crazy.

I didn't know the story at the time. I was real young then, and I didn't know the story. And I didn't know that he was doing that in the backyard to throw a rock at a pole and have a thought. And believe me, every one of those kids, I just to this day, they're really good friends. Mike Johnson, if you're listening, there's a bunch of them.

But the basketball didn't come down, I guess. You know, that would have been the stuff to make the Bible come alive. It just, you know, when I was in. Fifth grade. Our Sunday, one of the few times I went to church as a child, they had a Passover Seder thing where we ate the horseradish and all that stuff.

That was one of the things that brought the Bible come alive to me. And to this day, I still love doing Seder dinners. I still do them as a result of something that impacted me when I was a kid. Because when it comes to life for you, you never forget it.

So, Doc, how about you? You were in all those. Was there something you remember something they did that grabbed you, made it come alive for you? Um Mm. Not to the level we've heard today.

As I go back, we were in a small Methodist church out in the country, and the things that just stood out to me was. I carried a Bible and they wanted me to emphasize Psalms 119, 105. And I pledge allegiance, I pledge to walk according to God's word. That's what impacted me. His word is a lamp.

I lay my feet a lamp into my path. There you go. How cool. Well, thank you all for listening. Thank you for the call, Mike, and all the wonderful calls.

God bless. Yeah.