Using Your Backyard for DVBS

You can't find a suitable building in your neighborhood to have a week or two of kids meetings. You would like to have a Daily Vacation Bible School this summer but all the facilities in your community are either booked or too expensive. You can't afford to rent a tent for a week so you think you will just have to scrap the idea. Don't give up yet. Do you have a backyard or a front-lawn? Or maybe you know someone who does. All you need is some lawn space, a few chairs and tables and the rest will all come together.

Recently at the home of Irving and Sheryl Payne in Oak Ridges (Toronto, ON) a week of kids' meetings was held. No rental fees were paid, no permits were required and no big tent was erected. Simply, they used their own yard.

The registration desk was set up in their driveway. Some came on their bikes. Others were dropped off by parents or walked.

The chairs were set up in the most shaded part of the yard. It had been predetermined that 40 children was the max that could be handled in this setting. So no incentives or awards were given for bringing friends. Instead, rewards were given for those who could say not only the memory verse of the day but the memory verses from the preceding days. 

The first hour was the Bible class where songs were sung, verses were learned and Biblical stories and truths were taught. A small sun-shelter tent was erected to provide sufficient shade for the songs to be visible on the screen. (By the way, this is Bryan Joyce doing a great job of the singing and teaching the verse.)

Peter Lansing provided a five minute 'Discovery' lesson each morning - as Dr. Discovery. In the picture above he is teaching from a model of the heart. You can see Payne's house in the background.

At break time, refreshments were served in the parking lot and people stored their empty styrofoam cups in the spruce tree - rather than getting a new cup each time they needed a drink.

After the 60 minute Bible Class was over and the refreshment break had ended, another hour was spent on crafts and activities.

At the closing, every student had painted their own t-shirt.

It was a great week. Teaching Bible verses, Bible songs and Bible stories to the young is an activity of eternal significance!

Moms and Tots Program - Pennsauken, NJ

Susie Curran, in fellowship at the Pennsauken Gospel Hall, New Jersey, kindly responded to our request for a report on the Moms and Tots program. If you want to learn more about the program, you can email her by clicking on her name.

Moms and Tots is a preschool program which teaches children an educational concept through Bible stories. The ages range from infancy to age 5. We began our program in Pennsauken approximately eight years ago. The desire was that children from the community would be able to attend a "Bible Based" story hour, along with our own children.

We wanted the Moms and Tots program to reach out to stay-at-home moms in the neighborhood with a view to developing contacts for further gospel work. We have advertised in the local paper and have also taken invitations door to door when distributing Seed Sower texts. Many of the local Christians with small children have come and they have invited their neighbors and friends to come. This has been an avenue for them to share the Lord with their friends as well.

A Typical Session

Our general structure of the program schedule is the following: Songs, Introduce the Concept of the Day, Bible Lesson, Craft and Snack. We have taught various themes. Some examples are: colors, numbers, shapes, feelings, road signs, etc.

We are pleased that the Moms and Tots program is getting the Gospel into these little minds as well as into their homes. Each week a packet of papers is sent home with the children consisting of:

• a copy of our story,

• a coloring page from story,

• the new song of the week, and

• a memory verse.

Children are rewarded each week with a small prize if they know their verse upon returning! This is a great avenue to reach parents as well, as they must stay for the entire hour. 

Three Sessions a Year

We usually run three sessions a year: winter/spring (late January to the end of April); a summer session (4 weeks in June); and a fall session (late September to November). We use the main auditorium for singing and the lesson and the side annex for crafts and snack. Our program outgrew the downstairs of the building.

Benefits

We would love to see more families coming to regular Gospel Meetings, etc. In this area, many of these families go to their own church on Sunday so the day is already scheduled for them with ‘church’ activities.

Moms and Tots has been a blessing to our local assembly in so many ways. This is not a program that can be run by one person. There are approximately six older women who help with many aspects of the program. One person checks the children in; another is there to help get coats off; another helps with the snack set up and clean up; another helps with craft preparations before hand; and another is there to set up before we arrive, etc. Each one has taken an ownership in the program and feels a sense of being needed and appreciated. It has fostered a nice fellowship between the Christian sisters who are involved.

Another benefit of the program is that the moms have made new friends and built friendships that have extended beyond the Moms and Tots program. For example, when one of the older sisters fell and sustained injuries, the ladies involved in the program wanted to do something for her which included sending her meals, money, gift cards, flowers, etc. This was an amazing spirit of love!! Personally speaking, it has been a real blessing in my life!

Starting a Program

If you are interested in starting such a program, pray about it first. This is not a one person venture so others must be supportive and willing to be involved. Be sure you have the volunteers to help you get started. Involving others promotes ‘inclusion’ and allowing others to help is such a blessing to all!

Initially you could start with a short 8 week session with something simple such as colors. Have your stories, crafts, snacks all planned out ahead of time. I find it takes me about three hours of preparation time before each session. Variation from week to week in how you teach is important. I use the Power Point program, flannels, plastic figures, acting out stories, etc. It keeps the program fresh! And be sure to bounce ideas off others who are running a similar program. For more information on others who are running this program you can contact me.

Remember, you are also working with infants and toddlers so tasks need to be appropriate. We always encourage the Moms of newborns to come even if it is only to socialize with other moms. Before long their little ones are ready to clap, sing, and listen with us! This program overall is summed up by saying, "It's a great way to connect to Moms and their little ones." We’ve had all backgrounds of life come to the program and many have commented how their kids still walk around the house singing the songs from Moms and Tots. The Word of God is powerful!

Submitted by: Susie Curran, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Hamilton, Ontario - Multi-pronged Gospel Approach

Paul Glenney of the Nash Road Gospel Hall (Hamilton, Ontario) kindly submitted the post below. The Christians who once met at the Hamilton Road Gospel Hall moved to a newly renovated facility in November, 2009. The post below deals with the transition and the assembly's gospel efforts in the community.

Here is a brief chronology of events since moving into the new building. It is only ten minutes from the former Kensington Avenue Gospel Hall so we have been able to maintain some contacts from the area. The lady who lives beside the old hall is picked up each Sunday night for the Gospel Meeting, unless she is unable to attend. Some children are also picked up in the area.

In the months preceding our move we delivered, as well as mailed, to apartments in the area a Seed Sower John 3:16 text (5x7) and a card indicating that we were moving into their neighborhood. We moved November 13-14th and the following three Saturdays had a craft class focusing on Christmas crafts. Then on December 13th we had the Christmas dinner.

It is hard moving into a new area and trying to make contacts. It is slow but we are in it for the long run, in the will of the Lord. To the neighbors on each side of our building we took a gift basket with texts and literature in it. We thanked them for their patience and understanding with us during the months of construction with its noise and dirt. It is really just another way of trying to gain the confidence of the people. We delivered about 800 baskets along with an annual calendar which had all the Sunday School and Gospel meetings marked for each Sunday in addition to special events such as Mother’s Day luncheon, Sunday School picnic and the Christmas program for 2010. Again these are small steps.

We are not getting many folks in from the area yet but we keep working at it.

Regarding our Christmas Program, we have tried this for a few years and are very thankful we have.

We have a full Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings.

We try to time the Program (with the children saying verses or recitations relating to the coming into the world of the Saviour and his death at Calvary) for about 7PM. This is the time of our regular Sunday evening Gospel meeting so if some of the neighbors unknowingly come for the Gospel meeting, they will still get the Christmas Gospel message. The recitation of verses is followed by a speaker for the children and parents - again with the focus on the birth and death of the Saviour.

For this Christmas program, we get a large number of unsaved in which normally do not come to the meetings. It is fair to say conservatively we had in at least 40 unsaved adults that we normally would not get in. In all we estimate we had between 230 – 250. The Christians were encouraged by it and in the will of the Lord we plan on it again for 2010.

We hope in the spring/summer to have a community barbeque on our front lawn/parking lot again with tents with texts, cds, literature, etc. The purpose again is to make contacts in the area. We are getting some inquiries from the website as well. (See link for Hamilton, Ontario under Websites)

While we have not yet been able to connect fully with our new neighbors we are continuing with the expectation that we will.

Regarding the renovations to our new location, our project manager, Mike Da Silva, is a Christian. We have arranged a Sunday evening for Mike Da Silva and his son to speak in the Gospel. We are using this as an opportunity to invite all the trades and tradesmen, our real estate agent, etc. that worked on the building to the gospel meeting, tour the building to see the finished product and have a luncheon. Will they come? we don’t know but here again we are trying to use this to make some contacts for the Gospel’s sake.

We carry on a Spanish Gospel meeting once a month on a Saturday followed by dinner. We always have some unsaved in for which we are thankful.