The Good News went to many new frontiers through your VBS. Students were reached with the gospel, to the glory of God. But after VBS, how can you help them grow and keep the good news of God’s love spreading? There are many ways you can follow up with VBS students and their families.
The main thing is to be intentional about it!
- Pray: Keep praying individually and corporately as a church for the students and families who were reached through VBS.
- Plan: Get together with your church’s pastor and leaders from your VBS, Sunday School, and midweek programs. Decide on ways to follow up that will work in your community, and then do them.
- Be prompt: Timing is important. Try to begin follow-up in a week to two weeks, tempting as it is to take a long vacation after VBS. People are often the most open to church contact soon afterward.
- Be purposeful: Keep the VBS momentum going into your other programs. Prepare all your
departments to welcome visitors from VBS. Link to your Sunday School and midweek programs; and mail invitations, like the postcards for Strong Curriculum, to VBS families. Consider scheduling a service sometime after VBS, when students who accepted Christ can be baptized if the parents are willing. The discipleship that takes place beforehand could be a good opportunity to develop relationships with families. Welcome to the Family is a great resource to use in discipling students. - Prioritize: Relationships are key. Try to create ways for people to keep developing the relationships that began at VBS. Connect families through informal get-togethers. Have larger family outreach events, or several throughout the year, and invite all your VBS families. Events could be as simple as a picnic, or you could go all out with a theme and games.
As exciting as VBS is, the most long-lasting fruits can come afterward through follow-up. Keep reaching out to families, and God will bring about amazing things!
