Part 4. “Share your vision with the team.” Vacation Bible School. That’s what has been on my mind since I said “yes” on February 26th, taking on this role for the first time as Director for VBS Area IV here in South Korea. There’s a lot of things I can say about this role… but I’m going to try and restrain myself from writing 10 pages of material because you are probably extremely busy. HAHA (Actually, I will also break it up into 5 days worth of material so stay tuned and let me know your thoughts as we go.)
- This is the Lord’s work. Read Part 1/5 here.
- God will provide what we need, in His own timing. Read Part 2/5 here.
- Remember you are NOT alone. Read Part 3/5 here.
4. Share your vision with the team.
Remember this is not just a one week event but that we are joining with God in His work that He has already been doing within our community and in the lives of each person– participant AND volunteer. Everyone, including me, should learn, develop and grow from this experience and opportunity. What we get out of it will look different to each person as we are all on a unique journey in our relationships with the Lord. Also, I knew that not all who volunteered had a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I was area of this and kept that thought in mind as I led.
Some people have asked me what caused me to say yes to being the director? The reason I said yes was simply because God changed my perspective about this opportunity. There was an ongoing prayer request from the Camp Walker Director of Religious Education (DRE) to find a VBS Director and Co-Director. I heard her and relayed the prayer request to ladies at PWOC but myself personally, I was really trying to figure out a way to go with the church I went with to Cambodia a few months before to go to the Philippines on their next missions trip to help with leading a VBS there. When it wasn’t working out and after my husband put his foot down in that our children were not going (it was during spring break so they had to go) I finally realized and accepted that this wasn’t going to happen.
Then God clearly showed me that I was right here where He wanted me. All around me were children that I could share the gospel with; I didn’t need to fly somewhere to serve and then never see them again. These children right here in our own community in South Korea I would see all around the military installation all year long and even their parents too. THIS PLACE was my mission field. Once I got that change of perspective, the rest was history. Therefore, my first goal as a VBS Director was to share this way of looking at VBS as not just another event but that the hope of Jesus could be shared with so many children and by extension their families of our Area IV community. I expected that many would come who did not attend church and we welcomed and thought through ways to help bridge that.
My next goal was my own personal focus in all things- discipleship. There is a need for more of this in our churches, in my opinion. (Read this blog post here “To mentor or not to mentor- just do it!“) I wanted each leader to find a co-leader that they included in what was going on, gave them opportunities to develop, grow and lead. I pushed that focus and it ended up that we emphasized discipleship and mentoring a lot in our VBS as almost half of our 75 volunteers were youth – middle school (25 persons) and high school (8 persons). I believe this is how we train up the next generation by giving them opportunities to lead and showing them how to do it. These younger volunteers were not “in the way” or just there to assist the older volunteer. I wanted them to actually be given responsibilities that mattered and give them specific encouragement and feedback that helped them to better do the job they were there to do. They woke up and came very single day because they wanted a chance to help and without them how can we reach the ends of all the nations??? We need to disciple our people. We need to be honest in showing them that yes, serving is work. But it is worthwhile work. We must remember WHY we are doing what we are doing and it can help us stay on track when times are tough. Remember, we work for the LORD, not for man.
At a ‘getting to know you’ lunch early on in our journey. 
We were able to donate all of our decorations to a church off-post in Korea. 
Bridging the gap by introducing our guests to the Area IV chapel leadership. 
USAG Leaders, Chapel Leaders and volunteers come together for this opportunity in our community. 
Always mentoring the next generation through our actions not just our words. 
We were able to reach out into our community, the outside community and Zambia, Africa through Operation Kid 2 Kid. 
A short meeting before and after our VBS day to do admin but most importantly to refocus on why we are all here. I did not take for granted that each one came every day. I pray that each person received something fresh from the Lord and joined Him in the work He was doing in our lives.
Challenges amongst leaders are real things. Not everyone will get along naturally nor will everyone do what you think they should do the way you think it should be done. These are all things that presented itself and we had to work through; these were valuable life long lessons that I pray we handled Biblically to coach and mentor our volunteers to stick with it and trust that God IS at work in all of these trying situations.
Read all of the VBS posts here https://sejanashines.com/category/spiritual-growth/vbs/
Read about my time in Cambodia here https://sejanashines.com/category/cambodia/
Sejana Shines 