Local pastors agree that Vacation Bible School is important for children.

Buck Creek Baptist Church pastor Tyler Ingram said that planting seeds in the youth is important.

“Whether you convert a child or not, that’s not the purpose,” Ingram said. “I mean I went to Vacation Bible School when I was younger and I wasn’t a Christian until I was an adult. The Bible teaches us to plant seeds. So we just want to plant these seeds in the hearts of our children while they are young.”

Ingram said that the world can make people hard, so it is important to teach children the love of Christ at a young age

“It is great when somebody comes to that faith early in life,” Ingram said. “Versus like me, having to make a lot of mistakes, but either way, those seeds are planted early in life and the Bible says that the earlier that you teach a child in the faith he will not depart from it. A lot of times we get off track, and we think that we are gone, but those seeds that have been planted they kind of always have a way of coming back around. That is one of the biggest reasons I think it is important. We just want to be able to reach the kids.”

He said that VBS is a way to reach kids that may not know the love of Christ yet.

“When I was growing up, I just assumed that everyone went to church,” Ingram said. “There is kind of a stigma around here that just because you go to church means you are already a Christian. We are seeing more and more now where it is typical to just go to church only once a month and we don’t think about some kids that haven’t even heard the word of God. With sports, we talk about football changing throughout the years, but the base is always the same. I feel it’s the same way with faith. The gospel always comes down to Jesus. We don’t want people to hear the Gospel so they can attend our church, we want people to hear the Gospel so they can change their life.”

First Baptist Church of Andalusia youth pastor Chad Middlebrooks said that VBS is important because it shows that adults care about the children.

“VBS shows the kids that the adults in the church care about them,” Middlebrooks said. “I mean it is a lot of effort that adults put into VBS. I mean, adults take vacations to come and be apart of this for the kids so they can learn about the love of Christ.”

Middlebrooks said that VBS is their most important evangelistic event.

“It is important because so many kids accept Jesus Christ at this time in their life,” Middlebrooks said. “I think it is one of the most important things that we do as a church.”

The theme for several of the Vacation Bible Schools this year is “In the Wild,” and Middlebrooks said that it is an opportunity to teach the kids that God is the creator.

“I think kids will walk away from this VBS knowing that God is the creator,” Middlebrooks said. “They will get to learn that God created this planet for us to enjoy the beauty of his creation.”