The 2011 VBS Grant Program Has Concluded
102 grants totalling nearly $20,000 in WordAction VBS materials distributed

The 2011 VBS Grant program, initially slated to run through July 1 of this year has been forced to conclude a month early.  As of Friday, May 20, 2011, all of the funds to supply grant applicants with WordAction VBS materials had been distributed.

The VBS Grant program (formerly knows as the Pioneer VBS program) was created originally to provide WordAction VBS materials to New Start churches and churches with a cultural minority.  These materials would allow these churches to conduct a VBS.

The world-wide economic downturn in 2008 led Children’s Ministries International to review the criteria for grant recipients.  The results led CMI to include churches that were facing financial difficulties to those who would be eligible to receive a grant.  This was an attempt to remove any financial barrier that would keep a local church from having a Vacation Bible School.

Vacation Bible School is still one of the church’s leading outreach opportunities.  VBS leads to more commitments to Christ than almost any other ministry aspect of the local church. 

CMI also wanted to extend the VBS Grant effort to each Nazarene region world-wide.  By communicating this effort through the SDMI and Connection a New Generation Coordinators, the number of applications received from outside the USA/Canada region was astounding.

Forty-nine grants totalling nearly $10,000, almost one-half of all grants for 2011, were distributed to a number of different non-USA/Canada nations. These included Russia and Armenia in the Eurasia world regions; St. Lucia, St. Croix, Antiqua, Dominica, and St. Kitts in the Meso-American world region; and twenty-eight grants went to the Demerara-Essequibo district in Guyana of the South American world region. 

VBS Grants are funded through the Kids Reaching Kids Mission Offering Project.  Four percent of each year’s offering goes toward this effort.  Funds from the 2009-2010 Mission Offering, The Hope Project, provided the funds for this year’s program.

Each VBS grant recipient received a WordAction “Mission To M.A.R.S.” Complete Directors Kit along with an additional $50 (retail value) worth of WordAction VBS materials.  NPH allows CMI to purchase these items at a reduced rate, allowing the money available for VBS Grants to go even further. 

CMI will be making some adjustments and changes to the VBS Grant Program in 2012. 
If you log onto www.kidsreachingkids.com, and select VBS Grants, you can find additional information about VBS Grants. You can also view a map showing how the 102 VBS Grants for 2011 were distributed across the world.  Later this fall, the criteria, application, order forms, and any changes to the VBS Grants program for the 2012 VBS Grants will also be available at www.kidsreachingkids.com.

The Lord has blessed the VBS Grant Program through the Kids Reaching Kids Mission Offering Project. We want to encourage your local church to lift up the 2011 VBS Grant recipients in prayer as these local churches conduct Vacation Bible Schools this summer. 

CMI also encourages you to consider supporting the 2012 VBS Grant Program effort through the 2010-2011 Kids Reaching Kids Mission Offering, Mission STAR Quest. Additional information about Mission STAR Quest is available at www.kidsreachingkids.com.

Contributed by Dan Harris – Kids Reaching Kids Mission Offering Project and the VBS Grant Program Coordinator – Children’s Ministries International