Our fifth year of VBS included two full VBS weeks in Bethel,AK and later in Craig, AK. We also did a mini-VBS in Ketchikan, AK.
Our theme this year came from our classes’ Sabbath school study of David’s life. At first we knew that we want the theme on prayer. This came from our Pastor’s emphasis on having a prayer life. We started deciding what types of prayers we wanted to teach and were going to use different Bible characters to tell the story. Once we got into it, we thought of Prayer Warriors and because we had recently studied David, well… the rest is this VBS’ history. Read more below...
Our theme this year came from our classes’ Sabbath school study of David’s life. At first we knew that we want the theme on prayer. This came from our Pastor’s emphasis on having a prayer life. We started deciding what types of prayers we wanted to teach and were going to use different Bible characters to tell the story. Once we got into it, we thought of Prayer Warriors and because we had recently studied David, well… the rest is this VBS’ history. Read more below...
Lesson Inspiration
We recommend for you to read 1 Samuel 16-31, 2 Samuel as a whole, 1 Chronicles 28- 29:10-20, and then 1 Kings 1:28-3. This will give you the whole of David's life and beginning of Solomon's ruling, which you will understand why when you see the lessons. We think this helps to tell the story, knowing the background of what happens between each lesson.
Schedule- 5 day VBS | Schedule- 2 day/Mini-VBS |
| Games- 10-15 min Songs- 10 min Special Music- 3 min- Prayer Requests/Prayer Zone- 5 min HQ Time- 5 min Activity Time: (30 min)
Prayer Warrior Q&A- 5 min Snack time/Prize bag- 5 min Total running time: 1.5 hours Memory Verse "I call on you, O God, for you will answer me, give ear to me and hear my prayer." Psalms 17:6 Tip: For mini-vbs, we only asked the kids to memorize where it was found. The thinking was that if they memorize that they can at least find it again. | Use same scheduling for Friday night and Sabbath School as to the left. Alternate lesson option: (Mini- VBS edition) Friday night: Lesson: David Anointed/David and Goliath Craft: Use Day 2 craft (see below) Emphasis: Prayer of Guidance/Prayer of Help and Safety Sabbath School: Lesson: King David and the Temple Craft: Use Day 4 craft (see below) Emphasis: Prayer of Praise/ Prayer of Forgiveness Church: Use prayer warrior script for lesson: David Prays for Solomon No craft. Emphasis: Prayer of Intercession Sermon time: In our case our pastor preached a sermon on intercessory prayer after the final skit. |
Lessons
This year we decided on continuing what we did last year in that we taught the story in two different formats. At the beginning of the VBS, we had two prayers warriors introduce the prayer topic of the day. One prayer warrior was in training. They got a video from HQ or Headquarters nightly that reinforced the mission of the VBS for the evening. After the kids came back from activity time, they would receive another video from HQ that featured "David" speaking one of his Psalms. We wrote and video taped all our own materials to use. Below is a copy of the scripts for the Prayers Warriors, HQ, and then David. They are free to use.
| Day 1: David Anointed/ David and Goliath Emphasis: Prayer of Guidance 1 Samuel 16- 17 Day 2: David on the Run Emphasis: Prayer of Help and Safety 1 Samuel 21- 24 Day 3: King David and the Temple Emphasis: Prayer of Praise 2 Samuel 6 Day 4: David and Bathsheba Emphasis: Prayer of Forgiveness 2 Samuel 11-12 Day 5: David Prays for Solomon Emphasis: Prayer of Intercession 1 Chronicles 28- 29:10-20, 1 Kings 1:28- 3 This year's tag line: We say: GOD ANSWERS Kids say: PRAYERS! Prayer Warrior VideosDay 1- Prayer of Guidance
Day 2- Prayer of Help and Safety
Day 3- Prayer of Praise
Day 4- Prayer of Forgiveness
| Brief example of how prayer warrior script and HQ work together. Example is from Ketchikan, sound quality is poor (sorry!) Scripts and Videos for Prayer Warriors 
In order for this all to make sense you will have to open all the scripts. The Prayer Warrior Script has dialogue for "live" actors and then shows the cues for what video to play. The HQ script and David prayers scripts are meant to be video taped separately and then edited into their appropriate videos. See the videos for examples. Day 5- Prayer of Intercession
We hope you have enjoyed these as much as we did it. If you find them helpful you can use them as is with full permission. Below is a filming guide if you decide to create your own
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Story time
| During story time which was during activity time our story tellers used resources from here: https://freesundayschoolcurriculum.weebly.com/old-testament-lessons.html These are the activity titles: Day 1: Samuel Anoints David, David and Goliath Day 2: David Spares Saul's Life Day 3: The Ark is Brought Home Day 4: Read straight out of 2 Samuel 11- 12, as you see fit to tell this sensitive story Day 5: Solomon is a Wise King ASL TimeWe added this year an additional activity, based off of the interest the previous year from the kids. We taught them Jesus Loves the Little Children in sign language. For the smaller ones we gave them some cutouts of kids to hold during the song. Then we shared the song during church time. It worked well in all formats, including during the mini-vbs. |  At story time Registration Waiting at the Registration table At the table this year we have a couple of things, our registration form (see below). And also our give away prayer warrior hand book. This booklet had all five prayers that the children learned over the week.
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Crafts
| Day 1: Door hanger prayer reminders Supplies: Cardboard circles, stickers, ribbon, hole punch, scissors, colored paper, pen/crayons, glue Day 2: Sheep faces Supplies: Paper plates with middle cut out, cotton balls, glue, construction paper, scissors Day 3: Ark of the Covenant Supplies: Template, scissors, glue Link to template here: (https://craftingthewordofgod.com/2014/04/22/ark-of-the-covenant/) Day 4: Cross bookmarks Supplies: Form crosses, foam letters and stickers, hole punch, yarn Day 5: Prayer hands Supplies: Construction paper, pens, colored papers with various things to pray for on them, stapler | |
Music
| Theme song: Whisper a Prayer About 4 songs and then a theme song usually fills up 10 -15 minutes. It depends on if you have singers or not among the kids. We also did Special Music each night at the beginning with On Fire for Him. If you want to know more about this ministry click here: (OFFH) |  On Fire for Him performs- Jesus Loves Me at Craig On Fire for Him performs Jesus Loves me at Ketchikan |
Games
Day 1: Sling Shot Throw
How to: Put down three lines and a starting line. Have the kids make sling shots out of string, cups, and aluminum foil ball. See who can throw their foil ball the furthest
Day 2: True and False Game
How to: Put up signs between two objects, two walls or two chairs. One sign says "True" and the other "False". Then ask the child questions related to the topic of day or bible story of yesterday and have them run to where they think the answer is.
Day 3: Praise Game
How to: Put down lines on either end of the room. The kids line up at one end. The caller yells out something they are thankful for, if the kids are thankful for the same thing they run to the other side. The caller tries to tag them.
Day 4: Balloon Popping Game
How to: Kids get a balloon with string to tie around their ankles. Then, they get to run around trying to pop each others balloons.
Day 5: No game, because it was sabbath morning
Tip: After each game, have a debriefing about how the game fits the theme of the day.
How to: Put down three lines and a starting line. Have the kids make sling shots out of string, cups, and aluminum foil ball. See who can throw their foil ball the furthest
Day 2: True and False Game
How to: Put up signs between two objects, two walls or two chairs. One sign says "True" and the other "False". Then ask the child questions related to the topic of day or bible story of yesterday and have them run to where they think the answer is.
Day 3: Praise Game
How to: Put down lines on either end of the room. The kids line up at one end. The caller yells out something they are thankful for, if the kids are thankful for the same thing they run to the other side. The caller tries to tag them.
Day 4: Balloon Popping Game
How to: Kids get a balloon with string to tie around their ankles. Then, they get to run around trying to pop each others balloons.
Day 5: No game, because it was sabbath morning
Tip: After each game, have a debriefing about how the game fits the theme of the day.
Goodies
VBS team consulting on goodie bags Snacks: This year we requested for the church's to provide snacks. Some ideas from that were: Apples, cake, carrots, and animal crackers. And as always make sure you are aware of any food allergies.
Goodie bags: The usual brown paper bags, marked "G" for girls and "B" for boys. Inside each bag was some non-edible goodies such as a ball, small game, coloring pages, and other various items.
Prize box: Kids got prizes for learning the memory verse and for answering the nightly questions. These were usually larger items and not something found in the goodie bags. Kids got to pick what they wanted from a box. The things that work well here are larger items like bubbles , small games, and art supplies.
Goodie bags: The usual brown paper bags, marked "G" for girls and "B" for boys. Inside each bag was some non-edible goodies such as a ball, small game, coloring pages, and other various items.
Prize box: Kids got prizes for learning the memory verse and for answering the nightly questions. These were usually larger items and not something found in the goodie bags. Kids got to pick what they wanted from a box. The things that work well here are larger items like bubbles , small games, and art supplies.
Decoration
Alas, as we look over the photos we took, we missed a very important decorated element and that was our mural of David's life. The idea was to show visually David from being a shepherd to becoming king. You'll have to use your own creativity to recreate that idea. We had a sign with it too that said Prayer Warrior: Life of David. Anyways, everything else is pretty much here. We were even shorter on VBS team members this year so our decorating was very simplified (except Ketchikan, who gracefully set us up with an elaborate Prayer Garden). We used poster showing kids praying. We had posters that said "Prayer Warrior" and also copies of the Memory Verse up. We used many prayer hands around the spaces. And, of course, streamers... what would our VBS be without them. We decided for the most part less twist and to make it look like "ribs" of a whale.
Ta-Dah! A Prayer Warriors DIY VBS
We learned a lot about prayer this year. One story from our Bethel VBS is this. A little boy’s mother told us that after he left VBS one night he told her that they had forgotten to pray in the car. This was after we had told a story about the importance of prayer. We hope we have inspired you to try your hand at your own Prayer Warrior Vacation Bible School. And as usual feel free to borrow/use material and make it your own. All our posted materials that we made are for use for free.
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As a side note: If you'd like to know more about how our VBS Trips went this year, we did a vlog each day of our travels. Click below if you'd like to watch them.
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