Eyes on the Arizona Mission Offering: Training VBS leaders in Hispanic churches

Arizona Southern Baptist Hispanic churches are emphasizing training and Vacation Bible School to build a vibrant and united church community. These efforts not only strengthen the faith of participants and volunteers but also expand the reach of the Hispanic churches’ ministries.

This year’s Lifeway VBS, with the theme “Twists and Turns,” sought to help and encourage participants to trust in God through life’s ups and downs.

Annual VBS training is at the core of empowering children’s ministry leaders and volunteers within Arizona Southern Baptist Hispanic churches. Two training events took place this year — in Yuma and the Phoenix area — with 133 people from 13 churches attending in Phoenix and 73 people from five churches attending in Yuma. These trainings emphasized the importance of ministering to kids through VBS.

“These yearly trainings allow us to help churches do more for their communities and fulfill God’s mission across our state,” said Josue Castro, Arizona Mission Network Hispanic ministries facilitator. “This way, we can achieve something that impacts our cities across Arizona.”

To prepare for the two training events, a team from different churches across Arizona attended a VBS Preview at Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas, last January. There, team members got an in-depth look at this year’s theme and resources, learned the VBS music, previewed the videos and prepared to lead the training events back home.

The Hispanic VBS trainings in Arizona brought together leaders and volunteers from diverse backgrounds to learn about sharing God’s love with kids in their communities through interactive activities, games and creative storytelling. These workshops helped train leaders and volunteers on how to work with their kids and how to welcome new families who decided to take their children to VBS. The attendees were also taught about how the impact of VBS goes beyond the classroom, as many participants carry the teaching and values into their daily lives.

When you give to the Arizona Mission Offering, you help support training events, like the annual VBS training, for Hispanic Arizona Southern Baptist churches. Trained leaders then impact countless lives with the good news of God’s love. With your Arizona Mission Offering fits, you can be part of the journey in opening eyes to the world’s needs and sharing the light of hope and faith found in Jesus with those who need it most.

Sam Castro is youth pastor and creative director at Tierra Fertil in Yuma.