I have to admit, I was a bit blind sighted by the smoke screen that went up when LifeWay released this years Vacation Bible School theme Rickshaw Rally. At first I approached the theme with enthusiasm, taken by the idea of a theme based on the Far East. As material began to arrive at the church I, as usual, snuck a peek at what was to come this summer. It looked like a good idea.

However, with the mere mention of it on my blog my thoughts were met with adamant opposition, bashing Rickshaw Rally for its racial insensitivity and sending out a call to all Christians to boycott such a theme. This took me by surprise as I began to investigate these awkward claims. It turns out that there were some people offended by this material. While I may not fully understand the nature of this offence, I certainly do not wish to offend anyone. The mention of this opposition to Rickshaw caused me to re-evaluate our Vacation Bible School this year. I talked with several of the leaders in the church and we discussed the material. I looked at it with a little more negativity and angst as I searched for things that were offensive to the Asian community. At the thought that VBS could be offensive to someone my enthusiasm and excitement was lost and replaced with reluctance and negativity.

Despite our negative attitudes about it and the fear that this material was not a good thing, we proceeded with planning for VBS with the Rickshaw Rally material. Today is the fourth day of Vacation Bible School at my church and let me just say, I am glad we stuck with Rickshaw Rally. If you ask me this has been one of the best years of Vacation Bible School that I have been a part of. Out of the six years that I have participated in VBS at my church, I have had more fun at this one, with this theme, than any of the others. It is sad that a group of people made such a big deal out of this and probably turned away a large number of people, for nothing. Honestly, I am disappointed in myself for being led astray by these naysayers who led me into a pessimistic mindset that caused me and I am sure a large number of other people to miss the point. The point of VBS is not about the material, it isn’t to teach Asian culture correctly or to attempt to make everyone happy, VBS is about Jesus. The focus, goal, and destination of Vacation Bible School should always be teaching children about the love of Jesus Christ and let me say Rickshaw Rally does that very well. It is unfortunate that reality was set aside and hidden away by the mere thought that the material might be offensive. It reminds me of how easily and quickly we attempt to water down and sugar coat the gospel in order to not be offensive to someone. We some times belittle the gospel away into nothing in the brazen attempt to not offend. We are so quick to throw the baby out with the bath water.

In my six years of VBS I think this is one of the largest ones we have had. Our youth group set a goal of 1000 fliers to pass out in our community. We met together three times and hit the streets putting fliers in people’s doors. It works well, people from all over the community brought their children to VBS this year. The more children we have, the more opportunities we have to not only share Christ with them but also their parents. Please be in prayer for our church the next couple of days as we finish out Bible school and teach children the A, B, C’s of becoming a Christian.

Pressed