Hero Hospital VBS
“Home to God's Outrageous Love”
From Matthew 21:14-16
About Hero Hospital
Hero Hospital is a totally free and brand-new VBS that draws from the inspiring experiences of everyday heroes during the global pandemic. This VBS is designed with social-distancing and virtual learning in mind, with in-person and at-home options for everything. It could be used as either a traditional weeklong VBS, a six week series, or anything in between. The activities are simple and require minimal supplies but have a big impact.
Hero Hospital is also a Vision-Building Service program. It’s a VBS that truly builds Jesus’ vision of a just kingdom filled with servant hearts. The churches, families, and kids that participate in Hero Hospital will be challenged and guided in tackling real-world problems through faith-inspired projects focused on Matthew 21:14-16. The scientific investigation, the creative thinking and making, even the exploration through music and play, all contribute to a tangible effort to serve and help others, inspired by Jesus’ own teachings and actions.
This is a learning and service program for your entire church and for all ages. You are free to pick and choose whichever parts and pieces you prefer but each part features and each piece connects to a Big Church Project. This is not just a collection of churchy activities to keep your kids busy. This is a tool to empower your kids to lead your whole church into greater fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.
The activities of Hero Hospital are guided by a special Lego-based Builder Book that helps all of the participants track how much they are learning from Jesus and the historical guides as they discover their own gifts and awesomeness as builders of Jesus' vision of God's Kingdom.
Hero Hospital is divided up into six parts. Throughout all the activities, the whole church explores the theme of “God’s Outrageous Love” found in Matthew 21:14-16, as people of all ages work together to build up God’s Kingdom by preparing their community to be…
A Place for All
A Place for Heroes
A Place for Hope
A Place for Healing
A Place for Discovery
A Place for Praise
They rubbed their eyes, amazed—and then glorified God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
He taught people the truth of God—the good news of the kingdom. Word got around. Jesus healed them, one and all.
Jesus said, “Daughter, now you’re healed and whole. Go in Peace. Live well, live blessed!”
I know one thing for sure: that though I was blind, now I see. I came into the clear light of day.
Jesus said, “the people are to know all about God—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet.
And the entire crowd was delighted and cheered, rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
Participants will explore a STORY of when Jesus healed a person experiencing illness or disability, particularly
They will be led through the story by a HISTORICAL GUIDE who had a distinct faith-inspired impact on healthcare
Ella P. Stewart
Harriet Tubman
Saint Fabiola
Susan Le Flesche Picotte
Hildegard of Bingen
Cecilia Makiwane
The guide will also help participants consider how God’s love and Jesus’ example lead us to answer BIG QUESTIONS
Does experiencing an illness or disability define all of who you are?
What should you do if your friend experiences an illness or disability?
What should you do if you experience an illness or disability?
Why do some people experience an illness or disability when others don’t?
Why do some people recover from an illness or disability when others don’t?
How can you help those who care for people experiencing an illness/disability?
The whole church is inspired to answer the big questions with real-world
Blood Donor Stickers
Famous Frames
The Power of Prostheses
Hovering Over It All
Real Dollars and Cents
The Miracles of Sight
Get Your Heart Pumping
Rest to Recharge
The kids will take the lead in creating materials for the Big Church Projects as they lend their ARTistic gifts to…
The kids will take the lead in investigating the SCIENCE behind the Big Church Projects as they experiment with…
Families play in the just kingdom they’re building and rediscover favorite GAMES with special “Gospel Rules” for…
Participants are pumped up and inspired by MUSIC to finish the Big Church Projects with a slate of awesome songs.
Where are the skits?
The story of this VBS is the story of the Covid-19 Pandemic. You're town and church's experiences are the plots of the skits. Your people are the characters. We hope that the Hero Hospital VBS helps you to remember your story and to continue living your pandemic story through the lens of Jesus Good News about the Kingdom of God. Don't lose sight of the fact that Jesus is a main character in your story too!
Where are the opening and closing materials?
Instead of giving you an opening and closing guide, we've given you something better--a worship guide. We are providing resources to use for connecting Hero Hospital with worship. Remember this is a Vision-Building Service program for your entire church, not just the kids. You absolutely should be connecting all of the kingdom building you're doing with God to worship. When we say worship we mean an actual traditional, contemporary, heritage, family--or whatever you might call it--worship service.
Each worship guide includes the Confession and Forgiveness, the Prayer of the Day, an Old Testament Reading, a Gospel Reading, Sermon Notes, an Affirmation of Faith, Prayers of the People, and Offering Prayer, a Blessing, and even recommended hymns:
Hero Hospital Stories and Guides
The stories of Jesus' healings will come to you through awesome Lego Mini-movies.
Hero Hospital takes a close look at six different stories where Jesus helps someone who is experiencing a disability or an illness. In each story we see an amazing outpouring of God's love but what we do not always see is thanks or appreciation. Some people are even outraged. We have a lot to learn from these stories and how they can influence our lives today.
In order to help us with this learning, key Historical Guides will show us how God's amazing outpouring of love influenced their lives. These guides are Ella P. Stewart (A Pioneering Pharmacist), Harriet Tubman (A Civil War Nurse and Leader), Saint Fabiola (The Force Behind The First Hospital Network), Susan Le Flesche Picotte (A Leader in Native American Healthcare), Hildegard of Bingen (A Groundbreaking Medical Scholar), and Cecilia Makiwane (A Trailblazing African Nurse).