V.B.S. Blues

From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki

035: V.B.S. Blues
Season	1988
Album	02: Stormy Weather
Aired	July 16, 1988
Written by	Phil Lollar
Directed by	Phil Lollar
Produced by	Unknown
Sound Design by	Bob Luttrell
Music by	Unknown
Prev: Stormy Weather Next: Kid's Radio

[edit] General information

Theme: Sharing your faith, God's provision in tough situations

Scripture: Daniel 3: See more with this reference

[edit] Summary

Ned Lewis' V.B.S. class is a mess and he must perform a sketch in front of the entire church! If everything goes well, the church will consider starting up a Drama program, but things don't look too good for Ned.

[edit] Plot

Ned Lewis is a nervous wreck. His sixth-grade class at Vacation Bible School is set to perform a sketch Ned wrote and directed about Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the fiery furnace. The problem is, the class isn't ready, not by a long shot. And, as he explains to Whit, the kids playing the lead characters-Eugene (Mugsy) Mumford, Hank Shorter, and Junior Bascomb-are the closest thing in Odyssey to gang members. Whit says things can't possibly be that bad, so Ned explains in a flashback just how disastrous the V.B.S. week has been.

Mugsy, Hank, and Junior continually disrupted the class, took over the main parts of the sketch, and generally made nuisances of themselves. To make the disaster complete, the pastor told Ned how much he's looking forward to the sketch. The pastor said if it goes well, he may approve the drama program Ned's been wanting to start at the church.

Talking to Whit, Ned reveals that he's mostly disappointed because his reason for doing the sketch was so the kids would learn something. Now it doesn't seem that they're gaining anything from it. Whit disputes this and tells Ned that God works in ways we can't possibly understand. Whit encourages Ned and tells him to trust in God.

That night, Ned and his class perform their sketch, leaving the audience in stitches. Ned believes the whole thing flopped. To his surprise, Whit, the audience, and Pastor Williams compliment Ned on a job well done. The pastor even wants to talk more about the drama program. Best of all, Mugsy, Hank, and Junior thank Ned for letting them be in the show. They also apologize for disrupting the class during the week and ask if they can come to Ned's weekly Sunday school class. Ned says "absolutely," and he and Whit marvel at the faithfulness of the Lord.

[edit] Discussion Questions

1. Why did Ned feel that the kids weren't getting anything out of his class?
2. Ned told Whit that everything that had happened was his "fiery furnace." Can you think of a time when it seemed like you were in a "fiery furnace"?
   1. How did God help you through it?
3. What is your favorite Old Testament story?
   1. How has it helped you?

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

• Many parts of this episode parallel the book The Best Christmas Pagent Ever.

• VERSION DIFFERENCE: The broadcast version of this episode has Chris in the post office talking to a card counter about the letters that AIO recieves.

• Mugsy and his gang say that the play is "like in Star Wars" and reenact a light saber battle and say "Luke, I am your father."

[edit] Reviews

V.B.S. Blues review on aiosoda.com

[edit] Quotes