#MyStory :: Pam Zangardi – VBS Changed My Life
At the tender age of 10 Pam walked into a VBS all on her own and heard the very first and only Bible verse in her life, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever should believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” She memorized those words and clung to them for the next 30 years. “VBS is what started it all, its when the seed was planted,” Pam said.
Fast forward to July of 2009. Pam brought her children to VBS at the Church at Severn Run. “I didn’t really care if they learned about Jesus, I really just wanted them to go somewhere for the day so I could get a break, but God got my attention.”
As Pam walked her kids into the doors that day the verse for the week was displayed on the screens…John 3:16. She knew right then and there that God was calling her back, calling her to have a personal relationship with him. Pam began coming to church and the following year she signed up to be a leader at VBS. “I was terrified that I didn’t know enough, that I wasn’t qualified or ready to lead children in the discussions, but God showed up every time and I realized that he doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”
Pam looks forward to leading at VBS now, and does it every year. “I don’t only find satisfaction in seeing the kids grow and learn, but I grow and learn so much by teaching the kids and listening to them.” She tells anyone and everyone about how important VBS is.
“If you can speak into their lives when they are young and plant a seed, it could change their whole life.” She hopes that one day a child will look back 30 years from now and say, “My life was changed because of that week at VBS.”