Look What We Will Be Talking About This Week on About the Children's Department!

This week I'll be talking about planing opportunities to "notice" children, families and volunteers in our ministries as the new school year begins! In addition, I'll continue with my Bible reviews and on Friday I'll have a drawing for a VeggieTales Princess and the PopStar DVD! Please join in the conversations!

Put Feet to Their Faith With a Project Through World Vision to Provide Safe, Clean Drinking Water!

We all know water is essential to life, but in many places around the world the lack of clean water is the starting place of a thousand miseries. World Vision helps people around the world with many projects, but none is more essential than the work they do to help people have clean, safe water because water changes lives and transforms communities. Water equals life . . . and water changes everything.  

Stop and think about it for just a moment. How far did you walk this morning to find the water you needed for brushing your teeth, showering and making coffee? A few steps? In many parts of the world people have to walk as many as 12 miles each way to fetch water for themselves and their families. We "use more water in a single toilet flush than the average person in Africa uses in an entire day."

First Friday Freebies - Free SmileBook Photo Book!

The "First Friday" of each month, I post a "freebie" - something you may have for free to use in your ministry and/or with the families in your ministry! Today's freebie is something you could share with the families in your ministry! Photo Books have become very popular . . . for very good reason! They provide a way for us to make a beautiful book of our photos - and make incredible gifts as well! There are quite a few companies out there making photo books, but one, SmileBook, allows people to make one photo book for free! To get your free 8" x 8" 26 page soft cover mini SmileBooks photo book follow this link and then follow the simple directions to make your own personalized photo book! You will have to pay shipping, but the book has a value of $26.95! Have fun making your photo book and share the site with the families in your ministry!

I'm Giving Away a VeggieTales Princess and the PopStar DVD - Family Pick!

I had the opportunity to review the new VeggieTales story, "Princess and the Pop Star" which releases on DVD August 13, 2011. I have to say right up, VeggieTales has outdone themselves with this one! This story is a "Lesson in Being Yourself" and "understanding one's unique God-given gifts" and is based on Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in your mother's body, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart to serve me." 

The story shows "Princess Poppyseed's life on her family's farm is far from the glamorous, but lonely, world of her favorite pop singer, Vanna Banana. On a chance meeting at a playground, Vanna and Princess cross paths and realize they look almost exactly alike - which leads to the crazy secret plan where they decide to switch lives! As each girl realizes the life they longed for doesn't fulfill all their dreams, they learn the life God gave them is the one for which they were uniquely and lovingly designed."

My favorite part in the story is when Princess' mom says, "You know, the Bible says you are so special to God that if you tried to count every time He ever thought about you, it would be like trying to count every single grain of sand in the whole wide world! God thinks about you all the time, Princess! And do you know what He thinks? He thinks you're really, really great! And so do I!" This is a powerful and true message every child needs to hear . . . and every adult as well! When you watch this dvd with the children in your ministry, be sure to talk with them about how God thinks about them all the time, too! Encourage them with the truth God thinks they are really, really great! Take advantage of the opportunity to share your love with the children in your ministry, too!

I Have a Winner in My The Story, NIV Give-Away!

I'm happy to announce Angila Summitt is the winner in my give-away of The Story, NIV! Thank you Angila for reading About the Children's Department and thank You Zondervan for sending a copy for my review and for making another available for give-away! The Story, NIV provides the opportunity for you to see God's big "Story" as it takes you on a journey chronologically through the Bible and allows you to see the Bible as never before! The Story, NIV is a great resource for your volunteers to read and for you to recommend for families to read together! 

Bibles for Children - Read With Me Bible

Since one of our goals for children's ministry should be to help our children develop a true love for God's Word, it is a great idea to expose our children to excellent Bibles - beginning when they are young children. I love the "Read with Me Bible" from Zonderkidz! The art work is from my favorite illustrator for children - Dennis Jones - and is certain to capture the attention and imagination of little ones! I particularly appreciate how Dennis illustrates angels as big, strong, non-scary men rather than "frilly" girls! 

Read with Me Bible
Author - Doris Wynbeek Rikkers and Jean Syswerda
Illustrator - Dennis Jones
Publisher - Zonderkidz
Ages - 4-7


The "Read with Me Bible" was edited by Doris Wynbeek Rikkers and Jean Syswerda and includes 58 Old Testament Bible Lessons and 47 New Testament Lessons and each one includes Scripture reference as to where you will find the lesson in a Bible. This Bible story book is for children ages four to seven and has longer stories once again with the enjoyable illustrations from Dennis Jones. The "Read with Me Bible" is based on the New International Readers Version (NIrV) which uses simpler words and shorter sentences making it easier for children to read and understand. This is the ideal Bible for young families to use for their family devotions. As you read the Bible lessons be sure to talk with your children about the important truths God wants them to know from each lesson!

Bibles for Children - Read with Me Bible for Toddlers!

If you are looking for a first Bible storybook for little ones, then this is one most certainly worth taking a look at! It is a "must-have" for my grandchildren! The Bible lessons are written by Doris Wynbeek Rikkersfor the "Read with Me Bible for toddlers" and are simple, short and cover the basic points of 10 Old Testament lessons and 14 New Testament lessons for children ages two to five. As your toddlers become familiar with these Bible lessons, they will be able to "read" them with you by telling what is happening in the pictures! I read this Bible to a young boy I know and as soon as he caught on that he knew these stories, he began to "read" them himself! He was so thrilled - he didn't want to stop and went on to "read" all 24 stories! We want our children to be "thrilled" to spend time in God's Word and this Bible is an excellent tool for use in our children's ministries and at home to see this happen!

Read with Me Bible for Toddlers Author - Doris Wynbeek Rikkers Illustrator - Dennis Jones Publisher - Zonderkidz Ages 2-5

• Favorite Features -
  • love the colorful, fun and engaging illustrations!
  • I'm a huge fan of Dennis Jones' illustrations - particularly the way he illustrates "angels" - big, strong men with kind faces!
  • 24 Old and New Testament Bible stories with simple, words and short text - perfect for little ones

I love this toddler's Bible . . . be sure to give it to all the toddlers in your life! Excellent first Bible with colorful illustrations to capture little one's attention and the core Bible stories to build a basis for a life of faith! 

Get The Word Out! Have a Family Event!

One great way to generate some enthusiasm and draw attention to your fall children's ministries is by having a special event for families! There are so many options for fun family events . . . ranging from a picnic in the park or movie on the side of the church building to holding your own Minute-to-win-it game night! Check this link for lots of ideas for family events you could hold, but whatever you decide to do, be sure to plan for the following . . . 

• have plenty of your children's ministry info fliers available to hand out to new families so they are able to find out about all your ministry opportunities, your policies and your vision for your children's ministry. Info on your staff wouldn't hurt either!
• be ready to pre-register children for your mid-week and even your Sunday opportunities
• be sure your staff - volunteer and paid - is on hand so they are able to meet/greet the children who will be in their classes and get acquainted with the parents
• have information on opportunities your church offers for teens and adults as well!

What type of family event do you hold to help launch your fall ministries?

Put Feet to Their Faith With a Project Through World Vision to Provide Safe, Clean Drinking Water!

When we are thirsty, and who of us is not thirsty in the summer, all we have to do is walk to our kitchen sink, turn the faucet to cold and get a glass, of clean, safe drinking water. In many places - far too many places, around the world this is not the case. Consider the following information about water from water.org . . . 

• Do you have a cell phone? More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet.
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
• A bathtub holds 151L of water - someone living in a slum may have 30L of water to use for their needs all day long.
• Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. 
• Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.
• In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed for the most basic of human needs — collecting water for domestic use. This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours worked in a week by employees at Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonald’s, IBM, Target, and Kroger.
• At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. 
• As of December 5th more than 2000 people died in Hatti due to cholera.