Top Ten Countdown for VBS 2012 - Praise from Go Fish!

As I said yesterday, this year I have a two-way tie for eighth place in my Top Ten VBS for 2012 review, so today I want to share with you the new VBS from  Go Fish Praise! In addition to making my Top Ten, Praise is my Top Pick for Music for VBS 2012!
Praise VBS kit

Go Fish Guys

http://www.gofishguys.com/cms/pages/praise.php

1. Praise God for His Greatness – Daniel 3:19-28 – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – There is no object in heaven or earth worthy of our praise other than God – only He is worthy of our praise!
2. Praise God for His Authority – Daniel 6:19-27 – Daniel the lions and King Darius – There is no man worthy of our praise because nobody is greater than God, He has authority over everything!
3. Praise God for His Providence – Acts 16:25-34– Paul and Silas – No matter what, we can trust God will use every situation – even painful ones - for His glory!
4. Praise God for His Power – Luke 24:1-8 – Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose from the grave – Only our Great God has the power to save and He sent His Son to die in our place so we can be forgiven for our sins!
5. Praise God for His Love – John 14:15-26 – God gives us the Holy Spirit to show us we are His and He will never leave us! – Surrendering my life to Jesus is the best thing I could ever do!

Setting – a city street scene with a focus on music and praising God

Message – As Go Fish says, “We want to show kids they exist not for their own glory, but to give God praise! In a fun way, we hope to show kids what it means to have a high view of our amazing God. We want them to get down and lift God high!”

Focus - Evangelism, Application and Bible Content

Strengths –

• As I would expect, Go Fish Praise  has strong Bible content and an intentional focus on evangelism
• I appreciate how each lesson focuses kids on praising God
• I love how children are directed to the Bible to find the answers during the Bible lesson – not only do they tell children the Bible has the answers, but they model looking in the Bible to find the answers!
• My Top Pick for VBS Music 2012 – the songs are incredible! These songs do what they say they will – help your kids “get down” while they “lift God high”! If you use this VBS, your kids – and volunteers – will absolutely LOVE the music – if you do not use this VBS, be sure to get the music and then use it in your children’s ministry!
• I love each day’s opening and closing Psalm!!! This is an incredible component to the VBS – I love it!
• I sincerely appreciate the excellent information to help you include children with special needs in your vbs and the “special needs suggestions” for each Bible lesson
• While there are not a lot of craft options, I do love the ideas provided – especially the Shrinky-Dinks Zipper Pull!
• Excellent missions project/station – very focused and well developed
• Reproducible resources make this a very affordable option for churches
• I love the VIP Pass/CD Combo for kids option – for just $5 you could give each child in your VBS one VIP pass, lanyard and a Praise CD! This is a great way to help kids continue to sing the songs and remember what they learned – better than a small toy they will likely lose!

Would like to see –

• a clear emphasis on a daily “live-it” activity and time the following day for children to share what they did as well as how it impacted their life to live what they learned!
• Bible lessons were much better this year – more engagement of the kids, but I’d still like to see lessons which involve the kids beyond reading verses and answering questions – maybe with dramas which engage the kids and involve them in the telling of the lesson
• Opening and closing have high energy, but I’d love to see a object lesson added to the close which again focuses on the point for the day and engages the kids 
• opportunities for kids to be involved serving their local communities – maybe add a local service component in the missions or craft station
• safety information in the director’s book  - covering screening volunteers and making the facilities safe
• information to help with volunteer training – and making sure your volunteers know how to lead a child to Christ

Go Fish says they have two goals for their VBS, “to share the gospel of Jesus and teach the importance of the Bible by being as God centered as possible with a high view of God and a high view of Scripture.” Each day in Praise kids will focus on a new attribute of God and then learn to praise God in response! I love the evangelism focus and focus on the Bible – knowing it and allowing it to change your life. Excellent mission project where Bible verses are translated into a new language!  Praise would be a great option for VBS, Summer Sundays or as a resource especially for an outreach in the park or a community center! If you choose Praise, you’ll be very pleased with the impact it’ll have on your kids! Definitely take a close look at this VBS!


I'm delighted to say, Go Fish has made available one of their Praise DVDs for me to give away! If you have "liked" About the Children's Department using the tab in the "find us on facebook box" ON THE BLOG, then you are entered in this give-away which will be on January 7th. Plus, if you "share" this post or "comment" on this post, you will receive an additional entry. (Please feel free to let me know if you share!) If you have not "liked" this blog yet, please do and you will be entered in the drawing!