Today I'm happy to share the VBS which placed 4th in my Top Ten Countdown for VBS 2013 - Colossal Coaster World from LifeWay! Take a look and consider if Colossal Coaster World is a good "fit" for your children's ministry!
LifeWay
http://blog.lifeway.com/vbs/#.UPVHaSfonLw
1. Dare to Change - Paul obeyed - Acts 9:1-18 - I can trust God and obey Him without fear.
2. Dare to Speak Up - Paul spoke boldly - Acts 9:20-30 - I can trust God to help me speak boldly about Him.
3. Dare to Believe - Paul proclaimed salvation - Acts 16:16-34 - I can trust God's plan of salvation and share His love with others.
4. Dare to Stand Strong - Paul responded wisely - Acts 21:3-23:11 - I can trust God to help me have self-control and honor Him with my actions.
5. Dare to Trust - Paul trusted God - Acts 27 - I can trust God to give me the power to face my fears no matter what comes next.
Setting – a day at a favorite theme park!
Message/Theme – children will be challenged to tap into God's promise to give them the courage to face their fears by trusting Him.
Focus – Evangelism, Content and Application
Strengths –
- I love the focus on facing your fears and trusting God!
- LOVE the "Christ Connection" and "Kid Connection" for each lesson which helps children connect the lesson with Jesus and with how it applies and lives out in their own lives.
- As I would expect, Colossal Coaster World has a strong evangelistic emphasis, excellent mission project and solid Bible teaching
- Excellent resources for taking your VBS out of your church and into your community with Backyard Kid's Club!
- Excellent focus on VBS and prayer - info on how to develop your prayer strategies and prayer team
- Excellent resources for children with special needs!
- I especially am happy to find excellent information on how to reach VBS families after VBS is over!
- I particularly love the daily “Colossal Challenge” portion of each lesson. Focus is given each day for Evangelism and Application for kids who are already Christians. There is a definite focus on application again this year, the activities connect well and do a good job of reinforcing the daily point!
- I found the options for crafts to be creative, varied and affordable!
- Music is well done. . . I'm happy to see the kids “front and center” on the DVD this year. Several of the songs also have Jamie Grace singing with the kids so fans of Jamie will particularly enjoy this!
- Love the Missions station! I'm very happy to see a project which focuses the children on another place in this country; Norwich, Connecticut, the world; Santa Cruz, Bolivia and their own community; Colossal Care Kits which they will make all week for the homeless and those in need in their own community. The Missions station involves the kids in great activities and most importantly, in learning to pray for missionaries and for people to turn to Jesus!
- Love the “Pray It” portion of each lesson and how it involves kids in praying!
- Excellent resource to help churches turn their building and grounds into a theme park!
Would like to see –
- While some of the age levels and some of the days lessons do have children opening their Bibles during the teaching of the lesson, others do not do this at all. I'd really like to see LifeWay combine the engagement of the Preteen age lessons with more opening of the Bible and do this for all ages.
- While most of the lessons provide ideas to engage the children in the teaching of the Bible lesson, I’d really like to see this developed more with greater involvement of the kids and less “lecture” by the teachers.
- More excitement in the opening and closing – this is a great place for object lessons/science projects and give you a big way to once again make your point before kids leave for the day.
Last year I said I'd like to see LifeWay include ideas for children to serve in their own communities; which they did with the Colossal Care Kits! I also said I'd like to see LifeWay include resources for churches which do not use the classroom model; which they did with a wealth of resources to help churches which follow a learning station model!
LifeWay says, "Through every twist, turn, and dive, Colossal Coaster World will challenge kids to face their fears and trust God. There’s excitement around every curve as kids learn that God has given them a spirit of power, love, and sound judgment. This evangelistic VBS is the ultimate ride. At the end of the week, kids will want to do it all over again!"
Children and adults struggle with fear, so I'm very happy to see this VBS focus on how we can take our fears to Jesus and trust Him! LifeWay did a good job with the setting of a theme park. Colossal Coaster World is a great option for a VBS with a strong evangelism focus, solid Bible content and as a mission trip resource!
LifeWay says, "Through every twist, turn, and dive, Colossal Coaster World will challenge kids to face their fears and trust God. There’s excitement around every curve as kids learn that God has given them a spirit of power, love, and sound judgment. This evangelistic VBS is the ultimate ride. At the end of the week, kids will want to do it all over again!"
Children and adults struggle with fear, so I'm very happy to see this VBS focus on how we can take our fears to Jesus and trust Him! LifeWay did a good job with the setting of a theme park. Colossal Coaster World is a great option for a VBS with a strong evangelism focus, solid Bible content and as a mission trip resource!
Lifeway was #1 in my book! It was the easiest to adapt and interpret in our own context. We did write our scripts and develop our characters to engage younger kids in scenarios that would make the stories and themes for each day more real/relevant them. We thought the video was most valuable for middle to upper elementary. Their clarity of language and purpose made this easy to do. Way to go Lifeway!
ReplyDeletehi, would you be happy to share your scripts? We are running it this year.
Deletecarol.dubery@kbc.org.au
We are a small church and only do a one-day VBS. One of the larger churches in town is offering to share this with us for next year. How easily could this be adapted to one day?
ReplyDeleteYou would need to decide how many hours you are planning for and then choose the lesson/lessons you want - you might try using the other lessons for Sundays in the Summer so kids are able to benefit from the entire program.
Delete