VBS 2014 - SonTreasure Island by Gospel Light & Give-Away!

With most of the country still in a "deep-freeze", thoughts of relaxing on a warm island can be very appealing, so I'm happy to "take" you to such an island with today's review of SonTreasure Island from Gospel Light!


SonTreasure Island

Gospel Light

http://www.gospellightvbs.com/sontreasure-island/

1. God's Love is Giving - God's Love is Shown in Jesus - God Gives Us Jesus - Matthew 1:18-25; 3; 4:23-25; Luke 1:11-60; 2:1-20
2. God's Love is Kind - God's Love is Patient and Kind - Jesus helps a young girl and a sick woman - Matthew 9:18-28; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56
3. God's Love is Caring - God's Love is for Everyone - Jesus cares for a Samaritan Woman - John 4:1-42
4. God's Love is Forgiving - Jesus forgives Zacchaeus - Luke 19:1-10
5. God's Love is Forever - God's Love Never Fails - Jesus lives forever - Mark 14:27-16:20; Luke 22:47-24:53; John 21:15-17

Setting – a Caribbean island with its glittering turquoise waters, warm white sands and cool ocean breezes!

Message – children will see how the Christian life begins with God's love for them and continues as His love flows through them to others. They will discover the rich treasure of God's love; more precious than gold, more lasting than diamonds, through the truths found in I Corinthians 13

Focus – Evangelism, Bible content and Application

Strengths –

• I LOVE the Missions station info and the Service project ideas – most certainly make this a station for your VBS so kids have the opportunity to learn how to live what they believe by serving others!
• Solid Bible teaching with an strong evangelism focus – all lessons focus on God's love for us and how Jesus saves us.
• Gospel Light made everything - student papers, music, lessons . . . EVERYTHING reproducible! This will save churches a significant amount of money!
• I’m very happy to see teachers and children reading from the Bible during some of the Bible lessons for older children, but would like to see more reading from the Bible and less paraphrasing of the lesson.
• Last year Gospel Light put a “stunt” in the beginning of each day’s Assembly opening - I LOVED them and miss seeing them again this year
• The "Assemblies" ideas in the director's book sound like a great way to add to the fun!
•  As always, Gospel Light’s craft book is filled with a wide variety of crafts made from items you can collect/buy and ties in with the Bible lessons
• Fun setting – easy to decorate for an island theme
• I LOVE the idea for an "Add-on Prayer Journal"!
• I like the ideas for “Fun Days”, “Caught in the Act”, “Field Trips” and “Events at church” like last year - I thought the new idea for "Geocaching" sounded really fun!
• Last year I said I'd like to see, "Music videos with preschool and elementary age children – NOT teens." I'm happy to see only two songs with teens and it looks like the rest have children singing the songs - from what I can see on the preview video.
• I like the "Parent Pocket Guide" 

Would like to see –

• A stronger and more intentional focus on specific things for kids to go and “do” before they return the next day to live what they learned.
• Opening and Closings which engage children more - put the "Stunt" back in from last year or add a science project. If you do not use the Theme station, use some of those activities in the opening or close to engage children.
• Information to help churches engage and involve Special Needs Kids in their VBS
• Information to help churches select and stay focused on a goal for their VBS

Gospel Light says, "Who wouldn’t want to explore a Caribbean island, with its glittering turquoise waters, warm white sands and cool ocean breezes? Visitors to SonTreasure Island are welcomed by the scent of exotic flowers, the taste of tropical fruits and the captivating sound of a steel-drum band. But this is no ordinary tropical escape! There is treasure to be found here. More precious than gold, more lasting than diamonds, it is the greatest treasure of all—God’s love!" Overall, SonTreasure Island is a great option for a VBS with a strong focus on evangelism and serving. If you are looking for a resource to engage kids in these things, SonTreasure Island is well worth taking a serious look at to see if it is a good “fit” for your ministry. You could use this also during a week-long missions conference or for a month of missions focus – match the projects you have the kids work on to fit with your missions emphasis/missionaries. 

I am happy to say, Gospel Light sent a kit for me to review, so I chose a few items from the kit to give away (USA only)! If you are over the age of 18 and would like to be included in the drawing for a Reproducible Pack including one Reproducible music CD, Craft Book and Reproducible Power Pack - which will be on January 23, 2014, please comment below to let me know how God has shown His never-failing love to you; He has done this for me by showing He is faithful always, no matter what and I can depend on Him!

In addition if you have followed on Google Friend Connect, followed by liking on facebook with the tab in the "Find us on Facebook" box ON THE BLOG or at this link (not just liking the post) and/or have followed About the Children's Department by email you will receive one entry for each of these which you have done. Plus, if you "share" this post, you'll receive another entry (please let me know if you share). This will help me be able to draw names from among people who would like to win a Reproducible Pack from Gospel Light and it gives you several ways to enter the give-away! Thank you for reading About the Children's Department and for sharing it with the people you know!