Children and Youth
"Clear, simple and readable - very practical, fully supported with further reading ... exactly the kind of thing that is needed."
Chris Wright, Langham Partnership
A tried and tested resource that encourages meaningful Bible use in multi-lingual contexts through both written and oral media. [more...]
"Even though Joseph had the opportunity and the power to get revenge on his brothers, he chose to forgive them. He even provided for their future rather than return evil for evil. Though it may be very difficult to forgive, in the long run it brings healing for those who have harmed us and for ourselves."
Church leaders, youth leaders, teachers and other concerned adults often find it difficult to help children recover after a trauma. The Leader's Manual is a guide for these caring adults and is accompanied by a Child's Book. Through stories, group exercises and games, and a Bible story, children are assisted in working through their trauma.
The Bible stories are from the book of Genesis: Creation, the Fall, and the life of Joseph. [more...]
A new resource for leaders of small groups of young people. Designed to let the Bible speak to young people, and to allow you to train yourself to be a Bible Mentor. For use in school SU groups, primary or secondary, SU holiday group-times, Bible class groups, seeker groups.
[more...]"I believe we should re-commit ourselves to relational ministry with open bibles, and I want to invite all who are involved with young people to live by the Book and to open it with young people throughout our Land... I want to offer this simple tool to encourage volunteers and “professionals” alike to spend good quality time mentoring regularly with groups of children and young people, by simply opening the bible, reading it together, and asking one another some good questions.” (Kenny McKie)
"Most of our Scripture Engagement tools are geared toward teens who are relatively open to the Scriptures though perhaps struggle to see the relevance. But what about the antagonistic atheists and seculars who favour naturalistic science over the implausible supernatural; the untrusting skeptics and agnostics who find the historical and moral assertions in the Bible literally in-credible; or the confused seekers and New Agers who want meaning to their life but are suspicious of any (religious) truth claims—no matter how seemingly relevant—lest they be duped and lose their “freedom”?"
Encountering God’s Word has the potential to transform teens outside the church. But what if their attitude to the Bible closes their ears? How can we open ears, establish trust, and arouse interest? Sometimes we need to talk about the Bible before we can invite teens to read it. These resources unpack a pre-evangelistic conversational strategy that challenges, informs, and inspires teens to see the Bible as plausible, credible, and relevant.
Dave Benson has researched the area and is actively using the model he presents here in Australian schools. Attached here is the booklet and presentation he produced for the World Wide Scripture Engagement Consultation 2009 - and a copy of his thesis 'The Thinking Teen'. [more...]
Five years ago Lion Hudson (a UK based publisher) was approached by the United Bible Societies with the need for an illustrated re-telling of the Bible narrative that was suitable for a wide age range including adults, culturally appropriate for non Western readers and which could be printed at a price that made it affordable for a mass market in the two thirds world with minimum or no subsidy. The organisations settled on a long-standing and successful title - The Lion Children's Bible - as the book that best met this requirement. [more...]
This video from Theovision, Ghana, tells of how they set up a Bible listening programme for school children and the effects they have seen coming from it.
The children are split into three age groups. After prayers, the youngest listen to Bible audio cassettes in Akan, the local language, while the older groups listen in English. This is then followed by a time when the pupils can ask questions about what they have heard. Finally, at the end of the hour, there is prayer focussing on what has been learned. [more...]
BibleMAX from Max7 is an excellent collection of free-to-download resources for helping children engage with the Bible.
BibleMAX lessons have 4 main sections: Activate (welcome, song, opening activity), Communicate (read the Bible, explore the Bible story), Investigate (discuss, ask questions) and Commit (memory verse, prayer, challenge).
Lesson plans are available in several major languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili...) and translation into other languages is in progress.
There is a Leader's Guide giving 7 different ideas on how to... welcome children, explore a Bible story, reinforce a Bible passage, ask questions, transition between activities, memorize Scripture, pray with children and dismiss the children at the end of the lesson.
For example, 7 ways to explore a Bible story: make a model, interviews, draw the main events in the story, still-frame drama scene, story-telling, act it out, write a song. [more...]
"The pattern of a fundamentally fragmented and disconnected understanding of Scripture still remains a major issue for those within Christendom, in both the majority and minority world."
Timelining Scripture is an innovative, yet simple Bible engagement tool that helps people to grasp Scripture as the single great coherent story of God’s purposes for the world. It reinforces a strong notion of the Kingdom of God and is particularly useful for helping people to find themselves, their community and their cultural context as actors within the biblical story. It is adaptable across age and cultural contexts and is highly visual, interactive and flexible. [more...]
Godly Play is an interactive and imaginative method of presenting Bible stories, parables and lessons about religious traditions, using engaging three-dimensional materials and a variety of creative activities. Through a structured programme of storytelling, reflection and creative expression, it invites listeners into the narratives and encourages them to connect them with their own personal experience.
Through Godly Play, children become more aware of the mystery of God’s presence around them and in their lives. In a gentle and non-coercive way, it encourages children to move into larger dimensions of belief and faith through creative wondering questions and open-ended response time. [more...]
"There is clear confusion among Christians about why they should read the Bible. For many, who have lived a Christian life without much engagement with the Bible, there is no perceived need to engage with it."
This paper, fruit of the recent WWSE Think Tank, seeks to engage with the 'Bible Engagement Crisis' in contexts where Bible availability is high but Bible use is relatively low. The focus is on the emerging generation who are less likely to use the Bible than the generations before them, especially using traditional methods.
After presenting the challenge, Stephen Opie outlines some of the strategic themes emerging, such as:
- establishing relevance by listening first;
- embracing technology, especially the Internet;
- identifying grassroots movements and helping them to grow.