Kids of Courage: VBS Challenges Children
The Voice of the Martyrs is offering their new Kids of Courage VBS program to teach children about forgiveness, courage and perseverance – all through stories of persecuted Christians. The curriculum features five countries – China, Egypt, India, Nigeria and North Korea – showing children how they relate with persecuted Christians around the world.
“There is a lot kids can learn about persecution without going into any graphic detail,” said a VOM worker who helped in the curriculum’s preparation. “They can learn that we can trust God when we are having problems, and we can even praise Him.”
With over 50 stories, crafts and skits, the curriculum guides each leader while reducing preparation time. The variety of materials give leaders an opportunity to pick which stories they find appropriate for the age group they are teaching. For a full list of materials included in the curriculum, visit www.kidsofcouragevbs.com.
“Leaders and teachers have said they have wanted to teach the children about persecution but they didn’t know how to do it in an age-appropriate way. They like it when the kids study the same thing as the adults,” said the VOM worker. “We have stories that are current about kids their age that are happening right now. Everything in the curriculum relates to the countries or to persecution.”
The Voice of the Martyrs purposely made the program adaptable and affordable for anyone. With enough material in the curriculum for more than a VBS program, many churches and youth groups have made it into a youth program or series.
“As a youth minister, I tend to stay away from lessons that are watered down. In today’s world, I think people need reality rather than fantasy,” said William Thompson, a youth pastor using the Kids of Courage VBS curriculum. “We enjoyed the curriculum so much, we are going o use it during our Wednesday night program so that even more kids learn about the persecuted church and how to be a Kid of Courage!”
Sources: www.kidsofcouragevbs.com, VOM contacts