Friday's Find: Five Fantastic Freebies

     There is no excuse for not taking advantage of free trials and curriculum samples...Unless of course you don't know about them.

     This week I'm filling in the marketing gap to tell you about five sites that are currently offering some awesome downloadable freebies from media and handouts to entire lessons:

• CMD - Children's Ministry Deals: Their "Free Deals" page has some fun media, music, and object lessons.
• Answers in Genesis Store: In promotion of their new Sunday school kits (available June 15), Answers in Genesis is offering a free Teacher Guide and Student Take Home Sheet in every age group. If you like what you find, keep poking around their inventory; you might find a few other freebies.
• Hillsong Kids BIG: Hillsong Kids is offering an entire free lesson on worship for you to test out their new series entitled Supernatural.
• River's Edge Curriculum: River's Edge offers one complete lesson of almost all of their series for free just for you to see if you like it. Free for Elementary  Free for Preschool
• Orange Curriculum: Fill out a quick registration form, and Orange will let you try a few weeks (and  months of some curricula) of their age-appropriate curricula for free. If you're wondering what the all the buzz is about, here is your chance to find out. (You might have to temporarily allow pop-ups to view this site. Don't worry; your browser will prompt you if that is the case.)

Friday's Find: Kids of Courage

     I was so excited to find this website! It will be the first place I go next time I need resources for a missions lesson. Kids of Courage is run by the organization The Voice of the Martyrs to teach kids to stand up for their faith and bring awareness to the persecuted church. They have developed thirty activity books to teach kids about the church and peoples of other countries. Each book is available for FREE download (you will be required to register and will be given a password) and contains 50 pages of activity sheets, stories, coloring pages, recipes, and facts about a specific nation or people group where Christians are experiencing some form of restriction or persecution. This includes nations such as China, India, Colombia, Burma, Turkey, Egypt, etc. While your at their website check out their VBS. It's only $45 and comes in several teaching formats. You can also read some inspiring stories on their blog. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Friday's Find: D6 Days

     Friday Finds is back, and we're talking about D6 Days. The D6 Conference is all about discipleship and family ministries. Their primary focus is passing on God's truth to the nest generation. From now until May 1st (the conference Early Registration deadline) you can watch videos of past conference sessions for free right on their website. They also have MP3s from five of their breakout labs available for free download. If you want strategies to implement discipleship and family programming into your ministry or just want a little pep talk, check out D6 Days on the D6 Conference website. And check out more info on the upcoming conference while you're there. Remember that these freebies are only available until May 1st. No time to waste!

Friday's Find: Something to help you weed through your VBS options...

     Tony Kummer at ministry-to-children.com has written a fantastic article describing most of the 2012 VBS themes. This list is comprehensive and provides dozens of links to publisher information, products, and decorating ideas. If you are persistent and scroll past all the most popular publishers and a long survey, you will find a little section that lists and links to some lesser known and undated VBS programs (a few of which are free!). Of course there are many other VBS options out there that they could not include in this article; but if you're still struggling with choosing a VBS this is a great place to start.

Read the article here: Vacation Bible School 2012 Curriculum Themes

Let me know if this helps!

Friday's Find: Free Curriculum from Bread of Life Ministries

     Bread of Life Ministries takes bus ministry to a whole new level. Twenty years ago they started their mobile soup kitchen called Street Connection and took it to low income areas of their community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As their ministry has grown they have expanded their routes and now serve over 200 people in four areas, distributing food and clothing. For four years they also ran a mobile Sunday school. Although they no longer have the volunteers to continue that ministry, they have posted all of their self-written curricula on their website, just to share it with kidmins like you and me. These curricula are themed and vary in length. Some are only two or three lessons long and would be great for weeks when your in between curricula or to have on file for substitute teachers. Others such as "Fruit of Spirit" or "Armor of God" are a full 6-8 lessons long. All of them include drama, games, object lessons, and memory verse activity. Check them out. You might be surprised.

Bread of Life Ministries - Children's Ministry

Friday's Find: Hope 2 Others

     Hope 2 Others is a non-profit organization and community project created by two teenage sisters looking for a way to provide immediate help for those in need down the street. After learning about homelessness and displaced peoples at a missions camp, they started filling lunch sacks with essential items like food, water, socks, and tracts and giving them to the panhandlers and homeless in their community. The idea caught on and now there are H2O ministries all over the country.

     Our own kids love filling H2O bags. They know they are really helping someone. They love knowing that this mission was created by kids for kids. They love that the grow-ups in "big church" want to help them reach others with the gospel when it's usually the other way around. We sometimes adjust what we put in our bags depending on cost, season, area, etc. We also have found it helpful to partner with a local shelter.

     This project can be done at relatively low cost and makes a great ongoing outreach program. Go to their website (http://www.h2obags.com/)to learn more about how it works and what goes in the bags. Once you're ready to start your own H2O ministry, just sign up to gain access to detailed instructions, ideas, and promotional materials.

Friday's Find: Adding Some "Wow" with Illusions

     Every kidmin wants to find that little extra something that will make their special events even more special. I know our ministry is in full swing planning Easter; and if, like us, you're looking for something that will set that day apart, here are a few Gospel "magic" sites that we have found helpful. Even if illusions aren't your thing, you're sure to find something simple that can bring out the "oohs", "aahs", and "WOWs." In fact we like them so much that we put them in our RPS Ultimate Resource Guide.

• The Cross Trick - We have used this trick several times and it never ceases to fascinate our kids. Their immediate response is, "Do it again!" It is a great illustration of salvation and the cleansing of sin.
• Laflin Magic - This site is from the ministry of David and Teesha Laflin. They provide some great products and training videos at reasonable prices. They also have downloadable tricks/lessons for $1.99.
• Magic Dove Shop - This site has a lot of different types of tricks and some training videos. Prices range from just a few dollars to $50+, but the selection is excellent.
• Daytona Magic, INC - This site is similar to Magic Dove Shop. Although the selection is not as good, it still has quite a few brilliant tricks that are very reasonably priced and worth checking out.

     Happy hunting!

Friday's Find: Memory Cross

     So about now your probably thinking about Easter and maybe even VBS. Memory Cross has some great products that can add that extra something special these events. I must confess that I had know idea how useful they could be. Memory Crosses are origami style cards that can be used to tell a Bible story or teach a memory verse. Unfolding the various flaps of the card reveals more of the story or verse. They're lots of fun! You'll want to fold it over and over. They've posted videos showing how it works. You can buy finished one's, color-your-own, or blank ones to make your own stories, and they come in large and small sizes. They'll even create custom cards just for your event. Their prices are reasonable. You can sign-up to receive a free sample pack if you want to try them for yourself.
    
     Even if you don't end up buying any Memory Crosses you should visit their website, because they offer so much more. Memory Cross is all about teaching and evangelism. They make tracts, educational resources, holiday resources, Spanish resources, and even products for some of the major VBS kits of 2012, 2011, and 2010. It's well worth checking out.

Friday's Find: Godtube and Gospeltube

     Godtube and Gospeltube are the top free Christian video sharing websites available. Despite getting off to a slow start Godtube has flourished and expanded to a sister site called Gospeltube. Both Godtube and Gospeltube are very similar to Youtube in their layout and very user friendly. Videos are organized into categories such as sermons, comedy, music videos, and drama. You can search, watch, comment, and share just like on Youtube. Play funny videos to open your service instead of buying countdowns. Introduce your kids to Christian music artists by playing music videos during drop-off or pick-up times. E-mail inspiring videos to your volunteers during the week. You might even find a video to illustrate your lesson. You can use these videos in so many ways. These sites re definitely worth checking out.

Friday's Find: GroupMe

     GroupMe is a website and free app for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. Our volunteers love it! It allows you to mass message a specific group of people. Once a group is created on GroupMe, it's members can communicate instantly. All members of the group can see all of the messages sent within the group. Another pro is that you don't have to download the app or even have a smart phone to participate. Those who don't have the app will receive all the group's messages as a string of standard text messages and can reply to the group by replying to those same text. If you scroll down, I've explained some more about GroupMe's features.
     This is our volunteers' new favorite communication tool. We share news, ask questions, and post prayer requests. No one has to find out important things after the fact. It helps keep our team connected the entire week, not just on Sun. or Wed.

If you plan to or are using GroupMe, here are some things to remember:

• Face to face is still the most efficient means of communication. GroupMe is a community builder and a communication enhancer, but it can't work alone.
• Be mindful of others. Not everyone has a smart phone or unlimited texting, so check with your team first to see if they are interested in using GroupMe.
• Keep your groups focused. Some people get carried away with chit-chat, and it can be annoying to have your phone ringing or vibrating all day long when no one has anything important to say. Let your team know what the purpose of the group is. Perhaps, instead of forming a group called "Children's Ministry," you form a more specific group such as "Prayer Chain."
• Never let a group become a place where negativity is spread unchecked. Just because the group is private does not mean that is is the appropriate place for complaints or gossip. Keep things positive.

GroupMe's Features:

Here's a screenshot of my GroupMe home screen (on the Android system):

     It's a little rough, I know - but I hope you can see that I belong to three groups: Crossfire Kids, Praise Band, and Family. You probably also noticed that I can "Invite" people to join GroupMe and view my GroupMe contacts via the "Contact" button on the bottom. "Featured" suggests groups I might want to start. "News" alerts me to new things on GroupMe and the activities of my group members. The green button brings up a menu that allows me to start a new group, pose a question to multiple groups, or send a private message to an individual member. The "Search" button in the top right corner opens the search box so I can find a specific group or member.

Here is what a group page looks like:

     It's like a private chat room. Every member can see what all the other members are saying. My replies appear on the right of the screen and are highlighted green. Other member's replies appear on the left and are blue or grey. At the top right corner is the "Settings" button; from the settings page I can change the Group's Options (group name, group image, my nickname in that group) or my Global Settings (my own GroupMe profile and preferences). Also near the top are buttons that allow me to view this group's members or use the map feature. If I press and hold on a single message, a menu appears prompting me to Share, Like, Copy, or Hide that message. I can also send photos to the group from the camera icon in the bottom left corner.

If you have any questions leave a comment or shoot us an e-mail. We would love to hear from you!

Friday's Find: Guildcraft VBS Blog

     The Guildcraft VBS Blog posts free seasonal and holiday pdf's every Friday.  These printable projects include coloring sheets, puppets, origami, decorating patterns, postcards, and so much more. These are perfect time-stretchers, and I think preschool teachers will especially like using these as easy lesson add-ons. The Bible memory projects such as the Valentine's Day Verse Mix-up Game and the Trinity Shamrocks would be great for connecting the elementary ages to God's Word. So go check out the new Valentine's Day post today!
     If you have a great resource that you would like to share, contact us! We might post it as our Friday Find.