The Brinkman Adventures is a Christian audio drama series that is available either on CD or through download. Our family received The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 on CD. I honestly didn't know what to expect. I mean, I wasn't sure what type of response we would have from our children. My husband and I both grew up to books on tape, (okay, I'll admit even books on record). As a child, I enjoyed listening to stories over and over again and they never seemed to get old. My husband and I have talked about instilling the love for books through audio books, the challenge is, content. It's not hard to find audio books for kids but some of them can be outright boring! Especially when it is simply one person reading the story! So if my kids could choose between watching a movie or listening to an audio book, guess which one they are going to pick?
The Brinkman Adventures aren't books that are being read though, rather, it is a radio drama series based on real events. Of course I was thrilled to find out that there was something like this out there that I could introduce my children to but I haven't even told you the best part yet:
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| Designed For Family Listening of ALL AGES! Note: Some Episodes are recommended for Ages 10 and Up |
What You Receive:
5 Hours of Audio Entertainment on 4 CDs
Suggested Donation: $25 for CDs
$17 for Download
How awesome is that? If you have ever been on the "mission field" then you know it becomes a part of who you are and you tend to be drawn to the stories and experiences of those who are in the heat of the battle. Even if you haven't experienced it, the Bible says "like cold waters to a weary soul, is good news from a distant land, (Proverbs 25:25). Hearing these stories of God goodness, provision and faithfulness is refreshing and truly is like cold water to a weary soul!
Who are the Brinkmans?
Even though the stories themselves are based on true events, the entire storyline themselves are written for radio. Some fictitious characters are thrown in once in a while, and appropriately so. They usually are put there to teach valuable life lessons and Biblical principles. The parents in the series are not the actual parents of the children, but interestingly enough, the kids are actually brothers and sisters in real life, yes, all EIGHT of them!
Season Two includes twelve episodes just short of a half an hour each that carries the Brinkmans, on an adventure down through Texas into Belize to deliver a bus, and some chickens. Each episode is action packed and exciting enough to hold my children's attention!
HOW WE USED IT
Each night, after dinner we would gather in the living room, as a family and get comfortable. The children enjoyed setting out a blanket to relax on while listening to the drama. I guess we were trying to recreate the 1950's experience when families would gather around the radio and listen to the programming of the evening!
At first it took them a while to get used to the idea because there was nothing for them to "see," but after a while they really got into the stories, the people and the adventure that they would want to listen to more. Some evenings, we would just continue on to a second episode if there were two parts because we couldn't just be left there hanging! So, we would set aside a half and hour after dinner, listen to the episode, discuss it briefly and then look online for the "extras." The extras include the true story that went along with that particular episode! A write up is included on the website for the real stories. Some include pictures and some even include video. My children's favorite was when they could see the characters recording in the studio. There was one line of one of the little ones saying, "Hey Michelle! I saw a moose with two babies."
Yeah, my kids go around saying that line, all. of. the. time. It's because it's a child. Someone they can relate to. Which is why I think learning about these missionary stories through the lenses of a family with children is so powerful for young ones. Another line that they go around quoting from the series is, "How Big is your God?" This quote comes from a powerful episode that encourages a missionary in his faith. This line stuck with my kids and again, they will go around the house pointing their finger in each others faces saying loudly, "How Big is your God?!"
My children are all under the age of ten and we were able to enjoy the episodes with them. There were a few episodes that had a disclaimer in the beginning that some of the elements in the story might be too intense for children under the age of ten and to be sure to have parents listening in. I appreciated this disclaimer. I agree that some of the topics were a bit scary for my younger ones such as child slavery and kidnapping. They had never heard the term kidnapping before so we discussed it with them and it did kind of scare one of them a little, but I think it helped that we were right there with them. I would recommend that if your younger children are sensitive to these types of things to maybe listen to these particular episodes first.
This is such a unique and quality product and I highly recommend it! This would be great to listen to on long trips in the car or on a rainy day at home! Feel free to click on the banner below to see what the rest of crew thought of The Brinkman Adventures!
