Jamie the Go Fish Guy

A Couple Of Personal Observations

1.  Creating and producing our first Vacation Bible School curriculum has been the most challenging thing Go Fish has ever done.

2.  I've NEVER experienced God's provision, guidance, and leading more than during the creation of this curriculum.

I love the feeling of KNOWING that you are doing something God wants you to do.  What an amazing thing that God could use jokers like us to play a part in His work.

We Have The Best Fans!

Here's an email we just received that shows why we are so excited about the new Vacation Bible School curriculum!

We were wondering if you were tracking in any way, or had considered
a system of sorts to do so, where your curriculum will be taught?

My girls (7.5 and nearing 10) want to go to a Go Fish Guys VBS, and I
would love to make it happen if I can - even if we have to visit
relatives for a week to get close enough to a church to go!

Wow...these guys are willing to plan a vacation just to find a church using our curriculum!  That's pretty awesome.  To answer this question: YES!  Now that the starter kits are on their way out the door, we will be sending the participating churches a form to fill out online.  Once we get all of these online registrations back we will post their Vacation Bible School details on our web site so you can find a church near you using our curriculum!

Thank you to all of the parents who have been writing us with similar requests.  The fact that you would search out a church using our curriculum is quite humbling to us.  This summer is going to ROCK!!!

One Generation Can Change Everything!

I love Numbers 21.  I love it because we see a major change in the Israelites.  The golden calf building, food complaining, we wanna go back to Egypt generation has pretty much died out.  It's a wonder they made it as long as they did since their sin provoked God to the point where He wanted to wipe them all out more than once!  God let them wander in the desert until the next generation could learn from their parents' mistakes and take over.

In Numbers 21 we see the next generation do just that.  They acknowledge their sin, turn to God, and subsequently see victories where there had previously been dismal failure.  It's amazing to see them take hold of God's promises and be blessed in return.  The slaves became the rulers!

In his book Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, George Barna gives us a glimpse of where where this generation is at. Here are just a few conclusions from a series of studies he conducted:

• If people do not embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior before they reach their teenage years, the chance of their doing so at all is slim.
• By the age of 13, your spiritual identity is largely set in place.
• Only 3 percent of the nation’s 13-year-olds have a biblical worldview, which serves as the foundation for their decision making.
• Young people are more likely to base their decisions on their feelings or what other people expect of them, rather than depend upon the Bible as their standard for moral choices.
• Whatever beliefs a person embraces when he or she is young are not likely to change as the individual ages.

These statistics tell me that we've failed in many ways with kids.  They also tell me that the key to impacting the world for Christ  STILL lies in reaching kids.  We just need to do a better job.  We can't water down the gospel or waste our time any longer.  Those in kids ministry need to remember that we are in an epic battle.  This is not a job for the weak-hearted or lukewarm.  Pastors need to acknowledge that "the least of these" should be their number one priority.

The Israelites turned things around in one generation.  With God's help so can we!

Children's Pastors: Don't Give Up!

We decided to do a Vacation Bible School curriculum for the same reason we decided to make music for kids.  There was a need and we felt like we were in a place to help solve a problem.

With kids music the problem was that most of it was terrible.  It was poorly produced, poorly written, and just plain annoying to parents.  Everybody knew it but nobody was doing anything about it.  Parents and children's pastors had to use what was out there and they were the happiest people of all when we offered them a better option.

With Vacation Bible School the problem is that publishers have forgotten why Vacation Bible School exists.  They've forgotten why churches started doing it in the first place.  They mean well, but they've gotten seriously sidetracked.

Well meaning children's pastors, with no good options, have followed along and now church after church is considering dropping Vacation Bible School altogether!  I don't blame them.  They're tired of being told they have to outdo last year's program year after year.  They're tired of putting their time and resources into something that hasn't had great results thanks to watered down curriculum.  They want to quit and it's not because they don't want to share Christ with kids.  It's because Vacation Bible School has turned into VBS.  The Bible verses have been exchanged for Bible "points".  The gospel has been watered down so that no one could possibly be offended.  That's good for sales but bad for theology.  Kids are having fun but most kids are leaving the church a few years later.  The problem is not Vacation Bible School itself, but the way we do it.  The definition of going crazy is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.

Children's pastors: please don't give up!  It doesn't have to be so hard.  It's not rocket science.  Bible teaching, singing, games, crafts, and snacks...kids love it!  Unchurched kids are walking into your church...it's worth the extra effort to convert a lame curriculum into a Bible based one.  It's worth trying to write your own.  It's worth the work to love these kids enough to share the gospel with them.  Please don't quit.  Please don't give up on vacation BIBLE school.

Why am I writing this?  Because in the past few weeks I've read way too many tweets, posts, and emails from children's pastors who just want to get rid of Vacation Bible School and that's not the solution.  It would be a shame to let a bad method result in losing a good thing.

By the way, I'm not saying our curriculum is the answer to your problems.  We're not trying to take over the publishing world.  We're just trying to do our part to help turn the tide.  There are a lot of you out there who are sick of the hype and want to get back to substance.  We want to encourage you to keep going.  There are kids and families out there who are lost and desperately need the Savior.  Don't let a misguided industry steal the true joy and purpose from Vacation Bible School.  If you want to quit, please do me a favor...email me first.  gofishblog@mac.com

Sharing Is Good

People in our industry get pretty bent out of shape about copyrights.  We don't.  It has been our experience that the more our music is heard the more people respond to it.  People are generally honest and God has always taken care of us.

If you are using our Backstage With The Bible Vacation Bible School curriculum, please consider giving the starter kit to another church, camp, or ministry after you are done with it.  No copyright issues.  We own it so we can do what we want and we want as many kids to go through this curriculum as possible.  Like I always tell my boys...sharing is good!  Thanks.

I Stand Alone On The Word Of God

The B-I-B-L-E.  We sing a lot about it.  It's the core of everything we do.  Have you ever stopped for a second to really ponder how truly amazing it is that we have a book that comes straight from God?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The God who created the universe.  The God that gives us life.  The God we will all answer to one day.  He gave us the Bible.  The gospel does not need our help to "dress it up".  We don't have to make it cool, hip, or relevant.  We just need to present it.  The Holy Spirit will do the work.  We're not as important as we'd like to think we are.

I'd like to challenge the churches out there using our Vacation Bible School to remember this.  This program is different.  It doesn't depend on props.  It doesn't depend on skits.  It doesn't depend on our songs.  It's core is something that neither you or Go Fish can mess up.  Take advantage of the ultimate tool - the Bible.  It's the key to your ministry's success.  If your kids don't respond well to our videos (doubtful...but possible!) it doesn't matter.  If they've been exposed to the truths found in the Bible, the week will still be a success.  It's the ultimate Vacation Bible School "safety net".  God's Word will never return void!

We received this email from a children's pastor in South Carolina.  It was quite encouraging so I thought I'd share it!

Dear Go Fish Guys,

Just wanted you to know how excited I am to actually be able to put the
Bible back into VBS this year, with your help. The more I study the VBS
materials, the more I like them. Your approach is really quite
revolutionary. I love the Bible teaching time as opposed to a Bible "Story"
time. The children will appreciate us not talking down to them with the same
Bible stories that most of them have heard year after year.  I also love the
high volume- pun intended- of Bible verses that are incorporated into the
VBS. The Word of God speaks for itself and speaks to the very heart of
children in ways that no clever skit, elaborate prop or over-the-top game
ever could.

Thanks again for helping fellow servants, like me, reach this precious
generation for Christ.

Thank You Lord

This past week our "Party Like A Preschooler" CD was the #4 Kids CD in the country.  This morning Billboard magazine called me because it will show up as a "heatseeker" on their Billboard chart next week.  They needed to know what our record label was called since they'd never heard of us.

Our manager and distribution company wanted to know what we've been doing to make this happen.  My answer to them was "I don't know"!  The truth is I don't know why sales have gone through the roof.  All I can say is Thank You Lord. 

Yeah we work hard.  Yeah I know you all have been great about spreading the word.  However, there's no clear cut explanation as to what's happening.  All I know is if this gets more kids to Vacation Bible School this year to hear the gospel...then may the sales continue!

I guess there are a lot of preschoolers out there ready to party!  Thank you to all of you who continue to tell others about our mission to make great music for kids that won't drive parents bonkers.

Who Let This Kid In?

Jason just sent me this picture of him wearing the new Vacation Bible School Backstage Pass.

I have to say, these things are sweet. No rinky dink nametags for our Vacation Bible School kids!!

We originally thought we'd have to ship them without lanyards, but Andy found a spot where we could buy them in bulk for $.08 a piece so we went ahead and included them for you.  What a nice guy that Andy.

I can't wait to see all the little kids sporting these this summer while carrying around their Bibles.  And in case you didn't hear, they DO actually get you backstage at any Go Fish concert!  How cool is that?

Vacation Bible School Update

We've been getting LOTS of emails and most of them are regarding the following two questions.  Rather than answer them all individually, I thought I'd answer them in one blog post.  I love the internet!

Q:We want to send our kids to a church that is using your curriculum.  Where can we find one?
A: After the starter kits are all shipped out this month we will gather locations, dates, and times of churches using our curriculum and post them on our main Go Fish web site.  That way you can find a spot to send your kids "Backstage With The Bible".  (Make sure they bring their Bibles!)

Q: We're using your curriculum and we'd love a way to connect with other churches to exchange ideas, get feedback, etc.  Will you facilitate this?
A:  Definitely.  Not only for your benefit but for ours!  This is the first time we've done something like this and I'm positive that as soon as the starter kits are received we'll get lots of questions, suggestions, and ideas.  Along with our Vacation Bible School email list, we are working on providing some sort of forum to specifically cater to churches using our curriculum.

These are the main questions we've been asked and to me they're both proof of the excitement surrounding this project.  Churches and parents seem to really be anticipating this curriculum and we are thrilled.  In the past few weeks starter kit orders have gone crazy and our summer is almost completely booked with Vacation Bible School concerts.  Wow!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how God works this summer through this program.  We are praying that God will use the materials and leaders to effectively share the Gospel with kids all over the country!  It's all about the fishing!

Backstage Bus Tour

Have you ever wondered what a tour bus looks like on the inside?  This is one of our little glimpses into the "Backstage" world included on our "Backstage With The Bible" Vacation Bible School DVD.  This little tour stars the one and only Jason.  Enjoy!

Jason's Bus Tour from Jamie Statema on Vimeo.