Jamie the Go Fish Guy

Press Release

Our publicist just sent out this press release to media outlets nationwide about our Vacation Bible School curriculum.  This is just one of the many ways in which we hope to spread the word about "Backstage With The Bible".  It's our prayer that we will have twice as many churches use this curriculum next summer!

Download Go Fish VBS Press Release

What's Gonna Happen?

I've been sharing a lot about how amazing the response has been from the 350 churches that used our Go Fish VBS curriculum last summer.  To me, one of the most remarkable things about it is that we didn't do one single ad to promote it.  The only way churches could find out about it was if they saw our web site, had someone from our audience tell them about it, or if they were at one of the two INCM Children's Pastors Conferences last year.  In essence, it was almost all word of mouth.

This year, now that we know that the curriculum is proven to work, we are stepping up our efforts to promote the VBS program we are so passionate about.  Here are a few ways we are doing that.

1. Word Of Mouth - This is still our number one marketing tool.  Now that 350 churches have had a great experience going "Backstage With The Bible" we are praying that these parents and children's ministers will be letting others know about it!  This is already happening online in a BIG way.  I've seen lots of blog posts and comments on children's ministry forums from those recommending our VBS.  Here is one great example: CLICK HERE!
2. Magazine Ads - We just sent in the following ad to "Children's Ministry" magazine and we will be using this ad in other church publications as well.  Feel free to download it and give it to your children's pastor if you'd like! Download GoFish-CM-ad
3. Conferences - We are performing at all of the "Hearts at Home" moms conferences this year and will be asking them to let their churches know about the curriculum.  We're also going to be emceeing both INCM CPC events this year in San Diego and Nashville.  There we will have a booth where our starter kits will be available for children's pastors.
4. Our Web Site - We are significantly improving our web site to make it even better for the churches who purchase our current and future curriculum materials.  Also, we just put up a brand new video showing footage from churches who did our VBS last summer.  CLICK HERE TO VIEW

I don't know what's going to happen as a result of these efforts, but God does.  We are praying that this work will not be in vain and that we are using our limited resources wisely.  All I know is that I have never seen more lives impacted through anything else we have ever done than through this Vacation Bible School program.  This was a "life changer" for us and for the people we partnered with and we have put everything else temporarily on hold to make sure that we are letting people know about this program.  If we can get twice as many kids excited about reading God's Word and hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ then that is what we are going to be obsessive about doing!  Please help us in this mission.

Spreading The Word for Summer 2010!

And This Is Why We Do It!

I received this from a parent and wanted to share it with you all!

My son's friend invited him to Bible School this year. At first my son didn't even want to go, but I thought it would be good for him and I made him go. After the first day my son fell in love with Bible School and the Go Fish Guys. He was so excited to get his Bible and thanks to the Go Fish Guys he has really been reading it. I've never seen my son so excited about God before. We are even thinking about changing churches. We went to the concert in Shreveport, LA last night and had a blast. Thanks Go Fish Guys! You've really made a difference in my son's life!

This Is Great News

This is great news because if 47% of parents are actually clueless enough to have this opinion, they probably don't have the knowledge to correctly teach their kids about the Bible anyway!

It's also great for those of us in children's ministry.  Parents are open to kids "finding their own way".  How do they do that?  By learning from other people.  I have an idea.  Let's be those people!

It starts by us boldly sharing the gospel with kids.  This stat tells us that unchurched parents are actually cool with that!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: we can turn this country around in one generation if we focus on reaching kids with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible!

People Don't Want To Waste Their Time...

Which is exactly why I wasn’t surprised to notice the following themes in the feedback and evaluations we’ve been receiving about our “Backstage With The Bible” vacation Bible school curriculum. 

The churches who promoted the fact that they were going to “put the Bible back into Vacation Bible School”:

 * had higher numbers of kids than ever before.
 * had an easier time recruiting volunteers than ever before.
  *had more from the older generation volunteering than ever before.

I wish I could put into words how energized these children’s workers are AFTER Bible school!  Why?  Because when you use God’s Word - you get results!

Do your kids bring their Bibles to Bible school?  Do your kids see their teachers reading from the Bible at Bible school?  Do your kids ever open up a Bible during Bible school?

If not, you should call it something else because it is not Bible school.  Pretending it is will just frustrate your leaders and confuse your kids.

Stafford, CT

Here are some more Backstage Bible Thumpers!

Squidoo

When someone you don't even know does something like this on your behalf...it makes you feel pretty great!

CLICK HERE to see what I'm talking about!

If you've done our VBS this summer, please leave your comments on the page so others can see!

Backstage Is Rockin'!

Warwick, New York

 

 

Madison, South Dakota

 

Sioux Falls, SD

 

Sheldon, IA

 

Back To The Basics

Here is an excerpt from another email I received from one of the leaders doing our Vacation Bible School.

A grandmother told me this morning her grand-daughter Lexie is so thrilled with what she learned at VBS this year.  Her grand-daughter said, "The teachers taught me how to look up books in the Bible and find the verses--I never knew how to do that before."

Shame on us for not showing the kids how to do that before--but they know now.  After this year, how  I run my class WILL be different than before.

I love this!  We're hearing over and over again from leaders who are just amazed at how much their kids are enjoying looking up verses by themselves in the Bible.  My favorite is the child in White Bear Lake, MN who told their parent after Bible school that "I need a REAL Bible with ALL the words in it!"  Needless to say, the parent was happy to oblige!  Thank you to everyone praying for us and these churches.  God's Word is making an impact!