The Church History ABCs (for kids!!!) ~ Augustine and 25 Other Heroes of the Faith

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     Do you think that children these days are no longer interested in church history?  They might become more interested if they were to read a short book like this, including the following events and people:

• a slave trader who decided to no longer sell slaves, and wrote one of the best-loved hymns of Christians
  
  
• a teenage boy who was kidnapped by pirates, eventually escaped across the seas to his home, and later went back to Ireland to be a missionary to share the Gospel
  
  
• a young boy, even though he wasn't hungry, stole some pears just because he enjoyed being wicked.  Later, he served God and wrote two very famous books.
  
  
• a little girl who taught herself Greek and Hebrew.  Later, she was queen for only 9 days until she was placed into the Tower of London to eventually be martyred.
  
  
• a man who stood up for the Holy Bible and nailed his handwritten ideas about God's Holy Word onto his church's front door.  The national leader of his church found out about it, and got very angry.  But eventually, lots of people came to know Jesus Christ well because of what he had written on that piece of paper.
  
  
• a young man who loved sports and playing the flute, but he loved even more being able to write long books that taught people about God's power working in us.
  
  
       Or, what about this list?  I know it would interest most children:
  
  
  • George Whitefield was cross-eyed
    
    
  • Famous preacher Jonathan Edwards was fired
    
    
  • Martin Luther married a nun
    
    
  • Athanasius outfoxed Egyptian soldiers as they raced down the Nile
    
    
  • John Wesley invented an electric shock machine and sent it to Ben Franklin
    
    
  • Martin Luther named his dog "Tölpel," which is a German word for clumsy

     Steven J. Nichols has written twelve books, including Heaven on Earth and The Reformation.  He is research professor of Christianity and Culture at Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

     He wrote The Church History ABCs to help modern-day children see themselves as part of the family of faith along with many other famous heroes of the Christian faith.

     Twenty-six heroes of the Christian faith are brightly illustrated, and short, child-friendly excerpts from their lives are provided for the readers.  The large page format of this hardbound book, combined with bright, vivid artwork that appeals to children, make this a treasure for Christian homes. 

     At the Gallery on their website, children may send in drawings of other heroes of the Christian faith as well as drawings of people they know personally who are heroes of the faith, to them, and they could be shared at the Gallery's webpage. 

     For those who want to dive deeper into church history with their children, you will also be able to find an "Activities" tab that has:

• coloring pages of some of the church history heroes
  
• cursive worksheets for each letter of the alphabet, corresponding with each church history hero of the faith
• word search using the 26 heroes' names
• "Pin the Beard on the Theologian" game, which would be fun for a family "Reformation Night" party
• Martin Luther maze
• Timeline figures of the 26 heroes of the Christian faith to cut out and place onto a matching timeline that contains clues to match the figure to the correct place on the timeline

     I think that this book and its accompanying website has great potential for families who want to hand downward the torch of Christian faith to their children.  The Church History ABCs brings to life the names of long-deceased men and women who made a big difference in their worlds for Jesus Christ.  This kind of role modeling for our own children is very important!  We've used materials like these with our children for several years now.

I highly recommend The Church History ABCs.  It is an excellent resource to give small tidbits of church history to our children, and whet their appetites to add more studies and additional books to read as they grow. 

Disclaimer:  Crossway Publishers provided me with a free copy of The Church History ABCs in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.  No other compensation was provided.

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