Extreme: I Am Jesus

Oasis Children’s Ministry Resource

Being involved in children’s ministry is an excellent opportunity to be able to reach kids and encourage them to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus.

Oasis is an excellent children’s ministry resource designed for ages 7-11 that can be used in a range of situations, from Sunday schools to Kids Clubs and holiday programs. I have found that the program has a lot going for it — this is reflected in the Oasis statement that "By exposing children to the Bible, we aim to ignite in children a passion for God and a strong desire to build a personal relationship with Him. Oasis’ goal is to help change lives as children explore the contents of the Bible."

The whole ten-week period of a typical Oasis program is built around an attractive theme for the kids — ours was “Extreme Sports” which was designed to complement the strong biblical theme of Jesus’ “I Am” claims.

We have recently used the Oasis series “eXtreme Jesus” in a Sunday morning setting. This examined the claims of Jesus made in John — to be the light of the world, the good shepherd, the one who raises the dead to life, the way, the truth and the life, the bread that gives life and the vine of which we are the branches. The program is solidly based on the Bible and we found it also to be really appealing to children. Each program is based around a three-week mission period where kids are invited to bring their friends, followed by a three-week discipling period to build the kids up in faith. Weeks 7 to 9 focus on ministry opportunities, and the program finishes with a celebration.

Each weekly program is very leader-friendly, with a coordinator’s manual outlining how the whole program fits together. Weekly video sessions featuring the very cool puppet Waffle and excellent Bible teaching are combined with fun games and activity ideas which also demonstrate ideas contained in the teaching. Small group discussion pointers are also very helpful in allowing the children to “chew” over what they are learning and experiencing. We also found the up-beat kids music great, with sheet music, transparencies and a CD included with each pack.

The program also provides excellent leadership training, with a video outlining the best ways for the program to be run, from how to teach kids the songs, to game demonstrations and teaching overviews.

I think that Oasis is an excellent ministry resource and well worth the money, however the cost may be prohibitive to some smaller churches. All in all, in my time in children’s ministry I would regard this as the best resource we’ve ever had.

Peter Napper is a youth leader and member of Turramurra Uniting Church.

Oasis Children’s Ministries resources like this can be obtained directly from Logosdor, PO Box 809 Hornsby NSW Sydney or by phoning 9477 3961/ fax 9477 5825. Email: oasis@logosdor.com, Website: www.logosdor.com.