May 13, 2013

Check out the Adventures in Odyssey Summer of Service A.C.T.S. blog tour to discover how fun it can be to serve others!

Discover how much fun service can be with Adventures in Odyssey’s A.C.T.S. challenge and contest! 

For the next three weeks Mom Loves 2 Read has partnered with Adventures in Odyssey to bring you the Summer of Service Challenge - starting with the theme: Discover, continuing with the May 22nd webcast hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris) to launch A.C.T.S. Katie and Chris will share more about the contest and prizes, and will reveal the destination of the grand prize mission trip!

Then in June, the theme of Imagine bringing giveaways of the Imagination Station books!  Then in July, with the theme of Grow , with a giveaway of the book: Adventures in Odyssey 90 Devotions for Kids!
So much fun!


Join Adventures in Odyssey this summer to discover how fun it can be to serve others!

Adventures in Odyssey, the beloved audio series from Focus on the Family, has encouraged kids toward a stronger faith for 25 years. Whit, Connie, Eugene, and the other loveable characters from Odyssey have shared countless adventures with kids across the world in the classic audio dramas, books, videos, and devotionals, fulfilling the AIO promise to help kids discover, imagine, and grow. 


This summer, Adventures in Odyssey is joining with Christian bookstores across the country, inviting kids to participate in a Summer of Service. They’re promoting the biblical message, “When you serve, everybody wins,” encouraging kids to serve their families, their communities, and their world. Whether it’s baking cookies for an elderly neighbor or putting together a care package for missionaries overseas, kids will discover that serving can be a blast!  



How the A.C.T.S. (A Call to Service) challenge and contest works:

Kids who join A.C.T.S. can pick up a service log and collect fun character stickers for hours served at participating bookstores throughout the summer, or download a serving log online at whitsend.org.  At the end of the summer, kids can record and upload a short video telling how they serve and why they’d like to become an Adventures in Odyssey Ambassador. 


A hundred winners will get the brand new AIO Album, and after online voting, two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will get to travel on an exciting Good-Goers Mission Based Adventure trip to another country with a parent!  The out-of-country destination will be announced on a live podcast May 22—hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris)—which you can watch at whitsend.org/acts. You don’t want to miss it!

Here is a free downloadable mp3 file of the AIO Service episode, available here: http://www.tyndale.com/blog/index.php/acts-a-call-to-serve/

 And a free PDF download of summer service ideas for kids, also available here: http://www.tyndale.com/blog/index.php/acts-a-call-to-serve/



Why serve?
Our culture puts an extravagant amount of energy into raising kids who will grow up to feel good about themselves. In schools, clubs, homes, and even at church, adults have made a decided effort to bolster children’s “self-esteem” –not by actually encouraging kids do something that’s worthwhile, but by simply telling them they are important and valuable. 

At the turn of the century, researchers predicted that the next generation would respond to these efforts of raising self-esteem by being filled with optimism and civic duty. Unfortunately, recent research shows the opposite. Kids coming of age today are more self-centered, disrespectful of authority, and depressed than ever before.

In a very real way, then, the best path toward building selfless, confident children is to help and encourage them toward a growing and thriving faith in God. And that includes obedience to what God teaches—not because it makes kids feel good, although it often does—but because they’re following God’s instructions to love Him and serve others. That builds a faith they can count on and carry with them into adulthood—which is the greatest gift any parent can bestow on their child.


How do YOU serve?
How do you teach your children about the merits of serving others?  Do you volunteer at school?  at Church?  Teach or lead in your community?
Do you help others in need?  Make meals for homebound friends? Visit the elderly?

Teaching children the value of service is important to teaches them to think beyond themselves and their own needs and to see the needs of others.  It teaches them to appreciate what they do have and look for ways to give of themselves to help those in need. It is also a wonderful way to teach them how to show Christ's love as Philippians 2:3-4 shows:

" Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

My son is in Boy Scouts now and each month they have a service project to give back to the community.  I love making sure my son is involved in as many of those areas of service as he can.  We also as a family donate to Missionary families and try to support local community projects whenever we can.
I teach them to try to be thankful and appreciate all we have, and to help others in need whenever possible.

Leave me a comment below telling me ways that you and your family serve others.  

I received one or more books/products in the post above for review purposes only. I was in no way required to write a positive review. All my reviews are my honest and personal opinion .  If you have any questions or comments, please see my FTC disclosure or Review Policy.

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