Project Connect is a booklet ministry of Lutheran Hour Ministries that uses a display (rotating booklet stand) of pocket-sized, topical booklets to promote outreach. It gives congregations a tangible, take-home resource of Christ-centered value they can offer to visitors, members, or others in their community.
In addition to the topical booklets for adults, LHM has produced several topical booklets for children. These children's booklets are ideal to use for Vacation Bible School, fairs and festivals, classrooms, holidays, outreach, and more! Give one to a neighbor or friend. Anyone can use these fun and colorful booklets to discuss prayer, how to share their faith, and more—each in a way kids will understand and remember. To learn more about Project Connect booklets for children, visit lhm.org/kids/books.
Breely Schiltz purchased a total of 300 booklets, 25 copies of 12 titles, to share with her Bible study group. "There were about 12 moms in my Bible study," says Schiltz. "Once I got the booklets, I sorted them all out so each mom would get one of every title, and I put them into little bags. Then I handed them out at Bible study and also gave them to my sisters and cousins. I had a few left over that I kept at home to give out whenever the opportunity arose. When a man was installing my dishwasher, we got to talking about our children and the Lord, so I gave him a bag. I met a mom at a park who ended up being a friend who invited me to join a mom's group at her church, and I shared a bag with her, too. Now I only have one bag left! I think these are great gifts and a wonderful way to introduce children to the Gospel. I have an almost four-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old, and they both enjoy reading the booklets. I love that I can teach them about God in simple ways they can understand. I'm also a sucker for any books that rhyme, and every single booklet does. That is so impressive to me!"
Garet Ellis is the pastor of Christ Community Lutheran Church and Leesburg Open Arms, a Christian child development center in Leesburg, Virginia. "I love giving out the booklets," says Ellis. "In the past few years, I have given them out at community festivals, in tour bags for prospective students and families of our school, one each day of the week during National Lutheran Schools Week, at the beginning of the school year, during certain chapel lessons, during the holidays, at my daughter's school when I was the mystery reader, and at our free resource shelf in our narthex and school entry. I predominantly use the Do You Know Who Jesus Is? and The Bible Tells Me So, but I have used pretty much all of them over the last few years. The children love receiving the booklets, and it makes the story of Jesus really easy to engage with for parents who might have left the faith and are slowly making their way back."
Donnie Stubblefield works with Casas por Cristo, connecting churches in the United States with pastors and churches in Latin America. Casas por Cristo's mission is to open doors with local pastors and churches so they can share the love of Jesus as we build and serve. "While our goal is to build homes, building relationships and disciples is actually job number one," says Stubblefield. "The booklets from LHM have blessed many young niños and niñas with the joy of Jesus. I strongly encourage the teams that I recruit to be ready with a 'backpack VBS,' so when the kiddos show up, you can have time for sharing. The teams will bring bubbles, soccer balls, and coloring books, but by far, the best is watching mission workers sit in the shade with a child on their lap, reading the LHM booklets together in Spanish. And the kiddos love keeping the booklets and reading them to each other. We have gone through a few hundred booklets, and LHM has always sent several versions, which have all been received enthusiastically. It is such a blessing to add this extra gift of the Gospel to the team experience of being Jesus with skin on for the children of Latin America."