Action Packed Missionary Stories to Enjoy in the Van #hsreviews

If you’re like us, van rides can be the bane of your existence.  Seriously.  I loath having to take the kids on hour long van trips because my kids just don’t like sitting still and riding in the van for that long.  Plus the baby still screams at being strapped into the car seat.   This is why I was thrilled to review The Brinkman Adventures.   We received The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 to listen to.  They are on four cd’s and come in a nice hard case so they are protected.  

You can purchase the set either as a physical product(what we received) or a download(mp3 type file).  I prefer to have the actual cd’s but then again I’m not quite that technologically advanced as some people either.  On the 4 cd’s are 5plus hours of entertainment.  These adventures are great for the whole family and really have no age range, young and old alike will enjoy them!  The Brinkman Adventures operates on a donation basis.  So, if you wanted to purchase this season 2 set the suggested donation for the physical copy is $25 or $17 for the download.  Oh and shipping is free for the physical product as well.

For season 2 we received episodes 13-24.  So we have 12 episodes to enjoy.  I wondered a bit if we would be a bit lost with the first episode considering they each start up where the one before leaves off.  It was just a bit confusing to me because I’m someone who wants the background story, but the kids loved it and had no problems jumping into the adventures of the Brinkmans!  

The Brinkmans are a family of missionaries and their adventures share their missionary stories in a fun and exciting way.  These are real missionary stories.  True missionary stories.  Peoples names are changed though and sometimes even the country is changed.  In one episode about slavery the country mentioned isn’t really a country at all.  Obviously, we still need to protect some of our missionaries and where they serve.  That’s okay though.  We really don’t need to know the particular where and who of the adventures.  We just need to know what happened and how we can pray for those missionaries now.

Okay, so I have to say that the Brinkman’s drive a bus which makes me feel better!  Now I *know* some people who drive a bigger vehicle than us!   They are a large family.  Mom is expecting again.  She’s had at least two miscarriages that they have shared with us.  That is a pain most cannot understand.  I feel for her.  There are nine children in the family.  My kids thought this was awesome because we have 9 kids too!  Of course, I’m not currently pregnant.  But that didn’t stop my kids from informing me that we need to have 3 more boys so that the boys and girls are even and we have a dozen kids.  

The first episodes finds the Brinkman’s packing up and getting ready to head to Belize on a mission trip.  We follow them on their adventures, but not every episode is about them.  We meet up with other missionaries who tell their stories and those get incorporated into the Brinkman’s adventures.

In Season 2 you will find the following episodes:

• 13: The Mystery Ring
• 14: Blue hat and the T-Shirt Bible
• 15: How Big is Your God, Part 1
• 16: How Big is Your God, Part 2
• 17: Mexico by Bus
• 18: Treehouse Academy
• 19: Pirates of Mayan Island
• 20: Sapphire Slaves, Part 1
• 21: Sapphire Slaves, Part 2
• 22: Hadi’s Choice
• 23: Castle of Secrets
• 24: On the Run

My kids were enthralled with these audio dramas.  We’ve listened to books on tape before.  We’ve listened to other audio series that are popular for children as well.  I don’t think any of those held their attention like this series though.  They didn’t ask for me to turn it off or to listen to their favorite Praise cd.  They were quiet.  They listened.  They asked questions.  They retained what they heard as well. 

This series is so wonderful!  Like I said, we chose to listen to them in the van when we were driving.  But they could easily be enjoyed during meals, around the table, before bed, or simply as an afternoon adventure.  Though the names of our characters are not the true names of the family behind the story, the people you hear are the actual people who have had the adventures.  

Listening can be a bit confusing until you figure out which voice belongs to which family member.  Like I said above you just into the middle of the series so if you listen from episode 1 you’d already know all the characters and more of their background.  But it’s not necessary to enjoy the stories.  I loved listening to the little children in here!  And my family took particular glee in listening to how they had to catch the chickens that the little one let loose.  We have chickens and often have to chase them out of our garden so my kids know oh too well how fun chasing chickens can be!

As we followed the Brinkman family in their adventures we learned of a missionary who served in China and his adventures in Hong Kong.  How he had to trust God to provide a church building and really how he had to trust God that he wouldn’t be found and killed for being a Christian.  My kids were very intrigued by how he made a tshirt Bible as well.  I may have to watch their Bibles closely for a while!

You can visit the Behind the Stories page on the website to learn about the true people and places behind the adventures.  But do be forewarned that if you haven’t listened to the episodes there are spoilers present!

I also want to mention that a few of the stories do get intense.  As a parent you might want to ferret out those and skip them if you have children who might be scared.  They recommend ages 10 and over listen to those and say so at the very beginning of the story.  I skipped those with my crew because my oldest is only 9 and they tend to be sensitive to things like that.

Interested in finding out more about the Brinkman’s and what other Crew Reviewers thought of them?  Simply check out the Main Crew Blog Post and read all the amazing reviews from there!  Oh and check them out on Facebook to follow along on their adventures!