Do Your Kids Know God’s Ten Commandments?
August 20, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under Mission-Minded Books
With Hand Commands, kids can learn God’s Ten Commandments using simple hand motions. It’s a fun way for all ages to discover how to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS!
Ann Interviews with Kregel about Hand Commands
Kregel Publications: Where did you get the idea for putting together a children’s book that teaches the Ten Commandments through hand motions?
Ann: Actually, my husband, Jon, was out on a prayer walk one day, and strongly felt impressed that I should put these Ten Commandment hand motions into a little board book for preschool children. That very day, I took some spontaneous photos of our own little kids—just out in our front yard—added the simple verse, and originally titled it Oh, How I Love God’s Law! It took a long time to find a publisher—and I almost gave up—but during this waiting time, the concept was refined and retitled as Hand Commands. Surprisingly, the final book includes most of the original photographs taken that first day, along with a few other new favorites—including a photo of a little Ugandan boy from Harvest Ministry’s Osanidde Village orphanage.
You are a home-schooling mom and have experience with children’s ministry. How has that contributed to the concept of Hand Commands?
Years ago, I was asked to teach a ten-week series about the Ten Commandments to the children at our home church. However, as I began to prepare, I realized that I actually didn’t know them all—especially in order. Eventually, I wracked my brain and finally came up with all ten in some random, hodge podge order, but I was very frustrated at myself—especially because I grew up in a wonderful godly family and rarely missed a day of church throughout my entire life. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t really know something as vitally important as the Ten Commandments; and over the years, I’ve found that many other God-fearing people are in this same situation. We discuss the importance of keeping God’s Ten Commandments visible in public places, yet we haven’t always kept them in our hearts. . . .
In my frustration, I earnestly asked God to help me create a visual method to remember the Ten Commandments in a way that I could easily teach kids—and I believe He helped me. As a long-time homeschooling mom, I’ve used these Hand Commands to teach my own seven children, and as a kids’ minister and international missionary, I’ve used them to help share about “sin” and our need for the Gospel. As a mother and a teacher . . . I enjoy children’s books that convey a sweet tenderness (especially those that share the love between a parent and a child), and I appreciate books that convey the spiritual capability in children to deeply love God. In writing Hand Commands, I attempted to convey both.
Will your book help children with different learning styles learn the Ten Commandments?
Yes! The book’s hand motions work well for visual learners, and also for those who benefit from kinesthetic activities. It’s geared for very young children, yet I’ve actually used these same hand motions to teach older children, teens, and even adults. The photos in the book are engaging, colorful, and vivid; the wording is simple, yet thought-provoking; and the hand motions are easy to remember. It’s just a little board book, but this concept for teaching the Ten Commandments really works!
Are you hoping that kids will also gain knowledge of the “spirit of the law” as well as knowledge of what they are?
Absolutely! It’s not enough to just know God’s laws in our head. Instead, God wants us to personally know HIM as our loving Heavenly Father and our closest Friend, and He wants us to want to follow His purposes for our lives. Through this little book, I hope both children and adults will sense my deep love for God and His Word, and that they will be encouraged to obey His commands.
Why did you design Hand Commands to have parental involvement?
As teachers and ministers, we can impact the lives of children in a profound way; however, we need to remember that God has actually given the primary child-training responsibility to the parents. When I share in church or school settings, I do my best to make a lasting difference; yet, I realize that my influence as a teacher is more temporary and limited than that of the children’s parents. One of my greatest passions is to inspire and encourage parents, because as moms and dads, they have the greatest potential (for good or for bad) to influence their children. If a parent commits to godly child training, that influence can continue day-after-day and year-after-year. It isn’t limited to school hours on Monday-through-Friday or to service times at church. A parent’s influence continues all throughout a child’s life and even—as future grandparents—into the next generation.
There’s something special that happens when a mommy snuggles up on the couch with her little one to read a godly children’s book, or when a daddy lifts his kids onto his lap to share from his heart about why he loves God.
Can Hand Commands be utilized in a school, Sunday school, or VBS setting? How?
I’ve shared these Hand Commands in many settings—in elementary schools, family camps, Vacation Bible schools, and in churches. They’re very quick and fun to learn, and easy for all ages to remember. Each hand motion is mentally connected to the “concept” of the commandment (not to our English words), so these motions can even be used in cross-cultural settings. They’ve worked in remote African villages and with hundreds of inner-city kids in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve used them to teach adult Bible college students and pastors (you’d be amazed at how rare it is to find people—even among faithful church goers—who can recite all Ten Commandments in order). These Hand Commands “connect” each commandment with its particular number so children and teachers can always remember them—both in and out of order. Quick! Do you know the sixth commandment? What about the third? As a Sunday school teacher, VBS leader, or elementary school teacher, the Ten Commandments are always appropriate, and with these easy-to-remember finger motions, a teacher will always have a quick “stash” of instant lessons (with ready-to-use “visuals” and hands-on student interaction) if a class time goes unexpectedly long. These Hand Commands can be reviewed quickly—at a moment’s notice—or a teacher can take time to expand upon each commandment.
How can parents help the Ten Commandments take root in their children’s hearts—not just their heads?
When I began to write this little book, the words, “Oh, how I love God’s law!” from Psalms 119:97 were ringing in my mind. I wanted to convey something much deeper than religious legalism with its “do’s” and “don’ts” and endless regulations. Instead, I wanted to convey—to both children and adults—an attitude of deep love for God and a heart desire to want to follow God’s word and His ways. Living for God is not just following rules or trying to not get caught when we do something sneaky. As parents and teachers, we should encourage children to live their whole lives (even when no one is looking) to bring God pleasure and glory. Jesus summed up all the law with just two commandments: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself”; but even these two simple rules could never be continually kept without God’s help. God gave His law to show us His will and how we’ve all missed it—and to reveal our desperate need for His salvation. In fact, that’s why Jesus came to die on the cross. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our disobedience to His laws. We’re all saved by God’s grace—not by merely “knowing” the rules in our heads and trying to keep them.
In Hand Commands, you use Proverbs 7:1, 3, which says, “My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands…bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” Why did you choose that verse?
I got so excited when I found this verse—and it actually served as a motivating Scripture that kept compelling me to share these Ten Commandment hand motions in a book form! This verse conveys the central theme of Hand Commands—of instilling in the hearts of our children a heart attitude that sees God’s Word and His commandments as incredibly precious. We all need to “treasure” God’s commands, and as parents and teachers, God wants us to convey this heart attitude with our children. I think it’s wonderful how God wrote His law—with His own great hand—on tablets of stone, and now He wants us to keep His law written on the “tablet” of our hearts. I also love how this verse says to “bind” God’s commands “on your fingers” because Hand Commands teaches finger motions to remember the Ten Commandments.
What is the one thing you hope Hand Commands accomplishes?
As with every area of my life, I hope Hand Commands will bring glory to God. I’d love to see the idea of these simple hand motions spreading like wildfire to help parents and ministers to teach the Ten Commandments—and to help share why we all need God’s salvation—because we’ve all fallen short of God’s laws. I also hope parents and teachers will catch my passionate love for God and His Word, and the importance of instilling this passion into the next generation.
Hand Commands
The Ten Commandments for Little Ones
By Ann Dunagan – Kregel Publications
Board book
“Oh, how I love God’s Law!”
“God’s mighty words He wrote on stone,
Carved with His own GREAT HANDS,
And with ten little fingers, you can learn
God’s mighty TEN COMMANDS!”
Original location of Ann’s interview with Kregel
A Review of Hand Commands by Eclectic HomeschoolingYou can find Hand Commands at:
Christianbook.com, Kregel Publications, and Amazon.com
FREE: M.A.P.S. for Kids – VBS Curriculum
July 9, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under FREE Resources
Looking for a mission-minded summer outreach idea . . . for your family, teenagers, home group, or children’s church? How about planning a backyard or neighborhood Vacation Bible School to share the Gospel and God’s heart for the world?
M.A.P.S. for KIDS!!!
As a special gift from Harvest Ministry, we would like to provide you with this FREE Vacation Bible School Curriculum.
This Bible-based kid-tested curriculum includes complete day-by-day instruction outlines. Throughout the week-long adventure, your kids will “travel” around the world (to Africa, Asia, Europe, India, and Latin America) on their own “M.A.P.S. for KIDS International Airlines” — through “Customs” with their own personal “Missionary Passports” (the program even has printable passport and visas!).
Best of all, your kids will learn to draw closer to God, to obey His awesome Word, and to follow Jesus all throughout their lives . . . to do whatever God says to do, to give whatever God says to give, and to go wherever God says to GO!
Click here to download the FREE 106-page curriculum
M.A.P.S. for KIDS!!!
A 5-Day Mission-Minded V.B.S. Curriculum
Each day includes . . .
- A different international theme
- A Bible memory verse and a mission-minded focus
- An easy object lesson
- A missionary monologue skit
- An easy craft idea
- An international mission-minded snack idea
- A fun outdoor missionary adventure
- Day-by-day instructions for six ministry training workshops to equip children in mission skills (such as puppetry, drama, music, or the EvangeCube).
- A concluding M.A.P.S. for KIDS Program
- Plus much more!
Be blessed! Have fun! (And if possible, let us know how it went!!!)
If you use this M.A.P.S. for KIDS curriculum, or any part of it, we would sure enjoy hearing how your program went. Let us know how you used the curriculum, where you live, and how many children were involved. Feel free to add positive feedback from anyone who was involved . . . or any helpful ideas. Our heart is to encourage and challenge children’s ministers, teachers, and parents to equip the next generation for world missions.
It’s easy to do, very effective, and best of all, it’s FREE!!!
Come take a look!
Here are a few highlight photos:
Making international crafts
For ASIA-DAY: Painted Oriental Lanterns and Fans
Learning to use chopsticks
The International Food Cafe
Outdoor Adventures: Setting up a “MISSIONS CAMP”
(Completed “CAMP” – (Notice the Bibles on the chairs!!!)
FREE Mission Resources for Your Family!
July 1, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under FREE Resources
At Harvest Ministry, we want to motivate you for missions – and help get your prepared, with your bags “packed-and-ready” for whatever God has planned!
(Also, check-out Ann’s books 
and other Mission-Minded Family Resources!!!)
Freebie #1
Take the 40-Day Mission-Minded FAMILY CHALLENGE!
FREE online mission class with Ann Dunagan – Click here!
In just 4-5 minutes per day you and your family will be encouraged to focus on God’s Great Commandment (to love God and love others) and God’s Great Commission. Progress a lesson a day – Monday through Friday – for eight weeks, or your own pace. Or gather a few families, and encourage others in the challenge!
“It’s eight weeks to becoming more effective . . . for eternity!”
Freebie #2
M.A.P.S. for KIDS! – Missions Adventure Preparation School
FREE Vacation Bible School Curriculum – Click here!
Take a week of the summer to train your church kids for missions! Your missionaries-in-training will “travel” on M.A.P.S. for KIDS International Airlines (with their own “passports”) and through customs officials to learn about the world and famous missionary heroes. They’ll taste international foods, experience daring adventures, make fun crafts, learn how to share the Gospel and pray for the lost, and get ministry training in perhaps puppetry, worship, drama, or how to use the EvangeCube!
“Missions is not just for missionaries! God’s call is for all!”
Freebie #3
Teaching With God’s Heart for the World
FREE 1-year day-by-day homeschool unit study curriculum – Click here!
While your kids are young, devote a year of your homeschooling commitment to establishing in your family a life-long foundational commitment to God’s Great Commission. This one or two-year study presents a whirlwind tour all-throughout-history and all-around-the-world. You will learn the importance of developing a personal devotional life with the Lord and how to develop more of God’s heart for the world and the lost.
“Impart God’s Heart . . . for the World!”
Freebie #4
FREE Homeschool Folder-Charts!
FREE tool to help kids be self-motivated in homeschool – Click here!
This helpful organizational tool is designed for use with the Teaching With God’s Heart for the World Curriculum (although it can also be used with your own curriculum). The feature article includes insight, based on 19 years of first-hand experience, about how to continue in your homeschooling commitment for the “long-haul” (if that’s what God wants for your family) by encouraging your children to become self-motivated and self-disciplined.
Freebie #5
FREE Mission “Passports”!
FREE craft project – to make “Mission-Minded” Passports – Click here!
A great learning tool. FREE PDF files and how-to instructions to make fun passport crafts to encourage children in missions, with a link to FREE coordinating international flag stickers.
Ann’s Books & Mission-Minded Resources
June 24, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under Mission-Minded Books
Books for Families and Children:
Click on each book cover for more information.
IMPACT FAMILIES FOR WORLD MISSIONS
The Mission-Minded Child and The Mission-Minded Family
Both books are now available in BOXES of 12 and CASES of 44 (TMMC) & 48 (TMMF)
to help you & your church or ministry to IMPACT families for MISSIONS!
Free Teaching Materials and Curriculum:
(Mission-Minded Curriculum for Homeschool Families, Churches, & Christian Schools)
Be sure to see all of our FREE Mission-Minded Family Resources!
Articles & Devotionals:
On-Line articles:
- @ Crosswalk.com – Training Teens On-Target – Part I
- @ Crosswalk.com – Training Teens On-Target – Part II
- @ Crosswalk.com – Striking Balance as a Mission-Minded Family
- @ Crosswalk.com – God Has a Mission for Your Family (By Whitney Hopler, featuring Ann’s book, The Mission-Minded Family)
- @ The Christian Post – “Better Parents, Better Families” – Ann is a regular feature writer for this national and international on-line news source.
- @ The International Faith Telegraph – World Christian News & Missions News – Ann has contributed several mission articles for this missions news source.
Example of Ann’s speaking and preaching:
- OCEANetwork – Homeschooling Workshop: “Playing the College Game – Winning Admissions and Scholarships . . . for God’s Glory!”
- OCEANetwork – Homeschooling Workshop: “The Mission-Minded Homeschool – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny”
FREE Homeschool Curriculum . . . and More!
June 10, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under FREE Resources
Teaching With God’s Heart for the World
By Ann Dunagan – Illustrated by Brenda Whitmeyer
Publisher: Family Mission-Vision EnterprisesAnn wrote this two-volume world missions curriculum (with over 500 pages) several years ago to assist homeschooling families and Christian educators (in both church settings and in Christian schools) to impart a fervent heart for world missions into the next generation.
The curriculum includes 160 day-by-day teaching plans, missionary highlights, motivational mission stories, crafts, songs, prayer projects, and hundreds of ways to incorporate a passion for the lost into nearly every subject (including Bible Study, Family Devotions, Reading, Writing, Geography, History, Art, Science, and even highlights for Math).
The curriculum presents a “whirlwind tour” of God’s enduring passion for missions, all-the-way-through-history and all-across-the-globe. Using weekly unit-studies, this curriculum is created to be used over a one-year school year, although it can be easily adapted to be used throughout two years. It can be used as a core curriculum guide (for elementary children), or as a supplement to another curriculum. It is written especially for elementary grade levels, but it can also be used for the whole family to study missions together.
Click here for a review on TWGHW by the Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Click here to download VOLUME 1 – Part 1 – FREE!!!
- FILE SIZE: 9.76 MB – 64 pages
- SECTION I – Welcome: Table of Contents, Dedication, Introduction, Suggested Weekly Schedule, Using the Library and Media.
- SECTION II – Building a Foundation for Missions: Our Call, Our Biblical Basis, Our Heritage, Our Missionary Examples
- FILE SIZE: 7.69 MB – 54 pages
- SECTION III – TOOLS FOR TEACHING: General Teaching Helps (with Bible Memory), Music and Missionary Songs, International Holidays,
- Teaching History (and making time lines), Geography and World Maps, Missionary Passport
FILE SIZE: 10.20 MB – 72 pages SECTION IV – DAILY LESSON PLANS: Week 1 – The Gospel We Preach and Personal Prayer, Weeks 2-3 – Our Biblical Basis for Missions (Old Testament – Israel, New Testament – Roman Empire) Weeks 4-7: Medieval Europe, Crusades and Holy Wars, Renaissance and Reformation, Exploration and Colonialization (NOTE: Day 1 is missing in the file. Please CLICK HERE for DAY 1.)
FILE SIZE: 9.57 MB – 64 pages SECTION IV (cont.) – Weeks 8-14: WORLD MISSIONS AROUND THE GLOBE – Western Europe (home of early missionaries), Eastern Europe (the iron curtain and open doors), North America, Quakers and Pilgrims (Thanksgiving Week), Latin America, Asia (Hinduism)
- FILE SIZE: 14.55 MB – 68 pages
- SECTION IV (cont.) – Weeks 15-16 : Far East Asia (Buddhism) and The 10/40 Window
- AVAILABLE MISSION RESOURCES – Extensive reviews and photos of many mission-minded family resources.
Click here to download VOLUME 2 – Part 1 – FREE!!!
- FILE SIZE: 12.93 MB – 72 pages
- Section 1
- FILE SIZE: 11.08 MB – 74 pages
- Section 2
- FILE SIZE: 10.49 MB – 64 pages
- Section 3
- FILE SIZE: 12.84 MB – 76 pages
- Section 4
- FILE SIZE: 16.87 MB – 72 pages
- Section 5
Note: If you’re searching for “Teaching With God’s Heart for the World” as a full curriculum in a two-volume spiral binding printed set, look here.
MORE HELP: Learn more about how you and your kids can make a FREE File-Folder Weekly To-Do Chart – to use with this Teaching With God’s Heart for the World curriculum -
What is a mission-minded child?
March 12, 2010 by Harvest Ministry
Filed under Mission-Minded Books
Follow CAELA’S 1st MISSION TRIP: MARCH – This month, mission-minded Caela Rose Dunagan (age 12) went on her first missionary adventure with her mom, Ann Dunagan . . . to UGANDA, E. AFRICA!!! Highlights included updates/checkups on over 700 children at Harvest Ministry’s two orphan ministries (Osanidde Village and Guma Na Yesu Children’s Center), sharing at several village churches, and ministering at an African Women’s Conference.
Read Caela’s personal mission updates on our twitter-feed (or see the side bar right here on this website for recent entries) -#CaelaOnMission.
A mission-minded child may want to become a missionary–or a teacher or a doctor or a newspaper reporter or a state governor or a pastor or a businessperson or an airplane pilot or an author or a florist or a mother–as long as its what God wants.
The following excerpt is a highlight from the introduction of The Mission-Minded Child – Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose (Authentic, 2007). Hope you enjoy it!
So, what is a mission-minded child?
A mission-minded child . . .
- dreams of fulfilling God’s destiny.
- prays for that next-door neighbor.
- A mission-minded child may want to become a missionary–or a teacher or a doctor or a newspaper reporter or a state governor or a pastor or a businessperson or an airplane pilot or an author or a florist or a mother–as long as its what God wants.
- is not a picky eater!
- takes home a photo magnet from the visiting missionary family and puts it on the kitchen refrigerator.
- is healthy, active, and adventurous.
- spends a summer night sleeping outside on the trampoline, gazes up at a sky filled with twinkling stars, and realizes God’s plan is infinitely bigger than his or her own backyard.
- imagines rollerblading on the Great Wall of China!
- recognizes the names of David Livingstone, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, and Loren Cunningham.
- knows how to use chopsticks.
- has a reputation for thoroughly enjoying the Bible sword drills and memory verse contests at church.
- puts extra money in the monthly missions offering and feels extra good inside.
- thinks it could be fun to sleep in a mud hut in Africa!
- reads all the way through the Bible by the age of ten (or eleven or twelve)–and is excited to start again!
- stares at the photos in the new geography textbook or magazine and imagines climbing to the top of that Egyptian pyramid, snorkeling in those tropical-blue waters, and giving a new outfit to that poor boy with the ripped-up shirt.
- befriends the new kid at school.
- thinks beyond the “box” of what’s merely expected and hopes to do something big, or something little, for God.
- wants to obey (even when no one is looking).
- loves Jesus!
For Christian parents and teachers, “world missions” is not just an extracurricular subject to teach our kids, it’s the core of our curriculum. Let’s raise the next generation to have a passion for God’s Great Commission. As Hudson Taylor (a famous missionary to China) often said, “The Great Commission is not an option to consider, it’s a command to obey.”
And how about adding to our list!!! How are you raising your children to have God’s heart for the world and His Great Commission, and in your childrens lives (in day-to-day routines and in your “where-the-rubber-meets-the-road” reality) what is it like to be a genuine mission-minded child in your experience?
Now it’s your turn:
A mission-minded child . . .
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