There are many Scripture passages and stories in the Bible where people went on long trips and journeys. They stopped at night and camped along their journeys.

We set up a tent in the early childhood classroom during camping week at summer camp. See the lesson and pictures here.

We can do a similar environment in church classes as well. Read and talk about people in the Bible who set up camp on their long journeys:

Exodus 13: The Israelites journey out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. They were instructed to follow the cloud by day and the fire by night. When the cloud or fire moved, they were to move. When those two things stopped, they were to stop and set up camp.

Also read Numbers 8: The Cloud above the tent.

Talk about the story of Aquila and Priscilla who were tentmakers. Acts 18.

Talk about the Wilderness Tent. Numbers 1.

Talk about the Tabernacle tent. See a picture of it here.

There are many fun Bible stories to tell while enjoying a week of camping out at church or a weekday church preschool class.

I received The Story for Children: A Storybook Bible from The DeMoss Group to review.

The book is published by Zonderkidz of Zondervan. The Story features trade books by New York Times best-selling author Max Lucado and Oak Hills Church teaching pastor Randy Frazee.

This book is geared towards children ages 4-7 and would be a great addition to curricula and lesson plans for Sunday school, preschool and early education classes, and family devotion times.

It is important to remember the book is a storybook Bible and not the complete Bible. Remember to use it in addition to the complete Bible.

The pictures are beautiful telling the stories in the Bible, starting with the creation story and going all the way through the Bible to the Revelation. The book is divided into 31 chapters.

At the end of each chapter, there is a portion on the page called God’s Message. This is a Scripture passage from the Bible about each particular story and image.

I received The Story for Kids: Discover the Bible from Beginning to End from The DeMoss Group to read and review.

The book is published by Zonderkidz of Zondervan. The Story features trade books by New York Times best-selling author Max Lucado and Oak Hills Church teaching pastor Randy Frazee.

The 251-page book has 31 chapters. Chapter 1 begins with the Genesis creation story. The story is not divided into chapters and verses as in the actual Bible. It is written in the form of a story. The story goes from one paragraph to another in an easy-to-read format.

The chapters following chapter one’s creation story tells the other familiar stories in the beginning of the Old Testament, all in the form of a story for easy reading as well.

Chapter 22 begins the stories of the New Testament with the story of the birth of Jesus. The chapters following Jesus’ birth chapter are also written as stories, telling of His life and adventures and ministry.

The final chapter, chapter 31, tells the story of the Book of Revelation. This chapter is written on a child’s level in the form of a story.

Each chapter includes three discussion questions at the end of the reading. These questions would be great starters to Christian education lesson plans and daily devotions. Children can think about the content they have read and how it applies to their everyday lives and situations.

The book is geared towards children ages 9-12 and would be a great addition to lesson plans for church, children’s worship, Sunday school, Christian schools and preschools as well as family devotion times.

It is important to remember that the book is a book of Bible stories, not the complete Bible. Use the book in addition to and not in place of the Bible.

In our Bible study we have been studying the Book of Revelation. We are up to chapter 16 where we read about The Bowls of God’s Anger. There were seven angels who poured out seven bowls of God’s anger on the Earth (16:1).

There is a similarity in these bowls with the plagues of the Egyptian people when Moses and Aaron were trying to get Pharaoh to let God’s people go out of slavery. See the blog posts on the Egyptian plagues. Here is a link to the blog post on the plague of boils.

The first angel left and poured out his bowl on the land. Then ugly and painful sores came upon all those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his idol. All those non-believers/non-Christians suffered with the boils/sores on their bodies.

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The water became bad and was no longer suitable for living things or for healthy drinking water. And people must have water to live.

The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and he was given power to burn the people with fire. They were burned by the great heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these disasters.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and darkness covered its kingdom. People gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates so that the water in the river was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come.

It is interesting to read about the plagues coming up in Scripture years and years later.