Bible KidVentures: Stories of Danger and Courage
2016 Jeanne Gowen Dennis and Sheila Seifert
A Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
Focus on the Family and the accompanying logo and designs are federally registered trademarks of Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.
TYNDALE and Tyndales quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise marked, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of Focus on the Family.
Cover design by Beth Sparkman
Cover illustration copyright Rick Fairlamb/Astound. All rights reserved.
Interior illustrations by Ron Adair
These books were originally published in 2003 as separate books:
Deadly Expedition (ISBN 978-0-7814-3897-1), Trapped! (ISBN 978-0-7814-3898-8),
Attack! (ISBN 978-0-7814-3894-0), and Escape! (ISBN 978-0-7814-3895-7).
For manufacturing information regarding this product, please call 1-800-323-9400.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this title can be found at www.loc.gov.
ISBN 978-1-58997-865-2
ISBN 978-1-62405-680-2 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-62405-681-9 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-62405-679-6 (Apple)
Build: 2016-09-28 11:10:12
To my wonderful grandchildren, Emma, Noah, and Lucy. Im so grateful to God for you.
JEANNE DENNIS
To Glen, Jeshua, Nick, and Austin
Thanks for the adventure of family; Im privileged to be a part of yours.
SHEILA SEIFERT
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
Have you ever wanted to witness the Red Sea opening or the walls of Jericho falling? This collection of stories takes you into the middle of the action of exciting Bible events.
In each story, you are the main character. What happens is up to you! Through your choices, you can receive great rewards, get into big trouble, or even lose your life.
Your goal is to choose well and survive.
Start at the beginning of each story. Each time you are faced with a choice, make a decision. Then follow the instructions, and turn to the correct page to see what happens next. Youll be flipping pages, but thats part of the fun!
When youre done with one story, you can always start over again at the beginning. There are lots of possibilities packed into each adventure and many different endings.
Remember, you make the decisions. See if you can survive the dangers, and have courage no matter what happens!
Your adventure begins now.
The Egyptians are coming! Help us! Moses, help us!
Everyone around you is screaming. You stand up on a cart to see over the heads of thousands of people around youabout six hundred thousand men and lots more women and children. In the distance you see a cloud of dust. Could it be Pharaohs army? Only a couple of days ago, Pharaoh let you and all the other Israelite slaves go free. Why would he have changed his mind?
Your younger sisters, Mary and Mariah, are screaming. They are identical twins with identical high-pitched shrills. They sound a lot younger than their ten years.
Thats enough, your father says.
They cover their mouths with their hands, but their eyes remain large. You know that their hearts are probably beating as rapidly as yours. You strain your eyes to see in the distance as your mother tries to quiet your baby brother, Kilion. He is screaming, not from fear, but because he loves to yell.
You look back at the cloud of dust on the distant horizon, then in the opposite direction at the Red Sea. Your hands feel clammy. There is nowhere to go! Your escape route is blocked by water!
Now what? you ask.
Moses must have a plan, your mother says. He wouldnt bring us here to die. You hear uncertainty in her voice. She hands you a crust of bread, the last of the bread that she baked at your home in Egypt. It is stale, almost without taste, but you gnaw on it as the others in your family struggle to eat their pieces of bread.
A man shouts to Moses, Why did you bring us all the way into the desert to die? Didnt Egypt have enough graves?
A woman adds, It would have been better to remain slaves in Egypt than to die out here.
Mary and Mariah begin to scream again in their high-pitched voices, Were going to die! Were going to die!
CHOICE ONE: If you agree with your sisters and begin yelling, .
CHOICE TWO: If you tell your sisters to be quiet so you can hear what Moses is saying, .
Your father leans forward toward a friend. Can you tell what Moses is saying?
I sent Esau to the front, the friend says. Hell tell us.
You watch Moses until he has finished talking. Then you spot Esau in the crowd, weaving his way back to his family at a run. He has been your best friend since you were little.
When he gets close, his father yells, Well? What did he say? How are we supposed to escape?
Esau holds up a hand and tries to catch his breath. The cloud of dust behind you from the approaching chariots is enormous, darkening the entire horizon.
He told us to stand firm and watch to see how God delivers us, Esau answers. He said that the Lord would fight for us, and we need only to be still.
Your mother shakes her head. Then thats that. She does not stop Kilion from yelling. Your father looks away. Mary and Mariah scream.
Esaus father scoffs. Ive seen how God provides. He points to the welts on his back. Ive seen it my whole life.
You have welts, too, from being beaten. Your muscles still ache from bending over to make Egyptian bricks these last several years. Why did you believe Moses? When he talked about taking everyone to the Promised Land, you had such high hopes. You dreamed of being free and having plenty to eat. You wonder how you ever thought you could get to the land flowing with milk and honey.
Is all hope lost? you ask to no one in particular as you step down from the cart.
Your father puts his arm around your shoulders and says, I dont know. God did send plagues of frogs, locusts, and blood-filled water to our enemies.
Your mother adds, And He punished the Egyptians by killing their firstborn sons. They look at each other as if trying to believe. You turn away from your family and look at the pillar-like cloud that shows God is with you. The screams around you are increasing. Pharaohs army is drawing nearer.
CHOICE ONE: If you wait to see how God provides, .
CHOICE TWO: If you take matters in your own hands, .
I think we should listen to Moses, you tell your mother and give her what you hope is an encouraging smile. Its going to be okay. Your mother nods but then bites her top lip and looks down.