Visitors interact with God's Word in the ABS Atrium in New York City. Photo credit: Ben Leaman

Around 4 million children will be born in the United States this year. They will enter a world that is being transformed by technology. Toddlers now color with iPads instead of crayons and coloring books. For elementary students, laptops are replacing paper and pencils. Teenagers rely on smart phones to interact with the people and places around them.

But despite such drastic change, one thing has stayed the same: the importance of reaching the next generation with God's Word. That's why American Bible Society is reaching out to children and teens with tools that foster Bible engagement in formats that make sense in their technology-driven culture.

“It's like translating the Bible into a new language, and that new language is technology, taking shape through countless new, emerging formats,” says Gail Martin, who manages ABS' social media team. When youth engage with God's Word through mediums they are familiar with, they are more open to experiencing its life-changing message.

It is critically important to reach out to the next generation through the technology they access every day.

“There are 2.3 billion children on earth between ages 4 and 14,” says Margi McCombs, who brings years of experience from children's ministry at Northland Church in Orlando, Fla., to her role as children's ministry specialist with ABS. “That represents the largest unreached people group in the world. The imperative for reaching children with the Bible and the story of Jesus is critical.”

And ABS is on the forefront of this effort, working to reach the next generation through age-appropriate and culturally relevant methods.

Beginning at the Beginning

Brian Sherry, executive director of ABS' Scripture Provision team, knows that Bible engagement is a process that children can begin early. That's why he and his team began exploring ways that new technology could engage audiences at an even younger age.

They took the concept of Bible Now, a children's Bible developed by ABS, and transformed it into a digital app called Bible Adventures for Kids. The end result, which will be released this summer, allows children ages 4 through 7 to interact with Bible stories on digital tablets, including iPads, the Kindle Fire and mobile devices.

“We know at this age children's attention span is limited,” says Theresa Dionisio, a member of Sherry's team. “This is a new way that we can engage the attention of children in an age range that we couldn't reach with print books.”

Through the Bible Adventures for Kids app, kids can play games and engage with interactive features associated with each Bible story as they read the text. In the story of Daniel and the lion's den, children can touch each lion and hear a different snoring sound. In David and Goliath, they help David throw the stone at Goliath on the screen.

The app, which will be available in English and Spanish, also has a read-along option for beginning readers.

Helping children understand biblical concepts is important in their journey to engaging with Scripture, explains McCombs. She once spoke with the parent of a Sunday school student who had learned about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. When the child came home, he wanted to take action on what he'd learned. So he washed the feet of his mom, his dad, the dog and the cat.

For that child, the Bible story became real. And that is the ultimate goal: to use technology to make the Bible real.

“This app is an excellent resource for children to engage with God's Word through an interactive and fun experience that increases Bible literacy,” Sherry says.

For many children, digital engagement is an experience that happens every day. Photo credit: Andrew Hood

New Mediums, New Opportunities

ABS is also creating an online Bible game for children ages 8 through 12 in partnership with Scripture Union in England and Wales. The game, designed to be compelling for children who are used to interacting on the digital screen, will introduce them to the Bible's message and help them understand how it applies to their lives.

The idea, explains John Mark Mitchell, director of Digital Media at ABS, is to encourage children to interact with the message of Scripture in order to build a foundation for life-long faith. Research indicates that a growing percentage of children have access to the technology used by their parents, including iPads, Mitchell says. It's crucial that ABS step in to use that opportunity to help children engage with Scripture.

“When I was a child in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School, a flannel graph, puppet show or video might be used to gain the attention of kids. Today, the iPad is the functional equivalent,” Mitchell says.

And this new medium creates new opportunities.

“What separates the digital delivery from the analog methods of old is that we are no longer constrained by the physical bounds of time and location — we can reach children right where they are, be that a desk in their living room, their mobile device in the playground or their parents' iPad as they trek across the country on a family vacation,”
Mitchell says.

Next Generation Now

But the importance of Bible engagement doesn't stop when a child graduates from elementary school. Tom Trageser, who works with ABS' Bible Engagement for Youth initiative, is passionate about continuing to build upon that foundation of Scripture engagement as children progress into their teenage and young adult years.

Trageser and the Bible Engagement for Youth team, which includes Bible Society of Australia, Scripture Union International and Scripture Union in South Australia and England and Wales, are exploring how to help youth interact with Scripture in ways that are meaningful to their lifestyle and culture.

He emphasizes that it's important to first understand how youth learn and internalize belief. Part of the key to the initiative will be to work alongside youth leaders and ministry organizations on the ground, who interact with teens on a daily basis.

Youth want to be a part of a movement, explains Dr. John Edgar Caterson, director of Church Ministries at ABS. They will listen to honest and relevant
voices. Bible Engagement for Youth will work through these ministry networks to reach teens and young adults through interactive and engaging mediums so that at the end of the day, the Bible will be a meaningful force in their lives.

At headquarters in New York City, the new ABS Atrium is designed to draw visitors, including many youth, to engage with interactive Bible displays. One mother brought her son to the ABS Atrium. Although she and her husband did not know much about the Bible, her son had started to attend church. So she brought him
to the ABS Atrium to look at Bibles with him and learn more.

Ultimately, McCombs says, reaching all ages within the next generation with God's Word will affect the whole of society. “Children are a critical part of the church,” she says. “It's not that they are going to become the church. They are the church right now.”

Jennica Stevens is managing editor of Record.