Brinkman Adventures (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Have your kids ever wished they could travel to far away places and have some amazing journeys? What if those journeys involved missionary work? I know my kids often wish we could just pick up and go to places like Scotland and France, or even just to another state.  Being stuck in the desert where there's nothing but sand and Joshua trees, there's just not a lot of opportunities for exciting adventures, or to get involved in giving to the less fortunate, much less an actual mission trip.

Thankfully, we do have the opportunity to explore new places, experience the excitement of adventure and learn about serving others through Christ in our own living room with audio adventures.  These last few weeks, the kids have been enjoying "traveling" to places like Russia and Cambodia with the Brinkman family with their latest release, Brinkman Adventures Season 4 from Brinkman Adventures. 

About Brinkman Adventures

Produced by non-profit, non-denominational Beachglass ministries, the Brinkman Adventures is a radio show that transforms true stories about real life missionaries into fictional stories revolving around the Brinkman family. 

Currently, in their 5th season, these stories are told through the adventures of a family of missionaries as they travel through remote parts of the world spreading the word of God and providing assistance to those in need.   Brinkman Adventures offers these collections in Seasons of 12 audio recordings each as either 4 CD sets or as downloadable recordings, equaling over 5 hours per season. 

Season 4 contains the following 12 episodes:

37 A Paradise Lost
38 Remember Nhu
39 Aisha’s Fear
40 Heart Song
41 The Crashed Kitchen
42 Crisis In The Congo
43 The Mysterious Palm Feller
44 War of the Raccoons
45 The Five Guys
46 Toughest Man
47 Cambodian Quest
48 What Brings Us Together

As mentioned, many of these stories are based on the real works of modern missionaries. This season features stories inspired by the lives of Dr. Nik Ripken, Carl Ralston and Glen and Rita Chapman among others. 

What We Thought

Our family was already familiar with the Brinkman family as we had previously reviewed Season 3 two years ago, which myself and my oldest daughter thoroughly enjoyed. Season 4 proved to be even better in my opinion and the kids seemed to agree. This time around, even the two littles really enjoyed listening to these adventures and were on the edge of their seats each time we played one of the episodes.  They also really enjoyed the younger characters, Peter and Charlie. 

Because we were given digital copies of the episodes, we easily loaded those into our Amazon music library and were able to play them on our Echo during our lunch break.  This allowed all members of the family to sit together for roughly 30 minutes each day listening to one episode while we enjoyed our lunch. 

While I won't tell you about each episode (I wouldn't want to spoil the stories for you), my favorite episode had to be the final episode, What Brings Us Together.  This episode sees daughter Michelle and her fiance, Anthony, as they approach their wedding vows. But anything that can go wrong does go wrong, including exploding turkeys and the father of the bride, Mr. Brinkman being arrested for armed robbery.  This particular story struck a chord with me personally, as my own wedding seemed to have so many mishaps (luckily, nobody was arrested) and my husband and I found ourselves thanking the Lord that our wedding wasn't quite as unfortunate as Michelle and Andrew's.  

My kids really enjoyed the episodes that Nhu, a young teenage Cambodian girl who was sold into slavery by her family.  Even better, Nhu in the recordings is played by the actual girl the stories are based upon.  We also really enjoyed Aishas Fear which told the story of a young woman married to a terrible shopkeeper who is prejudice against Christians. However, when her husband becomes ill, it is a Christian doctor (whom the husband had previously thrown out of his store) who brings the story of the Good Samaritan to life. 

In addition to the recordings, the Brinkman Adventures Website proves to be a useful supplemental tool where listeners can then learn about the real people each story is based on, including photographs and fun facts.  

One thing I really like is that there are some great lessons to be learned from each lesson, making them a great tool for Character lessons.  From facing fears, persevering, remaining strong in your faith, and listening to God's voice, each episode tackles a different them that the listener can learn from and apply to their own lives and become stronger in the Christian faith. 

Brinkman Adventures Season 4 can be purchased either in the 4 CD format for $31.99 or as a digital download like we reviewed for $25.99. 

You can find out more about Brinkman Adventures through their website or on their Facebook page.