Boomerang Express VBS 2009 Worship Rally Review

Lifeway's The Boomerang Express VBS 2009 Worship Rally DVD has been a great asset for our church's VBS and beyond.

Worship Rally Video Segments

The kids act a bit silly as they introduce listeners to Australia and Israel. It think it is a great idea to have kids to do this part, and they made an effort to incorporate humor while teaching about the Outback.

Music Demonstration

This segment breaks down the VBS songs into smaller pieces and teaches hand motions for various words in the songs. The filming was done in Australia, and it seemed very natural. One song in particular had a segment at the end picking on the guy's accent. Frankly, I had not even noticed the pronunciation of the word, probably because I am from the South. I liked learning about the history of the making of the songs and it helped quite a bit to practice in smaller segments first.

Music Video

This section puts the music, words, and motions all together. The kids at our church enjoyed these songs and still are. I thought some of the motions were a bit difficult for the youngest kids, but I was surprised to see that even a 3-year-old in our group actually remembered a lot of the motions. We have continued to use this DVD with our children's ministries, and the kids that missed VBS are quickly catching up and enjoying the songs too. Here are the songs:

• Boomerang Express--This is the main theme song that tries to get the kids excited about the VBS theme and how "it all comes back to Jesus."
• Gonna Follow You--This was one of the more difficult songs for the kids who cannot read yet because it spells a lot of the words in the song. It is upbeat and has lots of fun actions.
• This Is Why--This one mentions a lot of Jesus's miracles and was my 5-year-old's favorite.
• Because--This one has beautiful lyrics speaking about admitting sin and coming to God but the motions didn't seem to do it justice.
• Workin' On My Serve--Sports fans really liked this one. It is based on the idea that we often do things that we wish we didn't and then don't do things we should.
• All Things--This reminds kids that we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I thought it was a bit strange that the Boomerang Express CD has a song that is not on the DVD (Yes to VBS!)

Missions Segments

This section includes five short clips of various types of hands-on missions, such as a cowboy church, and shows how people can effectively worship in various styles.

ABCs of Becoming a Christian

This section talks about how people can come to know Christ.

Scenic Footage of Australia

My Viewpoint:

The Boomerang Express VBS 2009 Worship Rally DVD proved to be a lot of fun in teaching the kids about Christ in a new and exciting way. The music with hand motions was particularly engaging to the kids at our church. We did not use the video for anything other than the music during VBS but have played some of the other parts at other times. I particularly like hands-on learning and tend to try to stay away from videos and movies when teaching if I can because it seems like kids get too much of TV anyway. However, the music and hand motions does involve the kids, and even the very young ones can learn and sing too.