How can I use the Stranger VideoBook with Worldview Rethink?

Question:

Dear GoodSeed,

After seeing the book The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus recommended by DA Carson in his book, “The God Who is There,” I quickly began to look for it. I found your website recently and have been looking into it. I bought both the Rethink Worldview Curriculum Box and The Stranger VideoBook. I am one of several pastors at a fairly large church and am always looking for material to teach the basics of Christianity. Most of our new visitors have very little religious background (most have never opened a Bible at all) and are somewhat skeptical of Christianity. A couple of questions about material:

1. Have The Stranger VideoBook and the Worldview Rethink curriculum been put together by anyone? Could they be incorporated in any way? I may try to tie them together, but didn’t want to reinvent wheel if I didn’t have to.

2. I noticed that I was missing the “Why?” DVD. I saw the note inside about working on this DVD but I had the other 3 and just wanted to make sure it was not an error.  If it is still in production is there any ETA on the “Why?” DVD.

Thanks for all your work. I look at several Bible studies every year and this one is laid out and packaged well. The beginning instructions are easy to read and follow. I will send a review once I have been through material.

 

Answer:

Hi Pastor,

The Worldview Rethink Course is versatile. It can be taught using The Stranger, All the Prophets or By This Name. However, we only have the Leader’s Guide available for “The Stranger” at this time.  Like the “Why?” DVD, the other Leader’s Guides are being worked on and we hope to release them by the end of this year. (Editor’s note: Leader’s Guides for all three books are now available.)

The Curriculum Box you purchased is designed for the kind of situation you are describing in your church. We recommend using the material in one of two ways.

1. You can take people through The Stranger VideoBook. If you do, it is helpful to do reviews using the visual aids from Worldview Rethink and to get participants to fill in the Companion Workbook. This helps you check their comprehension. Keep in mind your audience if using just the VideoBook. Some are unable to sit for long periods watching a screen so use of the visual aids and workbook will help.

2. You can teach The Stranger following the instructions in the Leader’s Guide from the Curriculum Box you purchased. The Leader’s Guide includes an Interactive DVD and explains both how to use these video clips as well as the visual aids. Among its numerous helps, the guide also explains how to get participants involved in the lessons through dynamic reading.

Please note: A second Interactive DVD is included in the back of The Stranger Interactive Edition which is meant for the student. This Interactive DVD contains 110 video clips extracted from The Stranger VideoBook. As well, three sets of visual aids are available: The Basic ToolBox, The Intermediate ToolBox and The Advanced ToolBox. When using the visual aids, the Leader’s Guide explains how to use them and the Interactive DVD also shows them in use. Watching the DVD first will help you become familiar with the visual aids.

So in short, The Stranger VideoBook is already integrated into the Worldview Rethink curriculum. You can teach with or without the Interactive DVD, depending on your situation. Think of the participants who will be attending the class and decide if they will benefit from seeing the leader use visual aids or from watching video clips or a combination of both. The curriculum gives you that flexibility.

May God bless your efforts to ground your church in the gospel.

Sincerely,

The GoodSeed team