In the Zone!

This week we have a special guest blogger visiting the Café! Ashley Alden is not only a fellow instructor of teachers, she is also the CEF Wonderzone.com Coordinator! We’ve asked Ashley to tell us a little about Wonderzone.com, how we can use it in our training ministries and how we can be involved ourselves.

Hello there, fellow IOT! I am delighted to be able to share with you this week! My name is Ashley Alden and right now God has me working at CEF International Headquarters as the Wonderzone.com Coordinator in the International Ministries department. I’d like to share with you today about the AMAZING discipleship tool of Wonderzone.com so that you can give this information to your teachers, as well as consider becoming involved yourself!

Wonderzone.com, the online discipleship ministry of CEF, is an interactive, fun, exciting Web site where kids can learn more about God and be discipled in their walk with Him! Wonderzone.com features games, e-cards (called Wonder Cards), daily devotionals from the Wonder Devotional Book, and a series of adventures! These adventures are the “heart” of Wonderzone.com. The adventures can be one-level or multi-level, and each one teaches the child truths about God and His Word through flash graphics, games, and devotionals.

When a child completes an adventure on Wonderzone.com, his answers to the devotionals are sent to the message center, where a very special volunteer, called a “Trail Guide,” will answer that message. The Trail Guide corrects the answers from the child, prays for any requests, and encourages that child in his or her walk with God.

Our Trail Guides get to read all kinds of messages from the children that touch their hearts. Here are just a few:

"Are Jeses and god the same thing? If you ask god for forgiveness and he forgives you before he punishes you will he still punish you? I hope to hear from you soon."

"I fell very embarrassed to ask the question, "How do I know if I'm going to heaven?" ...whenever anybody asks me I say I think I do...but I feel guilty because I'm pretty sure God would like me to know and I'm avoing the fact that I don't. Can you please tell me how to get to heaven and how I know I will go to heaven. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedual to talk/write to me."

"I just believed in Jesus on this website."

"I want ALL trailguides to know i like it here at wz. there arent very many christian websites for children like this one i totaly appriciate this website."

"I love this place. I think it's the coolest website ever."

"I love these WZ adventures! They are really bringing me closer to Christ!!"

Imagine getting to respond to comments like these! It’s no wonder our Trail Guides love their ministry! Read what some of them have said:

"It has been a real blessing for me to interact with kids through the WZ. I try to get on line every day, if possible."

"It is always a challenge to respond to a student, and I always ask God to guide me. We never know how what we say will impact someone, and everyone needs to be encouraged. I enjoy doing the Adventures, too! They are well written, with good, colorful graphics and fun games."

"Another way Wonderzone has impacted me are the challenging questions. I have always shied away from answering anyone’s challenging spiritual questions because I thought I didn't know the Bible, but now I enjoy answering these challenges. It makes me research the Bible more. In fact, I have begun writing down these questions so I can research and tell future children. "

One advantage to being a Trail Guide is the flexibility of this ministry. Trail Guides can disciple kids online ANYTIME—there is no specific time commitment, no specific place and no specific time to “report for duty!” It’s a perfect fit in today’s busy schedules.

Wonderzone.com is a powerful tool for discipleship of today’s kids! They are online—so that’s where we want to be! There were over 2,400 log-ins to Wonderzone.com in the past week. Since November 2008, over 36,000 lessons were completed online. And Wonderzone.com is not just about discipleship. Since November 2008, there have been 133 professions of faith on the Web site!

Will you tell your TCE students about Wonderzone.com? Will you commit to telling kids you know about this exciting discipleship tool? Will you consider being a Trail Guide—giving some of your time to disciple kids online?

Come visit us at: http://www.wonderzone.com/, and see what all the excitement is about! If you, or one of your teachers, are interested in becoming a Trail Guide, visit http://www.disciplekids.org/. For more resources on promoting Wonderzone.com, please email me at: ashley.alden@cefonline.com.

Thanks Ashley for giving us a glimpse of Wonderzone.com. We are so grateful to Ashley and all of the Trail Guides for the great work they are doing to disciple children online. Be sure to share this information with your TCE students and encourage them to direct the children in their clubs to Wonderzone.com!