Every year since its launch, we celebrate—alongside our partner YouVersion—the anniversary of the Bible App for Kids. And every year, we are amazed to see how many kids and their families the app has impacted.
Since it first hit the App Store, God’s hand has clearly been on this app, growing its reach and scope beyond our wildest imaginings! I was reflecting a little on the goals we had in mind when we first started developing the Bible App for Kids:
- We knew we needed a digital tool to boost Scripture engagement
- We knew we wanted to be able to take God’s Word to places it had never gone before—be it the corners of cyberspace or across borders into countries where physical copies of the God’s Word are not allowed
- We knew there was a gap in Scripture engagement for the younger ages (3-5) of the children we are trying to reach
But looking back, we see now how much we didn’t know and couldn’t possibly have predicted. We had no idea that the Bible App for Kids was going to unlock an entirely new demographic for ministry: VERY young children.
We were shocked to hear how many children ages 2 and younger have been requesting, downloading, or playing the app entirely on their own!
[Tweet “Kids 2 years and younger download and play the @BibleAppforKids entirely on their own!”]Why is that important?
For a generation of digital natives where information is always at their fingertips, our children are being confronted with higher-level thinking and content at younger and younger ages. They are surrounded by incoming messaging, with 24/7 access via handheld devices from the time they are able to hold an iPhone in front of their face (even if they can’t sit up yet!)
The good news is that Bible App for Kids is right there, offering Scripture content alongside any other app they might engage with. We could never have expected that app usage would surge among kids ages 1-3, but we are grateful as we think about the implications this content will have on their lives at such an impressionable age.
Bible App for Kids is just one tool, and I am sure there will be many more to come. But this Biblical mandate to shepherd our children from a young age will not change. Let’s recommit ourselves to building spiritual formation and faith development starting in nursery-preschool, and feed our kids from the richness of God’s Word so that in adulthood they will have the foundation they need for whatever comes their way.
[Tweet “The Biblical mandate to shepherd our children from a young age has not changed, but technology has changed how we do it.”]
DID YOU KNOW?
The Bible App for Kids is now available in 24 languages! More being added all the time!
On a typical day, over 150,000 people open the Bible App for Kids on their device!
Over 35 countries are experiencing triple-digit growth in monthly installs!
The Bible App for Kids Storybook Bible is now being sold and distributed in Latin America!
Related:
This changes everything: Bible App for Kids
What if our kids’ first Bible is an app?
Behind the scenes: The Bible App for Kids