Sunday School introduces us to the stories of the Bible. Through Verbum Aeternum, Mateo steps inside them.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. — Deuteronomy 6:7 (KJV)
When I was a boy, Sunday School was an important part of my life.
Although, if I'm remembering correctly, my enthusiasm may have had as much to do with maintaining a perfect attendance record and collecting reward tickets as it did with learning the Bible.
Those tickets could be saved and exchanged for prizes. In fact, I believe that's how I acquired my very first Bible.
Looking back, I suppose that's rather fitting.
I was collecting tickets to earn a Bible, never imagining that decades later I would write stories about a boy who could actually step inside one.
The Stories We Remember
I suspect many parents and grandparents have memories similar to mine.
We learned about Noah and the Ark, Abraham's journey into an unfamiliar land, and the Tower of Babel. We listened to our teachers, studied colorful illustrations, and tried to remember the answers to questions about the week's lesson.
Some of those stories stayed with us for a lifetime.
But as I began writing Mateo and the Secrets of the Eternal Word, I found myself asking a different kind of question.
What if a child could go beyond hearing the story?
What if he could experience it?
Stepping Into the Story
Imagine standing beside Noah while he builds an enormous wooden vessel, listening to the pounding of hammers and the laughter of neighbors who cannot understand why he believes God.
Or traveling with Abraham's caravan, feeling the heat of the sun, hearing the camels complain, and sharing an evening meal with people whose names we recognize from Genesis.
Those are the experiences I wanted Mateo to have.
Through Verbum Aeternum, the extraordinary Bible at the heart of the series, Mateo doesn't simply read about biblical history.
He steps into it.
He meets people, develops friendships, asks questions, and discovers that the individuals we read about in Scripture were real people who faced difficult decisions, experienced fear and uncertainty, and learned to trust God.
And sometimes, the lessons Mateo discovers thousands of years in the past help him understand challenges in his own life.
More Than a Sunday School Lesson
I have great respect for the teachers who devote their time to helping children understand the Bible. Sunday School gave me a foundation that has remained with me throughout my life.
My books aren't intended to replace those lessons.
Quite the opposite.
My hope is that a young reader will finish one of Mateo's adventures and become curious enough to open a Bible and read the original account.
Perhaps a child who has heard the story of Noah many times will begin wondering what it was really like to live among the people who laughed at him.
Perhaps Abraham's journey will become more than a familiar story about a man who obeyed God.
And perhaps those stories will begin to feel a little closer to home.
A Bible That Keeps Opening Doors
I still smile when I think about those Sunday School tickets.
At the time, I was probably more interested in earning enough of them to take home a prize than in considering how important that Bible might become.
Yet here I am, many years later, writing adventures inspired by the very stories I first encountered as a child.
And now, instead of collecting tickets, I'm hoping to encourage a new generation of young readers to discover the treasures waiting inside Scripture.
Because sometimes the most memorable lessons begin in a Sunday School classroom.
And sometimes, through the pages of a book, the classroom becomes a whole new world.
