It’s no surprise that our family loves audios. We frequently have “listening lunches” and enjoy audio books and audio dramas. We also enjoy learning about missionaries, the people they serve and the adventures they have. Imagine how thrilled we were to first hear The Brinkman Adventures a couple years ago. Fast forward to this year and the opportunity to review the latest set, The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24. I don’t know who was more excited – me or the children. We all love The Brinkman Adventures.
The Brinkman Adventures are mostly fact with some things changed to protect missionaries in the field or condense/combine stories for the sake of time. For the most part, the adventures are real. Some of the episodes can get a little scary or intense, so there are warnings for listeners under 10. All of my children have enjoyed listening along – from the 4 year old through the parents. Throughout the adventures are beautiful illustrations of God’s hand of protection as well as growth in character of the Brinkman family (great for encouraging your own family’s character growth!).
We received the mp3 version ($17) of Season 2 (CDs are also available – 4 CDs $25). The file downloaded easily and imported right into iTunes so we can listen from the computer or add to iPods and iPads — which we’ve done. We do have Season 1, but I don’t think it is necessary to enjoy these episodes. You will, however, want them all once you listen. You can listen to an episode from the website to see if this is something your family might enjoy. You’ll notice the pricing says “Suggested Donation”. The Brinkman Adventures works on a donation basis – you can give more or less. Clicking the “buy” or “order” buttons takes you straight to PayPal to pay those suggested prices. There is a “donate” button should you wish to give an additional (and I’m sure much appreciated) gift.
On of my favorite extras about The Brinkman Adventures is the behind the scenes peeks. Remember, these are based on real missionary stories. You can read about the missionaries the Brinkman family interacted with – often with links to follow them further. There are pictures and clarifications of some of the things that may have happened in the adventures which were more fiction than fact. For this reason, you might want to listen to the episode first. Some of my children become very offended to learn that something they thought was real had more fiction than fact. We have not found any of that with The Brinkman Adventures. The changes or adjustments have set just fine with my picky ones.
When asking my children what a favorite episode was, they had a hard time picking one. We’ve loved them all! The episode they keep talking about though is #19 Pirates of Mayan Island. Who wouldn’t love a pirate story, right? We don’t want to spoil it for you as there is a twist to the story. We learned about the Mayans late last summer and I loved that my children remembered so much and connected it with this audio adventure.
