What You’re Saying

We love to hear how the Lord is using the book and curriculum in the lives of children. Share your story below, in an e-mail or on our Facebook page!

39 Responses to What You’re Saying

  1. Dear GCP, our pastor Mike Myers from Heritage Presbyterian encouraged us to send this along to you. Our son, just turned age 5, can recite almost the whole book after listening to the audio several times. We would love it if there was even more wholesome, Reformed children’s literature out there! We sure are happy to have this version of Pilgrim’s Progress! Thanks!

  2. I recently came across your Pilgrim’s Progress materials and just loved them. I have taught 3rd grade in our Christian school for 15 years and we always finish the year by reading Pilgrim’s Progress from A Beka Book. It is a children’s version but doesn’t have any supplementary materials. I ordered the music CD and student book. I am anxious to use these. Thank you for providing these great-looking materials!

  3. My co worker and I had a wonderful time teaching this program to our 20-24 students ages 6-12. They all so looked forward to each week’s lesson, especially as my creative coworker recreated the story each week. Our weekly designs ended up decorating our whole room by the end of 14 weeks. Thank you for making it so easy to present the Gospel clearly and give guidance to the Christian walk. We look forward to working with you again. God bless.

  4. Very good curriculum. I would not have believed Pilgrim’s Progress could be taught to children of a young age, but this is amazing. I like the way it involves the parents with the back of the ON THE GO page.

  5. My children have been listening to this excellent dramatized reading over and over practically every day multiple times since we bought the book and audio drama 1.5 weeks ago. Though they are too young to read the novel, they enjoyed listening and flipping through the book to admire the pictures. I’m happy to see that this version makes the deep spiritual truths of the original book so enjoyably accessible for young children, and I also enjoy listening along with them over and over. I hope listening to the Pilgrim’s Progress will help to hide God’s words in their hearts. I highly recommend this quality product!

  6. We are very pleased and have found the material easily adaptable. We all LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the dramatic reading and are so thankful for all the work that has gone into completing this material. We usually write our own curriculum each summer, so we are praising God for this respite, and for such a great opportunity for our kiddos.

  7. We used the Pilgrim’s Progress curriculum with the 13 lessons divided up 2-3-3-3-2 Monday-Friday. With a 2 1/2 hour format, things went more smoothly the first and last days! Squeezing in 3 lessons T-Th required that we send home most of the worksheets on those days and only do busy activities between the listening/teaching times.

    We really loved the materials though, and hope to use them again with a more relaxed schedule. The children we had were mostly unchurched children and not used to sitting and listening, and they were younger (2nd-3rd), so there were some challenges. We had one churched 6th grader who was more able to grasp the allegory, etc., yet all the children seemed to enjoy it. Our prayers included that our adult/youth helpers would be challenged, convicted and built up in their faith as well. I know I was.

    Thank you for striving to produce materials that faithfully represent the Reformed faith, God’s sovereignty and grace.

  8. Excellent dramatic reading, illustrations in storybook, and text of storybook!! The best 13-week curriculum for boys I have ever used!

    What’s next? Please supply more of this kind of thing!!

  9. We were so pleased overall with the Pilgrim’s Progress material. Our Sunday school boys could not wait til the next week. We actually covered one chapter every two weeks because of all the wonderful material we wanted to cover.

    One boy that has seemed “unreached” by the years of Sunday school and Awana classes loved it and would participate every time he came. Thank you so much! We have now ordered the Old Testament Show Me Jesus curriculum.

  10. The Pilgrim’s Progress curriculum was a huge hit with our 4th-5th grade Christian Education class. The children loved the story and asked to keep reading every week. Listening to a 4th grader pray that God would help him remember that God is “always smiling” when he looks at him because of Jesus brought tears to the teacher’s eyes.

    The children were so excited and demonstrated such ownership of the material as they prepared their “Pilgrim’s Progress Fair” to show off what they had learned at the end of the semester. They loved remembering that they can always get free from Doubting Castle using the key of God’s Promise. I highly recommend this curriculum and think it would also be very beneficial for Jr. High and High School students.

  11. This is one of the best curricula I have ever used! When people heard we were teaching Pilgrim’s Progress, they thought it would be too difficult for children, but the book was understood by and exciting for our 3rd and 4th graders. It was much easier to prepare than people might think. Sometimes we spread a lesson over two weeks because there is so much to do! The kids loved the material. They wanted to keep going to the next chapter. It was hard to hold them back!

  12. The kids at our church (Calvary OPC, La Mirada, CA) have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this program. Some of the parents have told me that the characters have helped their kids give words to their thoughts. I have worked with OPC children’s ministries for 20+ years and I truly think this is the best material I have seen.

  13. The artwork is beautiful, and I think it would be a fine addition to any library or curriculum.

  14. I gave my 85-year-old vision-impaired aunt, Tia Nora, the dramatic reading CDs to listen to. She only had time to listen to part of the CDs, and so she had her friend Priscilla read her the storybook. They completed the whole book in one session; they didn’t want to wait until next week to finish!

    Priscilla had read an original version years ago, remembered how hard it was to get through, and therefore really enjoyed this simpler version. She said that she is now eager to go back to the “adult” version and reread it. Having read the GCP one will help her to better understand the other.

    Priscilla thought this simplified story would be excellent for use with new Christians. It would not only explain concepts and vocabulary, but would prepare them for the reality that the Christian life will not be a smooth road. They should expect to meet difficulties and be ready to face them when they come.

  15. My 10-year-old daughter and I are enjoying the book. I use it to catechize her. She is learning the characters and I am able to explain biblical truth to her. She is getting it; I am getting it. She understands the burden on Pilgrim’s back and why he has it and others don’t. Keep sowing the seeds; keep being faithful.

  16. I look forward to using the material in a 6th grade class this year.

  17. Your organisation is really good to provide materials for people. I use them for my Sunday School teaching. God bless you all.

  18. We’re doing an adult Pilgrim’s Progress Sunday school class this summer and I’m excited to discover that GCP has published a children’s version. Pilgrim’s Progress AND GCP – both recources I can depend on for quality! 🙂

  19. Excited to introduce kids to this great story. 50% of churchgoing young adults I know have never read or heard of Pilgrim’s Progress!

  20. Happy to have stumbled upon your website! I have loved Pilgrim’s Progress over the years. I’m thinking of using this material as a summer resource for a large group of kids in the church. God bless!

  21. My 5-year-old son loves the book and the audio version. He wants to read it in the morning and is a helpful tool in teaching him the faith. I am excited to see what the curriculum has to offer!

  22. We bought copies of this book for our 7- and 5-year-old sons. They have both really enjoyed it. Our oldest son devoured the book. He came to me several times to read a portion of the book that he liked. My wife and I are very impressed with the book. Both the illustrations and the story adaptation are very well done. (from comments on article in ByFaith)

  23. I have used the Pilgrim’s Progress book in a homeschool midweek Children’s Bible study class. They have loved it! and so have I!

  24. This looks great. I can’t wait to see it all. I’m sure it will be a great blessing to our children. Pilgrim’s Progress, next to the Bible, was my greatest teaching tool for my own children and I always recommend it to parents to read to their children.

  25. Having taught Pilgrim’s Progress in the past, for middle school Sunday School, without any accurate simplified version, I am thrilled to teach it again. I will still refer to the original version, but am delighted to put a copy in the students hands that they and my grandchildren will deeply understand. Thanks for bringing this book to easier use. I am grateful.

  26. I am very excited about ordering this material. The kids are going to love this fresh approach to the Christian life.

  27. Lisa Updike, Director of Children's Ministries, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg, VA says:

    So excited about this! What a wonderful way to invite children with a variety of learning styles to have an encounter with God’s truth.

  28. We read the first chapter to our 7-year-old son the other night. He couldn’t wait to finish, so he read the whole rest of the book to himself yesterday. He couldn’t put it down! Thank you for this book!!

  29. Paul Levy at Reformation 21 wrote a review, and here are some highlights. (Full review here.) “I think it is simply magnificent. The writing and the illustrations are excellent. … The book is written in an accessible style for children, particularly helpful is a glossary of terms at the back. … It is a great gift to give to church children but also to teenagers it would still work. Many adults would benefit from it too. Basically I’m saying buy a load of them and give them away.”

  30. Having taught Pilgrim’s Progress in the past, for middle school Sunday School, without any accurate simplified version, I am thrilled to teach it again. I will still refer to the original version, but am delighted to put a copy in the students hands that they and my grandchildren will deeply understand. Thanks for bringing this book to easier use. I am grateful.

  31. This Adapted Classic Story for Children has a splendid GLOSSARY and GLOSSARY INDEX which alone are worth the price of the book. Read this “children’s” edition as an introduction to Bunyan’s original old English version or as a companion guide to whatever version of John Bunyan’s Classic you choose. Today I poured over the glossary, finding myself appreciatively pondering the allegories, meditating on the spiritual principles and evaluating my own ‘pilgrim’ journey. The illustrations engage the eye and add dimension to the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age interested in reaching the goal in Christ.

  32. Thanks more than I can tell you for the copy of the child’s edition of Pilgrim’s Progress. Where has this been all my life? This is great and will be most helpful.

  33. As soon as our grandson got home he went to get his Pilgrim’s Progress and began reading. He was ahead of me, so I told him to wait, but he said, ‘Nina, I want to keep reading,’ so he asked if we could bring it in the car. When we got in the car, he proceeded to read the chapter we had missed, and then I just was struck and turned to my husband with tears in my eyes. … Just picture this, our 6-year-old grandchild is reading aloud to us from Pilgrim’s Progress. Amazing. What an incredible blessing! We went on to discuss it … and I finally made him stop so we could read together when we got home!

  34. I would say, it helps you learn about God and how he’s powerful and encourages you to believe in God when you read the book. Whoever reads the book, and they don’t know God, they will understand how glorious he is. That’s about it.

  35. “Upon our first reading of Great Commission Publications’ Pilgrim’s Progress, my daughter said, ‘Oh, Mommy, what a wonderful story, would you please read it again?’ Within hours, she had read it three more times, prayerfully contemplating her own journey to the Celestial City. This is a wonderful tool for introducing children to Bunyan’s grand allegory.”

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