Brad Klassen and his wife Jen began their adventure by volunteering in the children's ministry at their church. Little did they know where saying yes to that would take them. 

Brad and Jen have created a new book series called The Unforgettable Adventures of Junior Bear. Brad is also the children's pastor at Crossview Church in Steinbach, Manitoba.

"Junior Bear came out of a prayer that I prayed, because the first story that they gave me to teach the kids at our church at that time, was Genisis 22, which if you don't know is where Abraham puts Issac on the Altar," Klassen explains. "I was shocked that this was going to be the story for the children."

"Someone suggested I act it out for the kids. I was like, no, we want the children to love the Bible and not freak them out. I prayed about it and I said, Lord how do I take your big story of Genisis 22 and make it that kids can understand it? And I got this picture of a bear cub in the forest, his dad and how they interacted with each other over a birthday present. That's where Junior Bear was born."

Brad says these books equip parents with the confidence to teach difficult bible stories to their children through simple and beautiful stories. 

Those stories are reaching far and wide, The Unforgettable Adventures of Junior Bear book series was recently recognized with Brad being awarded the Children's Book Award from The Word Guild Awards for their book series.

Today on Connections, Brad will share how they got into ministry, what it was like to be recognized for his work and where the inspiration for their book series came from.