Focus on the Family presents...
The Last Chance Detectives Video/Book Series
Mystery Lights of the Navajo Mesa
Legend of the Desert Bigfoot
Escape from Fire Lake
Tyndale, $19.99 each
Mystery Lights of the Navajo Mesa video #1 ISBN 084237681X
Legend of the Desert Bigfoot video #2 ISBN 0842376828
Escape from Fire Lake video #3 ISBN 0842376887
Better with Each Last Chance
Can four kids make a difference in a town? How do kids learn to put their trust in God and hold on no matter what? What does it take to teach kids the importance of telling the truth and doing what's right? These questions and more are answered in The Last Chance Detectives. With the recent release of a third video, Legend of the Desert Bigfoot, it becomes clear that this series has real kid appeal for the 8-13 age group.
We watched the three videos at different times with youngsters to get some idea of their reactions--after all these videos run close to an hour each--and The Last Chance Detectives did more than just pass.
Mystery Lights of the Navajo Mesa, the first of this adventure series, entices young viewers with a story about a local museum heist and the kids' sharp thinking and action to solve it. Viewers are introduced to the fictional locale in Ambrosia, Arizona, and to the three boys and a girl who make up the Detectives. Mike, son of a pilot who was killed in his aircraft, is clearly the leader, and his mother and grandparents also play a part in each of the series. (This is not a story about some kids out doing daring deeds with no parental concern.)
Legend of the Desert Bigfoot plunges Mike, Ben, Winnie, and Spence into mystery when they discover long, coarse strands of animal hair the vet can't identify. There have been rumors about a wild creature (Sasquatch? Yeti? Mud Monster? Big Foot?), but the people of Ambrosia believe it's only a legend. Then campers are terrorized and some gold is apparently stolen. While searching for clues, Mike and his friends discover a malnourished dog named Jake at the homestead of a bitter, old man. When he refuses to take Jake to a vet, Mike removes the dog in order to save him. He feels justified, at least until the detectives follow a trail of clues to a stolen gorilla that has been "liberated" from an inhumane situation. Then Mike must apply the biblical principle forbidding stealing to himself as well as others. Viewers will remember the ending when Mike makes the right decision, returns Jake, and discovers a miracle.
The recently released Escape from Fire Lake is perhaps the best so far. Mike accidentally stumbles on the truck of bank robbers and they kidnap him and his dog Jake; then take them to a remote area in the desert before releasing them. But Mike has left a trail of hundred dollar bills that the other detectives find along with the deserted plane where Mike had spent the night. With the help of the sheriff's crew, they find Mike after a couple of days and capture the robbers. Mike's quick wits are often inspired by memories of his father's sharing Psalm 23 with him when he was a little boy, and the theme of God's presence and help when we feel weak is clear.
All three videos have been published in book format. Each video package includes a leaflet called "Ideas for Parents and Teachers," which contain fully outlined material for use in the home or with youth groups.
The Last Chance Detectives is a series kids will really like with more than one chance for teaching God's truth.
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