Car trips can be long and exhausting. Our family has found the boredom and bickering can be relieved by playing audio adventure stories for the family to enjoy. We were excited to discover The Brinkman Adventures a few years ago. Their audio adventures focus on missionaries and service to others—a subject that is definitely beneficial to my children.

Each episode of The Brinkman Adventures is about twenty-five minutes long. Inspirational stories of individual Christians and missionaries are introduced in different episodes, but always within an over-arching story about the Brinkman family and their friends. The episodes begin with a reminder of where the previous story left off, since they do connect together, and you grow to know and care about the Brinkman family and their work as you listen to the stories.

While the previous four seasons of The Brinkman Adventures each contain twelve episodes, season five has just six episodes on two compact discs. The discs are contained in a tri-folding cardboard case with episode descriptions on the inside of the case. You can also purchase a downloadable mp3 version of season five for a lower price.

I admit that I was disappointed that season five has half as many episodes, but we enjoyed each of them. The underlying themes within the six episodes are applicable to every Christian: dealing with danger, finding your calling, mistakes in missions, confronting a friend, disability and missions, joy in trials, and “Is following God safe?” My favorite episodes were Bad Legs, parts one and two, which tell the story of Elinor Young—a polio survivor and a Bible translator in Papua, Indonesia. I have always loved hearing true stories of missionaries as they surrender their lives to God and allow Him to use them in amazing ways.

The Brinkman Adventures are very well-recorded with background music and sound effects. The voice actors do a fantastic job, even the child actors. Some of the episodes are more intense, and the warnings at the start of each episode should be heeded. Parents should carefully consider whether their children are ready for those intense episodes.

I can’t always rein my children in to focus on the stories when we are home, but they enjoy them when we’re traveling in the car. They may be a captive audience, but they are also willing listeners, begging for a new episode.

-Product review by April Elstrom, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2017