ont look now, but talking vegetables are taking over your world! If you dont believe me, check out the video, book and toy aisles at your local Christian bookstore or Wal-Mart.

Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are poised from aisle to aisle, and probably even popping up in a stocking near you, ready to teach biblical lessons and open doors to share the gospel with kids of all ages. Just take it from Bob, as he tells Junior Asparagus in Wheres God When Im Scared?: "Im a tomato, and Im here to help."

In spite of all the silliness and probably even because of itVeggieTales is quickly becoming a fun and effective way to get children and young adults to think about spiritual lessons and to talk with non-believers about the claims of Jesus.

VeggieTales is one of the best-selling Christian video series of all time. Big Idea Productions, Inc. has sold more than 10 million videos since sprouting in 1983 and has rooted a successful line of books and toys as well.

According to Phil Vischer, who created VeggieTales with his friend Mike Nawrocki, their success is due to the vision behind the series. "I believe that Big Idea has an opportunity to win the publics trust," he says. "Rather than fretting about stock value, our main concern is connecting with people and improving their lives through Gods truth."

Richard Robinette, a student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, who participated in a Veggie-based, on-campus Bible study group, says that the talking vegetables are effective because they reach across a broader range of ages than most animated Christian series.

"VeggieTales is not all on a four-year-old level," he says. "Its a multi-dimensional show. Theres a lot more to it than first meets the eye."

While Vischer and Nawrocki take the biblical morals seriously, the specific details in the stories are often altered to fit the zany VeggieTales vision. French peas taunt the children of Israel from the walls of Jericho in Josh and the Big Wall. Children bow down to a giant chocolate bunny in the Veggie-telling of Rack, Shack & Benny (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). Just a quick romp through the videos reveals all sorts of inspiration you might not normally expect in a video based on a Bible story. From Universal movie monsters to Gilligans Island, Star Trek to Batman, Dr. Seuss to late-night infomercials, anything is fair game it seems.

On campus: Although the series is considered a childrens show, its also a great outreach tool to use in Bible studies that include non-Christians on college campuses.

"We put flyers up all over campus," says Robinette, "inviting people to come see the video and talk about it afterward. We didnt promote it as a Bible study. And we had 33 people crammed into a little dorm room. There were even people standing outside the door looking in."

Some pointers he and the group learned:

• Use the time of laughing and watching videos together to build relationships with people who might not normally come to what they perceive a Bible study to be. Strong relationships are a stable first step to talking about Christ in the safety of a non-threatening friendship. "Something about watching VeggieTales loosens people up," he says.

• Be prepared to follow the videos with "What did you think?" questions. Encourage discussions that open doors to talk about Christ. For example, the video God Wants Me To Forgive Them? is just an easy segue away from discussing how Christ demonstrated His forgiveness for us even while He was dying on the cross.

With high schoolers: Todays youth are a media-inundated bunch, and the quirky, hip computer animation of VeggieTales is right up their proverbial alley, says Grant Medford of First Baptist in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

"VeggieTales has been something that students can connect with because it allows them to continue to use the childlike qualities and attitudes they have within them. The response of non-Christian kids has been pretty similar to that of the Christian kids. Theyre sitting together, laughing at the same lines," he says.

Some ways the videos can be used to reach out to young people:

• Consider giving the videos away as prizes at outreach events and follow up with those who receive them.

• Use segments for topical studies. The videos can trigger discussions about what the Bible says about fear (Wheres God When Im Scared?), self-image (Dave and the Giant Pickle), consumerism (Madame Blueberry) and many other subjects. Once students are talking about the Bible, conversations about a relationship with Christ can easily follow.

• Encourage students to share their copies with non-Christian friends and follow up afterward.

With children: David Faile, of Glen Hope Baptist Church in Burlington, North Carolina, hopes to use VeggieTales this summer to connect with the children he and his student group meet with during mission trips.

"Itll be a great opportunity," he says. "We want to let the kids see that there are consequences to bad behavior. For example, well use Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space to show the consequences of not telling the truth. Then we can tell them about the Book that tells us how to avoid those consequences."

Opportunities abound to use the series to get children thinking about Christ:

• The VeggieTales VBS curriculum is not just for Vacation Bible School. You can also make your purchase stretch by adapting the kit for use on mission trips and at Backyard Bible Clubs. Call Big Idea at 800-295-0557 for more information or to order the VBS kit.

• VeggieTales episodes offer great lessons for childrens church and outreach events geared to children.

• You can encourage children to be on mission by guiding them to select VeggieTales or other cutting-edge Christian videos to watch when they have friends over. Be sure to monitor the viewing and be ready to answer any questions your children or their guests may have.

The belief statement behind Big Idea says, "The best way to improve peoples lives is to point them toward God." They have provided a tool to do just that. The rest is up to us.

To order VeggieTales videos, books and games call 800-448-8032 or call your local LifeWay Christian Store. For more information about VeggieTales, visit www.bigidea.com.

Sean Taylor is associate editor of On Mission.