12 Bible Accounts in a Song: “Children Go Where I Send Thee”

How many of us can still sing this from memory? Can you do it until twelve?

Make a pass for the “Twelve Days of Christmas” on your Christmas carol. Why not sing our version of ‘twelve’? Some of us might be familiar with “Children Go Where I Send Thee” by now. Simply, it is the gospel proclaimed in the form of a song and brilliantly arranged for a child to easily understand and deliver.

The song bore different titles and it had variations. Nevertheless, the key line, ‘Children go where I send thee’ maintains the central theme. It is reminiscent of the words of Jesus when he commissioned his disciples to go preach the ‘good news’ into different cities and towns. He sent them by pair so each one could support the other.  From that idea, the song was cleverly spun to present twelve accounts from the Bible represented by each number. (Should you be interested to read detailed interpretation about the significance of each number, you can check the song lyrics at http://christmas-songs.org.)

So this December, why don’t we teach today’s kids this song for their Christmas carol presentations? It sure will benefit them. In the future, they might recall this as their introduction to the Bible long before they have even read half of it. It would also be a good refresher and a reminder for us adults. And for those with kids who always beg for bedtime stories, use the ‘twelve’ in the song as your storyline up.

Not a few distinguished singers have recorded the song. To name some, we got Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Weavers, Mary Chappin Carpenter, and Kenny Rogers with Home Free.

“Children Go Where I Send Thee” as performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford

And here is Johnny Cash with his wife, June Carter, and friends