This week we are having out annual Ultimate Adventure Creative Arts camp and having a BLAST!! This camp is really the start of our summer musical that we do each year. We are there from 9am - 2pm each day and we do all sorts of creative things together.
We have a wonderful art teacher who does all the crafts...which are all props and set design. So, the kids learn all about what it takes to create a great set...and they even get to do the promotional materials for around the church. It's just so awesome to involved them in every single part.
We rotate to different areas doing solo practices, drama practices, props and set design, and dancing. They eat sack lunches with us and then we go to Bible study which is my part! This year our musical is about suffering for the sake of Jesus...or what we THINK is suffering. It talks about real people of the Bible that truly suffered for their faith and how God encouraged them and was always there for them through all of it.
So, this year our Bible Study time is on the persecuted church. We are taking material from Kids of Courage which is a division of Voice of the Martyrs. The first day we did an awesome underground Chinese church service. The kids broke up into three groups and then they had to follow cryptic codes to find their Good Book and copy verses from it to bring to the meeting in case we were raided by the secret police (Mr. Jay!). Then they had to get their next clue to find out where their flashlight would be and then crawl and sneak their way through the recesses of our church to a small room none of them had ever been to before. It was completely dark and we sang together...worshiping God. We talked about and prayed for the persecuted church of China...and even learned part of the song Jesus loves me in Mandarin. It was AWESOME!!!
One of the parent told Jay today that at the table last night they were praying and their daughter prayed for almost 5 minutes for her brothers and sisters in China...TEARS!! God is just so amazingly good!! Being with children totally shows me God and a true heart of faith. Love it!!
Today, we traveled to Tanzania Africa to a small city called Kigamboni (which is one of my favorite places!)where we would experience church African style! Now, Jay and I both have been to Africa...and I have been twice and worshiped in African churches. So...I was a bit partial to this day myself:)
The kids had to work together to walk 10 miles (OK it was just around the parking lot!), ride the ferry (smooshed together like real Africans) and then find me under a huge tree where we sat on the ground in the almost 100 degree heat and praised God together. Every child brought something to our service. Some girls had babies strapped to their backs, others had baskets of cups and snacks for when they arrived, some boys carried the Bibles, and other strong boys carried the water for us to have when they arrived.
On the ferry to Kigamboni...they had to ride for a while all together!
We sand and the kids even got up to dance with me at the end! I am so in love with Africa...
Tomorrow we travel to North Korea and find creative ways to share the Gospel in one of the most closed countries in the world. I just can't wait! We are also doing a mission project through Voice of the Martyrs to send an action pack full of simple clothes and needs to be send to Christians in the Middle East.
What a great week! What a huge blessing to learn about Jesus with these cuties! And...since my hubby is the children's pastor...we all get to spend the week together! Thank you sweet Jesus for your amazing blessings! We love you so very much!
0 comments:
Post a Comment