Day 5 Holiday Club Croftlands

Today was the last full day of the holiday club, we have the family celebration on Sunday which will last about an hour.  We have seen an average of 70 children each day some days one or two more or less.  We have had a great time all week, the prayer space has been well used by a number of the children, the basket which said place into Gods hands was full of folded pieces of paper, the bubble tube was covered in post it notes sending prayers up to God and the reflective board that Rachel had made was also covered in pictures and prayers too.  The final part of the story came out today from Daniel 6 and Gary asked loads of questions about it when he made an appearance later in the morning and being a cloth eared puppet he needed to be reminded of what had happened. The games and the crafts have gone really well too.  To finish off the week we did our usual picnic followed by the water fight which was very refreshing as it has been so hot this week.

Pray for all the children and their families that we have had contact with this week.

Day 4 Holiday Club Croftlands

We have had another great day today at Space Academy.  The children have been enjoying the activities - it is a big question who enjoys it the most the adults, the junior leaders or the children themselves - but we are all children of God.

A final day tomorrow when we shall land back on earth and have a picnic and them the customary water fight - leaders against children.

Continue to pray for the children we have been in contact with this week as we seek to connect them to God.

Day 3 Holiday Club Croftlands

Had another great day today with the children at holiday club.  The story today was the fiery furnace story and about how God was able to save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that everyone bow down to his golden statue.  The games went well outside and the craft reflected the theme as the children make a fiery picture frame.  We also had more visitors into the prayer space.  Today as well we did a little video clip of children's favourite bible story this led to a talk about the different bibles you can get.  Also today the kids had either or both their head and face decorated to show space.  Tomorrow is the fancy dress day.

Day 2 Holiday Club Croftlands

We have had another fab day today at Croftlands.  Today we saw a few new faces however we only got 71 kids in total.  The day started off with a spot or two of rain but by the time the games took place it was all outside for a lot of fun.  The craft rooms were also a hive of activity as the children used air dry clay to make a model.  The story was about the gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamt about.  The music from the band as well as the new tracks on the DVD are going down a storm with the kids.  Great fun all round.  The prayer space is being used well also and the reflection time is drawing out the parts of the story and what they mean to us today.

Day 1 Holiday Club Croftlands

Today we launched into space with the start of Space Academy.  We had 72 children at the club this morning.  They heard the first part of the Daniel story.  The exiles from Jerusalem refused to eat the special food that the king had given them to eat instead they ate fruit and water.  The still followed God's law even though they were far away from home.  The children heard the story told to them by an advisor to the king in Babylon - they journeyed back in 'time and space'  more story tomorrow.

A number of children enjoyed looking at the prayer space we created in the hall too.  We are looking to encourage the children to be not just God Smart but God Connected too.

More fun and games tomorrow.  Please continue to prayer for all those involved.

St Peters last assembly with the year 6 children

This blog is a little late in being posted - holiday club is upon us and I forgot to post it. This was the last assembly of the school year and the last one with the current year 6 children.  We told the story as we have done in all our final assemblies about Abraham.  Then we sang the Chicken Dance song as a special treat.

Low Furness final assembly

This blog is a little late in being posted - holiday club is upon us and I forgot to post it. This was the last assembly of the school year and the last one with the current year 6 children.  We told the story as we have done in all our final assemblies about Abraham.  Then we sang the Chicken Dance song as a special treat.

Crosthwaite - the final assembly of the year

The last of our three assemblies today was at Crosthwaite School.  It was also the last one with the two year 6 children (although one was away) and the last one of the school year.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Leven Valley School - a rather small assembly

Our second assembly today was at Leven Valley School.  A lot of the school were out doing sport so we had a very select few for the assembly.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Croftlands Juniors - final assembly of the year

The first of our three assemblies today was at Croftlands Juniors.  It was also the last one with the year 6 children and the last one of the school year.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Croftlands Infants - last assembly of the year

Today I did the assembly for Croftlands Infants on my own.  I took with me the projector and screen so I could tell the Abraham story as we have done at a number of schools as part of our final Moving On assembly.  To start with we all sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then I told the story.  We had some fun with the map as I said Abraham came from UR over TH UR which the children found funny (it worked better live)  When I put the bible verse up I explained what it meant before we went on to sing Wonderful Lord.  At the end we said a prayer and I wish all the children a happy holiday.

Ulverston Infants - final assembly of the year

This morning at Ulverston Infants Sarah and I did our final assembly of the school year.  We started by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then I went on to tell the Abraham story using a set of pictures showing a map and Abraham and Sarah etc.  The point was made that God had told them to move on and they did, he also told them they would have a baby and they did - God kept his promise to them.  The bible verse was from Deuteronomy and talked about having courage and being strong because God is with us.  I asked the children to remember that as they move on up the school or even to a new school.  Sarah summed the assembly up and we ended with Wonderful Lord.

Ignite

Last night we had our Ignite group round.  After eating our way through 5 pizza's and a large bag of fries followed by ice cream we played a game.  The game was designed to test their hearing, as one person was sat in the middle of the group with a blind fold on, the rest handed round a bunch of keys.  The middle person was to listen and try to work out where the keys where in the group.  This led to the video which was about blind Bartimaeus.  Following the video we asked them what they thought about what Jesus had done.  Then we blind folded someone again and set them off walking towards one of the group.  The walk should have been straight however the rest of the group moved around just like the crowd had done in the story and bumped into the blind folded person sending them off course.  Eventually they got there.  The point was that there are times when people get in our way and we can hear Jesus calling but we get pushed aside by others around us.  We then sat round in a circle with a ball of string.  We started to pass the string round the group and whenever a person got it they had to say thank you to God for something, then as it went a second time they had to thank God for something in creation and finally they had to say sorry for something but not speak it out loud.  In the end we created a prayer web.  As holiday club is getting closer we decided that we would ask the children to video themselves talking about Jesus.  So we gave them the cameras and off they went - they said what Jesus means to them and what their favourite bible story is.  Next we introduced them to the memory verses for the week and asked them to think of interesting ways in which we could display them to the children.  Next week we will be taking some pictures of them.  We closed with a time of chatting to God.

Our Lady's - last assembly of school year - moving on

Today was our last visit of this school year to Our Lady's and as it was the last visit I asked the year 6 children what song they would like to sing - they picked Shine.  The story I told today was about Abraham who was told by God to move on from Ur to first of all Harran and then into what is now Israel.  I showed some pictures and a map of the area.  I talked about how strange it must have been for him and his wife Sarah to be told to move not knowing where they would end up.  I also spoke of the promise God made to them about having children as many as the stars in the sky.  I linked up with a verse from Deuteronomy 31:6 which says Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you.  I encouraged all the children who will be moving up a year to take courage and be strong because God will be with them and He won't let them down.  To finish we sang Wonderful Lord and I prayed for all the children.

BX OT5 Pennington

This afternoon was the last lesson of Bible Explorer at Pennington School.  The children came into the lesson very excited to see me and couldn't wait to get started.  Following a quick recap of the books covered in the bible and a quick run through of all the hand signs to date we started the lesson.  I explained the North - South, Israel - Judah, 19 - 20, 0-8 again to them and talked a little about prophets as the Prophets Speak is the first hand sign today.  I also explained what it meant by Scatters and that even today some Jews don't bother with the people believed to be from the Samaria region.  I did a quick link to the New Testament and the Good Samaritan story.  The lesson progressed on at a quick pace until I got to my favourite story - Esther.  I do like to tell this story and get them involved with it.  The sense of shock, horror and hummer in it helps a lot, particularly as the story draws to a close and Haman is leading Mordecai through the streets and then as the plot is uncovered Haman falls on the queen and the king has him arrested and hung on his own gallows.  The children did well as they went through all the hand signs at the end.

St Peters - making a loud noise

The assembly today at St Peters was in a class room as the hall was in use.  Sarah stayed in the hall while I went to do the assembly.  After saying hello to the children they responded back and shouted hello to Sarah.  Our theme was in fact on noise.  We started by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord before I told the story of Joshua and the children of Israel making loads of noise as they walked round the walls of Jericho.  I had my ram/cow horn with me too so after giving a couple of loud blasts on it I asked the children to shout - they did so we did it again and then a third time.  As the story goes the walls fall down.  I linked this to us when we praise God sometimes it can be loud but other times it can be quiet too as the words of the song say 'Praise the loud in silence...'  Following this we sang Wonderful Lord and during the instrumental I said a short prayer.

Low Furness - a loud and noisy time

Today the theme of the assembly was noise.  So Sarah and I decided that we would sing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord to start, then I told the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho.  The people were told to match around 7 times and then on the seventh day do it seven times but then to make lots of noise.  I showed some pictures and blew my cow/ram's horn to show what it might have been like and then I got the children to shout loud too.  I told the children that on this day with a lot of noise something special happened.  I also spoke about how we praise God and that it doesn't always need to be loud it and also be quiet.  Following this Sarah concluded the assembly as we sang wonderful Lord followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Penny Bridge School - final assembly of the school year

This afternoon Sarah and I went to Penny Bridge school for the final visit and assembly of this school year.  I decided that I would tell the story of Abraham using some visual aids I had prepared for another talk once before.  Abraham had been told by God to move and God had promised him a large family and that he would always be with him.  This I think was the most important point particularly as children in all schools are moving up a year or to a new key stage of even to a new school.  I coupled the story with a verse from  Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you. Sarah conclude the assembly by talking to the children and saying that God would be with them as he promise he would be with Abraham, as the move to a new year.  We sang Wonderful Lord to end and Sarah led the short prayer.

Broughton School - moving on

This morning over at Broughton we did our last assembly of the school year.  As it was the last one I decided to tell a story of a bible character that was told by God to move so I picked Abraham.  Using some simple visual aids I told his story and focused on the fact that God was with him and kept his promises to him.  Then to finished I talked to the children about moving up in the school and about how they might be a little frighten and unsure of things but encouraged them with a bible verse from Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you. I ended with a short prayer.