Yay, I finally get a chance to blog!! 🙂
I guess I will start with last week. I got back from Bible Quizzing Internationals last Monday and found out on Tuesday that I was teaching with Andra. It was a challenge because (1- I was (and am!) still recovering from Internats, and (2- I didn’t know the stories or songs or the verses very well; I have only read through the stories. So for the first couple days I watched and learned from Andra how to run the clubs, and I also did actions during the songs. On the last day, I taught the Bible story for the first time, which was challenging, but I trusted God that He would give me the words to say and speak through me when I didn’t know what to say. And he certainly did 🙂 We had a range of 5-10 kids at each of our clubs, and it encouraged me to see their enthusiasm and the many decisions that were made to believe in Jesus!
One very neat moment from our last club of the day was when it started to rain as we were about to start the Bible story. So we took a moment before the story to pray that God would hold off the rain until the club ended. Almost immediately, the rain stopped, and it didn’t start pouring again until the kids were inside and Andra and I were just getting into the car!! It was so neat to see the kids’ amazed faces and to see God making Himself known through His power and sovereignty!
Today was definitely a tougher day for me. I didn’t go to my morning club (Crystal took it for me) because I went for a road test at 8:30am. I did very well driving-wise with my lane changes and turns; I even nailed my parallel park! But I had a picky examiner who took marks off for little things, including for turning on a yellow light when I was already in the intersection, which I was taught to do in Driver’s Ed! Oh well…it was my first test, and I did pretty well even though I didn’t pass.
My afternoon club was pretty uneventful because no kids came. Even though both the hostess and I had done a lot of advertising, there are not a lot of kids in this neighborhood and they are usually busy doing other activities in the summer. I walked to the park and found only a mother and daughter playing there, so I explained the club to them and gave them my last invitation. Please pray that God will soften the hearts in this neighborhood and that kids will come tomorrow!
In my third and last club, a mother with her three kids came, which I was very excited for! However, the stereo only lasted one song before it shut down and wouldn’t play anymore. I figure that it was the plug-in, because the stereo worked in the afternoon and when I checked it afterwards at home. But instead of worrying about that, I moved on and did the verses and the stories with them. Since we had a few extra minutes at the end, I was able to bond with the kids by throwing the frisbee around with them in funny ways. Considering that it was my first club by myself, I think I did well, but I know I will get better as time goes on.
The story of Job came to mind as I went throughout the day. God allowed Satan to test Job and see if he would still trust God despite any hardships. Well, Satan, you may try to keep me away from my license, but that won’t stop me from going to speak in the name of the Lord to those kids. You may keep kids from coming to a club, but I won’t give up that easily on them. And you may break down my stereo after one song, but you can’t break down my faith or my God! You want to stop these kids from hearing about God, but I assure you that I will fight to share the gospel to them and to save their souls from you! You may give me a busy schedule, lack of rest and relaxation, and not let me have much time to prepare for these clubs, but I am finding my strength from God and cannot be stopped!!
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” -2 Corinthians 4:7-9
I am excited for this next week as I have a morning club to teach with Crystal, which also gives me time to reconnect with her 🙂 I also have an afternoon club and an evening club. Please pray that I will have more rest and energy to put into 5-Day Clubs, because I have found myself getting tired more easily. Pray also that more kids will come to the clubs, that I will have more confidence and boldness as I teach, and that I will easily recall the stories as I am learning them. Finally, please pray that we continue to defend ourselves from Satan’s attacks on what we are doing to proclaim the message of the cross to the world.
God bless y’all!!
Nekaelly Sandstra
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