My first full week of teaching has come to an end, and it has been good, though I will be grateful for a few days off!
Here’s a report on how each club finished off:
Club 1: This club got up to 26 kids, which was exciting! Mostly churched kids, though some unchurched, really good listeners that were just a blast to teach. This club was my biggest all week, and it really encouraged me to see how much they enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it too. There were no in club decisions, and from looking at lessons most kids had already made that decision earlier though there was for sure one mailbox club decision! She had written, “Today” as for when she had taken Jesus as her saviour! That got me excited, because this girl and her sister, though they didn’t go to church, their mom brought them to the club and stayed the whole time and seemed to enjoy it as well and helped her girls with their memory verses and lessons.
Club 2: This club most consistently had 3, though one day it did have 6, and that day was hard for me because the new kids weren’t really paying attention. The three regulars were churched kids, but they enjoyed the stories and learning more about the Bible. It was great to focus on encouraging some young believers in their faith.
Club 3: The last two days of this club were better than on Wednesday. Three kids at this club, and two girls did seem to enjoy asking many questions about the pictures…. Such as, “Why is there a space portal above Tony’s head?” Me: “He’s reading a book about astronomy. Use your imagination!” Children have a way of taking things very literally… It kept things interesting. And then when I told the story about the Ethiopian they wanted to call him Bob. I humored them and called him Bob a few times.
Club 4: Question: how many kids singing does it take to drown out the stereo? Answer: Only two 10-year-olds, when they loved the songs as much as these two did! This club only got to four kids, but two girls were super excited about it and LOVED singing. We sang all five songs every day and sometimes a few of them twice! I could hardly hear the stereo sometimes! The girls had already made a decision for Jesus before, and their excitement about clubs was really neat to see. They also loved looking at things in my Bible, which was fun.
Every though I only had one mailbox decision, it was by no means a fruitless week. I saw many churched kids who were really excited about their faith and wanted to learn more and wanted to share God with others. It was cool to be able to devote time to answering their questions and strengthening their faith. Pray for these young believers, that as they grow older and face many distractions in life that God would keep them safe in the palm of His hand with their eyes fixed on Him.
Encouragement from this week: I had some kids really excited about doing lessons and learning verses! I had five kids complete the Meet the King book! That was encouraging to see. One girl came for the first time on Thursday, and I accidentally gave her lessons 3-7 instead of the starter package, and she did them all! Another cool moment was a girl who didn’t have a lot of confidence in her memorizing abilities managed to get all six verses! She said that last year at a five day club she was only able to get two. We worked together on it and made up actions for the verses, and then I did them while she said it. She was really excited to find that she could remember things that way.
Next week: This next week I am heading up to Warman and Saskatoon. Pray that driving goes well. I only have three clubs, which I think will seem a lot less mentally draining than four. Also I anticipate not having to spend nearly so much time studying the stories in order to tell them now that I have taught them all before. I think I got asked twice by a kid when telling stories, “How do you remember all this?” If I get asked that again I should say, “God helps me remember so I can tell you!”
My biggest prayer for this coming week is that God would give me joy to teach! A few days this week it has seemed like teaching by myself is an endurance test, and I am “running with perseverance the race marked out for me.” Indeed, I want to run with perseverance, but I want to have the joy of serving for His kingdom while I do it. Sometimes hot days and rowdy children dimish that joy, and then the words of the songs I am teaching speak to me: “When Satan tries to get you down, turn your eyes to Jesus!” Pray that God will give me strength to declare the good news with joy.
-Rose
