So my first full week of teaching 5-Day Clubs has come and gone by very quickly!  Here is a brief overview of how it went.

Club #1- This was a larger club that I taught with Crystal.  It was encouraging to see these kids being so energetic and excited to hear the gospel!  They always came early, so we would play games like Red Light Green Light and Color Tag before and after clubs.  Although they were quite rowdy at times, I definitely enjoyed my time with them!  Most of these kids were churched, but a few that came were unchurched and probably hadn’t heard much of God before. Also, one of the younger kids made a decision!!  God had put it on his heart all week, and he waited until last night to accept Christ with both of his parents!!  He also happened to lose his first tooth on that day, so it was a very exciting day for him!!!  This club also got to 20 kids, so they got to soak Crystal today with a hose!

Club #2- After three days of no kids, my afternoon club ended up being cancelled.  However, on the third day I noticed a couple kids next door and went to invite them.  The older one had a fearful expression on his face and didn’t want to come at all, but the younger one came with her mother.  She was only 2 years old, but I did a few songs, simplified the story of Noah for her, and gave her a package.  Later, the hostess told me that their family have had a lot of struggles and tough situations, so that’s why the boy was scared to come over with me, even though his mother was there.  However, it was great that I was able to reach out to them- pray for this family that they will come to know the Lord more as they go through these trials.

For the last two days, I joined Crystal at her afternoon club, which was only a few blocks away.  I was very happy to see three of the kids from a club that Andra and I had taught last week!  Two of them today- a brother and sister- both raised their hands when I invited them to accept Christ.  When I talked to them later, they told me that they had accepted Christ many times already, and I explained to them that they only had to do it once.  However, I prayed with them and recommitted their lives to God, which was very neat!!  Also today, God gave me some funny inspiration as I taught the Bible story.  When I was getting to the part of Ananias, I started thinking, “How can I make this story more interesting?”  God told me two words: scrambled eggs.  So I made it that Ananias was cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast when God came to him in a vision.  From there the joke of scrambled eggs continued into a very great story line, and I had the kids rolling around laughing lots over it!!  I mean, there could have been scrambled eggs in the Bible, right?? 😉  So praise God in inspiring my story-telling skills!

Club #3- This was the one club this week that I taught completely alone.  However, it was very small.  A family with three kids came on Monday and Wednesday, and although they said they would come back, they didn’t come for the last couple days.  Tuesday was probably the most inspiring day for me, because although that family didn’t come, the hostess’s grandchildren were there for a visit.  So I asked if I could do a small club with the girl.  She was very energetic and loved talking to me!  As we did the songs and the Bible story, I could tell that she had never really heard about God or Jesus that much at all.  However, I was very excited to see God plant a seed into her life!  Something she told me out of the blue was, “If you don’t start somewhere…well, you won’t get anywhere at all!”  She started here, and I hope and pray that God will lead her further in the future.

I’m also glad that I’m going somewhere too.  I knew God was leading me to do something this summer, and although it was hard, I’ve started here.  After this week, I’ve noticed how much easier it is to tell the story and be more energetic and understandable with the kids.  My leadership and my confidence have also grown this week, which is such an encouragement to me.  However, I am exhausted and am happy to have a couple days to rest and recharge for next week.

Praise God for what He’s done this week!!  God bless y’all!

Nekaelly Sandstra