I just finished my week of clubs in Caronport, Briercrest, and Avonlea! Much driving, but it went well!

Club 1, Caronport: 28 kids and a whole lot of mosquitos came to this club! Just kidding, the bugs weren’t too bad. Nearly all the kids went to church and had already made decisions or were too little to be ready for that. Sometimes with so many kids, many of them younger ones (the oldest was 9) they got a bit distracted, but we made it. Thursday was a difficult day with distracted kids, and on Friday I was very tired when I woke up and I was not feeling ready to teach! But I prayed for strength and asked Vangi to pray, and the club went well! Praise God! And there was a 6-year-old girl who goes to my church who made a mailbox decision, which is pretty neat!

Club 2, Briercrest: This club had 13 kids, and thankfully it was in an air-conditioneed church basement. On Thursday after the Bible story I did a different sort of invitation and invited anyone who wanted to ask Jesus into their heart to come talk to me after prayer and one more song. I prayed, and then right before we were about to sing, a little girl (I’ll call her Clara, that’s not her real name) said, “I just heard God talk to me!”

“What did He say?” I asked.

“He told me not to do bad things any more.” Clara said. Such childlike faith in the voice of God! After the song Clara and a few other girls came up to talk to me, and as I went through the wordless book some other kids gathered around and they were all very quiet and attentive. Three girls asked Jesus into their hearts including Clara, and another one told me she had while doing her lessons the night before. Praise God! Only one of these four girls had a Bible, so I gave them Bibles. Clara is five, and she said she couldn’t read yet, but she was so excited to get a Bible. I put a bookmark in the Gospel of John and told her to ask someone to read it to her, and to read the Bible as soon as she knew how. She said she would. Clara was so excited about Jesus, but she is also so young. Pray for her and these other girls, that they would read their Bibles and remember their commitment.

Club 3, Avonlea: Our number of kids at this VBS went down a bit every day for the first four days, which I think was a bit disappointing for the people running it, and how we couldn’t really get them to bring friends, but thankfully for the last day it went up again. There were 21 in total. They were fun to teach and good at listening because there were lots of helpers to keep the kids quiet! On Monday three boys asked Jesus into their hearts! I gave them Bibles. One of these boys had just came on Monday and Tuesday, and then we didn’t see him again His friend said he was at home. He didn’t go to church either. Pray that these boys might get the oppertunity to go to church and read their bibles and learn more.

So there were eight decisions in total from these clubs! Most weeks I’ve taught there have only been a few or just one mailbox decision, so that really encouraged me to see kids taking this next step of faith. God has given me a burden for these dear, sweet children who are going to have so many tough choices as they grow up in a sinful world. I can only pray that this week of 5-day clubs would start them on a journey of following the Lord through the trials they will face.

Next week (last week!) I am down in Esteven. Pray for safety on the roads, and that the joy of the Lord would be my strength this last week! I discovered on Friday that my own strength is running right out. Pray that I would finish strong!

Rose

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I recieved from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 

The week of lots of driving has been going well so far! I apologize for the rhymey title, I couldn’t resist! Here’s the update on individual clubs:

Club 1, Caronport: This club continues to be a lot of fun with kids who I know from church and Awanas! They have been doing well with bringing friends and are up to 22 kids! No decisions yet in this club, but I believe a lot of the kids have made a decision already. They are chatty, but have been doing pretty well with paying attention. Continue to pray that they would be focused through the club. They certainly are not shy with me, these kids!

Club 2, Briercrest: So today when I was telling the story of Noah this girl (The same girl who was really sweet about wanting to pray for Zacchaeus on the first day!) got really sad when I said that everyone who wasn’t on the ark died. Her caring is so sweet! These kids are really good listeners, and though they are the smallest club with 13 kids, they have done more lessons than any other club! I had some kids put up their hands to receive Jesus at the end, but then they didn’t come talk to me. I’ll try to talk to them tomorrow. Pray that they would be responsive!

Club 3, Avonlea: Yesterday at this club three boys accepted Christ! It was so special! And they were three that paid close attention during the stories. I gave them some New Testaments, because they didn’t have bibles. Then today one of the boys came up to me at the very beginning when I was sitting there with the clipboard taking attendance, and before he had even come close he starting saying his memory verse: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!” He was so excited! He is 6, and on his lesson that I got back today for when he had taken the Lord Jesus as his savior he wrote yesterday’s date! It’s so neat that he is taking his new faith seriously and remembering his commitment!

And one of the other boys who accepted Christ came up to me afterward and said he wanted to pray. I asked if he would like to pray, or if I should pray, and he asked if we could pray at the same time. So we did. I think he is trying to figure out how to talk to god. It’s cool be able to give him some guidance. Tomorrow if I get a chance I’ll show him the Lord’s prayer in his new Bible.

So things are going well! I’m praying that God will speak to the hearts of a few more kids to receive Jesus this week. They seem to really be listening carefully to the stories. The driving part is going well, and Adventures in Odyessy helps pass the time between clubs! Thanks for your prayers!

-Rose

I didn’t quite finish write about week 4, but my clubs in Moose Jaw finished up well! Just the one mailbox decision this week, but I was able to get the girl a New Testament and give ones to the other unchurched kids in the club too.

Today and for the rest of the week I am in the towns of Caronport, Briercrest, and Avonlea, a club in those first two, and a VBS at the last one.

Club 1: Since I live in Caronport, I knew a lot of the kids at this club, which was fun! And I got to meet some new ones too. I think there were 15 there today. Most of them are younger, under 10. They did really well in paying attention during the Tony story, but some were not listening well to the Bible story. So pray that their attention would hold up and that I’d have wisdom in shortening the Tony story a bit.

Club 2: This one was in the town of Briercrest. I think there were 10-15 kids. It was held at a church, but the majority of kids did not regularly attend a church, and they didn’t know most of the questions I asked about the Bible stories. Again, most are younger kids except one 12-year-old girl. I think she felt a bit out of place. Pray that she would keep coming! And there was also one girl who showed up at the very end, just in time for the last song, and when I wrote her name down for attendance and asked if she usually went to church, she said no, and that this was her first time in a church! She is planning on coming for the whole club tomorrow. Pray that her heart would be soft towards the gospel!

There was one girl in this club who was really talkative, and when I was telling the Bible story of Zacchaeus and talking at the beginning about the bad stuff he was doing, she said, “I just wanna pray for him right now, that he wouldn’t do those bad things anymore!” And she folded her hands and closed her eyes are prayed silently for a moment. It was kind of adorable! After the club I explained to her that we didn’t need to pray for Zacchaeus because he did meet Jesus and stop doing bad things, and he wasn’t alive anymore. And I told her it was good to pray for people who do bad things. She was so sweet in wanting to pray for others!

Club 3: This club was a VBS in the town of Avonlea. I had never done a VBS before, but it went well!. 19 kids today, and hopefully more will come. They did a good job paying attention, more so during the Tony story than the Bible story. So pray that their attention would hold out and that they would bring friends!

When I got home today I was pretty tired after driving a total of 190 km. Please pray for safety and alertness on the roads. The highways are single lane and narrow, but fortunately there is not much traffic. When I finished the day I did have a headache, so pray that wouldn’t happen tomorrow.

That’s all for now! There are really sweet kids at these clubs who really need to know about God. Pray that they would do their lessons and learn the truths through them, and their hearts would be soft towards the gospel!

-Rose