Hello and welcome to another update with Quin Sawatsky.

It’s been a lot of great getting to know some of the people of Peace River/Nampa, and getting to partner in what God is doing here.  These last few days have been a lot of fun getting to build relationships with the kids in addition to teaching them.

Teaching the story about Tony has been particularly fun… At one point one of the Clubs started chanting to try and get me to continue after I had ended on a cliffhanger. I also had a kid comment, “A lot of people die in this story!” Yep. 3 deaths in 5 days of clubs. Tony Rossi lived a tragic life, kid.

So yeah, not a lot to report about specific clubs other than that we had 46 kids total, 9 of whom were from unchurched homes, and I’m praying that God uses the messages of the stories and songs to impact these children to choose to have their lives turned around by Jesus.

On that note: Prayer Requests!

• The 2 girls who made decisions this week. Both of them come from unchurched homes. There is a Christian Mom who sees one of these girls fairly often, so pray that she will be able to continue to teach this girl about Jesus and His love for her. And for the other girl, that God will bring people into her life who will be able to continue to encourage her and teach her about Him.
• Focus. It can be tempting for me to get into the groove of teaching these clubs and forget why I’m really doing it. Please pray that God would keep me focused on reaching these children and giving them the opportunity to ask Him into their hearts. And as I am teaching them how they can grow to be more like him, that I will not neglect my own growth but will continue to prioritize spending time with Him in His word and in prayer.
• Safety. I am planning to drive about 10 hours from Peace River to Saskatoon tomorrow.  So if you could pray that I (and Will Persson when I pick him up along the way) will arrive safely so we can teach in Blaine Lake next week, that would be great.

Thank you for your prayers! And thank you for tuning in to today’s update! I’ve been Quin Sawatsky, and this has been the end-of-the-week update. Thank you and goodnight.

My first couple of days here in Peace River/Nampa area have been really sweet.  The first day, in all 3 clubs, pretty much all of the 35 kids who came told me that, yes, they did come go to Sunday School and Church.  So the first day was a lot of fun to teach, as all these Christian kids really seemed to engage well with the entire club, and were pretty well behaved to boot.  Teaching Christian kids is a lot of fun, and it’s a great opportunity to encourage them to grow in their faith.  But because 5-Day Clubs can be a chance to reach kids who will never come to a church, I wasn’t satisfied with just that… and maybe that is small-minded or selfish of me.  But I prayed for God to also bring me the kids who didn’t know him.

Matthew 7:7 says:
“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”
I asked.  And God answered.

Today, when I was talking with the mother of one of the children in the first club, she was talking about how she was from “a different religion”, and I never quite caught what exactly it was she believed…  but I thought it was interesting that she was bringing her daughter to this club even though she believed in this “different religion”.  So even though I wasn’t aware of it, I had the chance to be a witness to this girl whom I had assumed was Christian.  God showed me that He had already been answering this prayer, even before I asked it.

My last club today, God brought me 5 new kids from unchurched homes, and as I was explaining our first song, one of the kids asked me to explain why Jesus was able to take away our sins.  So I took a little sidetrack and got to explain how, because Jesus was perfect, He was able to take the punishment all the rest of us deserved.  One little girl came up to me and told me that she had asked Jesus into her heart that morning, and later in the club I got to lead another little girl in praying to ask Jesus into her heart.  So needless to say I have been blown away at how God has so powerfully and quickly answered this prayer.

Prayer Requests

• Wisdom. It always excites me when kids ask genuine questions about things that they don’t understand about Jesus or the Bible. Please pray that God would give me His words to speak clearly and that he would open the children’s minds to understand.
• Energy. I have 3 clubs this week, all within half an hour of each other, and the last of which is a 3-hour-long VBS. I am only responsible for teaching the usual 1 hour session, and the rest I am just partnering with the church in Nampa as they lead the children in games, crafts, and snacks.  So it’s all a lot of fun, but it is also tiring.
• Purpose. When I’m teaching a club to a room full of kids from Christian homes, sometimes it can be tempting not to give the invitation to accept Christ, because it seems like most if not all of them have made that decision.  Please pray that I would not forget how important it is to give these children that invitation, knowing that there might be even one child who is still in need of Jesus.

Thank you all for reading and praying for me.  I just wanted to say thank you specifically to my CeeGee’s (Christian Grandparents) who are praying for me, Adriaan and Elfrieda van der Bijl. I know that as you support me in asking God to give me the joy, peace, and strength I need to be used by Him, and that He would use me to be a light to these children, He will answer your prayers.  So thank you!

God Bless,
Quin