Posted By: Gwyneth Sichangwa
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So a couple of days ago I was doing my devotions and reading Genesis. The verse that caught my attention was Genesis 2:1 which says “And so the whole universe was completed.” I began thinking about the fact the that the world is not complete without God. Our lives are not complete without Him too, and it really got me thinking about these kids. They need to know who He is for there lives to be complete and this verse really kept me reminded of that.
Club 1: So the moment I walked in through the door, one of the boys said:
“Hey why are you wearing your pajamas?”
Now I was wearing some pants that had a pajama like design but you could tell they were pants. At least 3 times during the club the asked that same question but eve. With the teaeing this club was honestly amazing. We sang 3 songs at the beginning of club and had a great time doing different voices for the memory verse. At the end of club we even had a dance party to the Stop song and Do What’s Right. It was a great club to be at and our hostess even shared with us a bit about the amazing things God has done in their lives. This club was a super encouraging club and it was a great way to end off a Friday.
Club 2: So we got one more kid today so they were able to get the hackey sack which was awesome. There was a boy who was there on Thursday, but he went inside the host’s house because he didn’t want to be apart of the club. I was pretty sad to see that and prayed that God would bring him. Well that’s exactly what happened today and at the beginning he seemed like he could be more of a distraction but by the stories came around he listened well. He even told me a verse and it was awesome to see him opening up. This was a fun club and I’m glad we got the opportunity to teach it.
Club 3: With this one we ended up being about 10 minutes late trying to grab some dinner for later. It’s been such a rush from club to club so we hurried over and in the driveway were 2 new kids. One of the boys had invited them so we had club with the 3 of them. As we were going through the memory verse, the new boy began asking lots of questions like “Does God hate Satan?” and “If God could forgive Hitler?” We wanted to make sure we answered him properly and didn’t brush off his questions. It was a really good club and we had some awesome discussions with our hostess this past week, that have been encouraging. Honestly this was a hard itinerary but an incrediblely rewarding one.
Club 4: This club in Millet has been a bit challenging but the kids are lots of fun. We went through the club and it just felt like it was dragging. The kids were pulling out the lawn and wrestling one another at a point. I honestly wasn’t sure what to do, but we decided to head straight to the Bible story and everyone started listening attentively. At a point one girl even said how she really liked the stories. I was amazed at how I felt like not much was being accomplished, but in all reality things were. These kids were understanding more things about God so that was awesome to see. Afterwards we played Hide and Seek with the kids which was a great time to really hang out with them (since we never really had time for that). Even though last week was a hard week with lots of driving, these kids are honestly one of a kind, so it was totally worth it. (:
This week is busy once again with early morning clubs and late evenings, so please pray for energy to teach this week. Also big thanks to my CG for diligently praying for me this summer. I’m so thankful to have that support.
God Bless,
Gwyneth
Well, let me tell you. I want to start off by apologizing for not blogging near enough. Sorry Al! I’ll try to do better. Here’s a quick update on the past few weeks and some prayer requests for next week.
Athabasca
I had a lot of fun teaching this club! It ran from 11:30-5:00 on Calling Lake Reserve. There were 56 kids, and they were lots of fun. Best of all, I got to help lead 4 children to the Lord. Teaching with Willard as my partner was a blast! Thanks for praying for the kids in this club.
Fort McMurray/Anzac
This was a great week of 3 clubs with lots of church kids. This was the first time 5 Day Clubs have been held in Fort McMurray. Talking with church leaders after the club, it sounded like they were eager to repeat the process next year. Many of the kids were from solid Christian homes and had already made decisions. My job was primarily to have fun, provide additional teaching, and encourage them in their faith.
Elbow/Outlook
Because of the long weekend, this was a 4 Day Club. It was nice to have a bit of a break at home over the weekend. There were only two clubs in this week and the first one had plenty of adults helping, which made it really easy on me. The kids seemed to be really engaged, and I’m hoping the lessons they learned this week will stick with them in the long term.
Leader/Fox Valley/Burstall/Sceptre
This is where I’m going to be next week. Please pray for 1) Energy – This is going to be 4 clubs with lots of driving, but I still need to give everything I have at every club. Pray that I don’t get burned out. 2) Salvation – I haven’t had many kids make decisions since Athabasca because I’ve been with a lot of church kids. Pray that I would be able to lead some kids to Christ next week. Thank you very much for your prayers!
Posted By: Tiara Stuart
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About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
This most recent week has been absolutely nuts! Highlights (?)
- Flat tire! Mud, lots of it! Two stuck vehicles! Lots & lots of rain!
- Two clubs without a hostess or set location!
- Nearly 70 kids in total
Poundmaker was the most incredible club for me this week. Last year, it seemed impossible to host a club there. We had almost no support from the reserve & on the last two days we were locked out of the band hall. This year, we had no hostess and had the freedom to set up where we wanted.
- On the first day, we had 7 kids right off the bat!
- By the second day, we had 17! I was amazed as I had been somewhat nervous about this club, seeing as we’d reached a grand total of 5 kids last year.
- We also reached 15 at Little Pine the first day we held club there, despite having no hostess there either
- We had 10 decisions on the second day. 4 on Poundmaker, 6 on Little Pine.
- On the third day, however, we took a wrong turn and ended up with a flat tire. Before we could deal with the situation, it started raining. We ended up being unable to hold club that day.
- On the last day, it was still raining. The only club we were able to hold that day was at Sweetgrass, and was taught by Jean while my dad & I dealt with the car.
Because we have no hostess on Poundmaker or Little Pine, we couldn’t let the kids know club was cancelled. Jean & I plan to head out there this Sunday to make it up to them. Please pray that we can reach a few more. The harvest is plentiful.
Thank you & God bless.
-Tiara & Jean
Posted By: Nekaelly Sandstra
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So another week has come and gone…wow, I didn’t expect the summer to go by this quickly!! This week I was teaching once again with Danae, and it was a pretty awesome four days! Here’s how it went:
Our first club reached 8 kids, and most of these kids were churched. At first they struggled with paying attention, but over time they started becoming more engaged with the stories and the songs. It was encouraging to see them do quite a few verses and lessons, and to see their knowledge and interest in God grow. For example, one boy had received a free cartoon Bible (The Picture Bible) during the weekend, and he is almost finished it now because he is very excited to read it!!
Our second club reached 11 kids, and most of these kids were younger…around 3-6 years old. Despite this, they paid lots of attention to the stories and liked to ask questions. Today as I was over-reviewing the Tony story- at the part where he was reading about astronomy and was amazed by God- one of the girls asked me, “Where is God? Does He live in outer space?” I explained to her that God lived in heaven but was everywhere, and she asked, “Well, there’s only one God, so how can He be everywhere at once?” It was inspiring to share with her and everyone else how God was truly everywhere and watched over and loved every single person in the world at the same time, but sadly I also had to be brief because we were short on time. Did anyone else struggle with squishing the Tony story into four days?? 😛
Our third club reached exactly 15 kids, and it was especially fun to teach. Most of these kids were older, and it was encouraging to see kids calling their neighbors over so that they could hear about God. One boy who was unchurched was invited over from next door on the first day, and he came every day after that! This club was pretty fun to teach because a lot of these kids were over-energetic and often off the wall, yet made our day! One certain 12-year-old boy was so hilariously sarcastic that at times Danae and I would double over laughing with the kids because he was just too funny!!! At other times, though, we had to be firm and make sure that they were listening to the club, which they usually did well. Two kids got their comic books, many kids did their lessons, and there were quite a few verses said! Also on Thursday, a younger girl raised her hand to accept Jesus, but I didn’t get a chance to talk with her afterwards. Today, however, she said during the Bible story that she had accepted Jesus, which was such a blessing to hear!! For some reason it slipped my mind to talk to her again, but Danae had gone over the Wordless Book with everyone, so it definitely wasn’t a lost opportunity.
Another highlight of the week was that I GOT MY LICENSE!!!! I was quite nervous because I had the same examiner as last time, who was quite picky, and I was letting Satan’s doubts about my driving abilities get to me for a while. But when I was praying with my grandma and she prayed that God would be the driver, I realized what was happening and literally let Jesus take the wheel from there! I passed with exactly 9 points off, but for little things such as a bad shoulder check and not turning sharply enough into a lane. It was also a blessing to have one of my best friends surprise me afterwards with a delicious chocolate shake from good old Tim Horton’s! 🙂 I believe I’m teaching by myself for the last two weeks, unless plans change, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s a bit scary, but also quite nice to drive by yourself!
Prayer Requests for the next week:
- That the weekend will give me time to relax and recharge for my next clubs
- That God will guide me as I start to drive by myself
- That my vehicle would be easy to control (although it has been fixed up, there are still some issues that some mechanics have not been able to figure out…I can still drive it, but at times it’s just tricky to handle)
- That I will have love, energy, and insight from God to pour out to these kids
- That lots of kids will come to these clubs!!
Thanks for your prayers and support everyone! God bless y’all!!
Posted By: Gwyneth Sichangwa
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So yesterday was a good day of teaching clubs. Grace’s bad headache passed over and we had a fun day of teaching.
Club 1: At this club it was an all boy club and they are a great group of kids. They are engaged in the stories and prizes. For some reason they all wanted God’s girl collector cards and I had to run to the car and search for more. I was only able to find one more and the boys were competing on who could tell the memory verse first. Grace and I were very amused and it’s going to be sad leaving them today, but I know that God had them in His hands.
Club 2: So we got to this club and had 7 kids come. They have all been doing their lessons and saying verses which is great to see. So as I was telling the Bible story of Philp, and trying to give the invitation they all started to have questions. One kid wanted to know if I was saved, another wanted to know if I’ve been baptized. So I tried to continue on with the invitation when I kid asked:
“Wait, are we going to get baptized after this?” Then one boy pointed to the kiddie pool in the back and said:
“There’s water over there.”
I had to explain to them that I wasn’t going to baptized them. Afterwards I got to talked to one boy who had made a mailbox decision and it was good just to go over some stuff with him.
Club 3: We had 3 kids come today so that awesome. There is a 4 year old there and as Grace was telling the Bible story she was craning her head to see where I was. Then she spoke up and said that she wanted to sit by me so I moved my chair and sat by her. These kids are very attentive and engaged, so it’s really encouraging to teach them. The 2 brothers didn’t come but one of the boys is going to ask them to go come today. Please pray that will go well, and for this neighborhood. Lots of Muslim families live there and they need to hear the Good News.
Club 4: We drove out to Millet and we had more kids come so that was awesome to see. The girls were a little less hyper at points but overall it felt like it went a lot better than some of these other days. Once I began the Bible story they all were quiet and began to listen really well at the beginning. Closer to the end of the story they all started asking why baptism is done with water and why we don’t use mud. Honestly Grace and I tried not to laugh and answered the questions as best as we could. We talked to the hostess afterwards and she said that there is only 1 girl there who hasn’t made a decision from what she knows. So pray that God will soften this girls heart to be receptive to the spiritual truths.
Today is the last day for this week and it’s crazy to think how much this week has flown by. The summer is going by fast but it’s amazing to hear about all the things God has done, and is doing in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
God bless,
Gwyneth
If I said something like “I almost crashed my car” again, my mom would get really mad 😛 so I have to stick to something a little less stressful I guess.
My first club today was Indian Head (because the kids from Vibank joined my Montmartre club). We had three new kids, bringing our total to 11 registered. They were super excited about earning the hackey sack. I was kind of disappointed though, because the two boys who came for the first time today didn’t really seem to enjoy themselves and one of them even refused the first day package. So pray that maybe they will change their minds and come back tomorrow.
My second club, in Montmartre, had four new kids today so we’re at 22 registered. This is one of my biggest clubs all summer (the biggest so far being 27) so this is pretty exciting. The kids love it and most of them listen pretty well. We had some troublemakers today but we’ll have to see how it goes tomorrow.
This evening in Glenavon my club had two little girls (who actually came in Montmartre on Tuesday), so that was nice. They were a lot calmer than the kids last night and they are probably coming back to Montmartre tomorrow. So it’s kinda funny because I’m not sure if we’ll have any kids in Glenavon tomorrow but at least they’re coming to a club.
This week has had it’s ups and downs but I am ready for tomorrow and excited to finish off this week well. Thanks for praying for me!
Posted By: Rose Williams
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I can’t believe this week is almost over! It felt so short to do only four days! Here’s a quick update:
Club 1: This club has been good. Only five kids today, up to nine in total, though. The kids are excited to try and earn the hackey sack. The weather forecast says it might rain again tomorrow. Luckily we were inside today, but pray that no kids would be held back from coming due to the bad weather.
Club 2: The faithful three children at this club earned the Meet the King book today by doing all seven lessons! They are excited to bring back the questionnaire for it tomorrow. These kids don’t go to church, but when I looked at the lessons, I noticed that one girl wrote “Today!” for when she had taken the Lord Jesus as her Savior. Praise the Lord! And another girl wrote at 5-Day Clubs. Whether that was this year or the year before when she went to clubs, I don’t know, but that’s still exciting! One of these girls said she didn’t have a Bible, so I’m going to try to get her one. Pray for the other child at this club, who did all the lessons but has not accepted Christ. Pray that God would speak to him through the Meet The King book and on our last day of clubs!
Club 3: At the beginning of this club the kids were having trouble paying attention during the memory verse portion, and we were missing two of the kids who were very attentive before. I was wondering how the stories were going to go if they were restless already! So I raised a quick prayer for them to pay attention, then I had the idea during the stories to ask as many questions as I possibly could. These kids are all younger, and this style of storytelling worked to keep them engaged! They really enjoyed it I think.
God continues to show me the beauty of childlike faith through this club. It rained this afternoon, but it stopped a bit before the club. When I got there one of the hostesses’ kids informed me, “My sister prayed that the rain would stop before five-day club, and it did! God answered!” That was really cool to see. Yesterday when I was teaching this club I was talking about Jesus when a 5-year-old piped up, “I believe in Jesus!” The innocence and sincerity of their faith is really neat to see, and it’s a good lesson for us how we need to receive the kingdom of God like a child.
Tomorrow is the last day! Pray that God would speak through me as I give these kids one more chance to accept Christ.
-Rose
Posted By: Quin Sawatsky
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“Welcome to Calgary”, the kids tell me, as a bright sunny day has transformed into a torrential downpour of rain and hail in a matter of an hour. It was sunny when I was teaching the club, so I am now trapped in the entryway of the house without a rain jacket, about 30 meters away from my car. Rather than abandoning “the poor guy” to fend for himself in getting to his car for his next club, the kids kindly lend me a makeshift umbrella: the giant bucket they had been using as a boat in a massive puddle outside the house. By the time I make it to my next club an hour later, it is bright and sunny once more. Welcome to Calgary.
Club 1
We’ve had about 8 different kids at this club, largely from churched homes. There are lots of kids in the neighborhood, who the hostess’s kids have invited, but I believe they are also mostly Muslim families, and so we have not had a lot of them come. Please pray that God would soften the parents’ hearts to allow their children to come. And pray that God would just use the presence of this club as a light to the neighborhood, even if they don’t send their children.
Club 2
The first day of this club, we just had the hostess’s kid to start, but then he invited 4 other kids from around the neighborhood, who just kind of wandered in and out of the club as they felt like it. But at the end of the club, I had the opportunity to lead one of these kids to Christ! On the second day only the hostess’s kid and one boy from the first day returned… I guess there was some sort of event going on in the neighborhood. However, I was just hanging out with the kids after the club ended, and then many of the neighborhood kids came out and were playing sports with us. I invited everyone to join us today, so please pray that God will bring the kids who He wants there. And pray that He will give me opportunities to share His love and the Good News of the Gospel with these kids even if that’s only through hanging around after the club.
Club 3
Club 3 has been a smaller one… both days’ attendance have been the hostess’s two daughters, and different one of their friends each day. All of these girls come from church backgrounds, so just pray that God will use me to encourage and challenge them to continue to grow in their relationship with Him.
Club 4
We have yet to actually meet for this club, as both evenings have been quite rainy and the hostess is renovating her house and doesn’t have any space indoors to have the club. In a normal 5-Day club setting, we probably would have cancelled the club by now, but this might be the only chance some of the children in this neighborhood get to have the gospel clearly proclaimed and be invited to accept Jesus into their heart. So please pray that the weather will cooperate and that we’ll be able to have a club, even if it’s only for a couple of days.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for praying. God bless.
-Quin
Posted By: Gwyneth Sichangwa
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Hey so today was a good day of teaching and just wanted to say thanks for everyone who prayed for us. Grace and I weren’t even tired heading to our club in Millet so that was great. (: Today I didn’t feel sick at all and I’m really happy that was the case.
Club 1: So today the club went from 2 kids to 5 so that was really exciting. They were all really engaged and listened super well. One of the boys who came, Grace had taught last week. Even though he was already familiar with the material, he still got in to everything so that was great. This club has really been encouraging as a teacher and even though these kids are churched, it’s always great to see them excited about stories they already know. At one point Grace as she was telling the story of Noah said:
“So Noah and his family got on board with his plan to build a boat”
Boy: “Haha I see what you did there.”
He honestly was so amused by that unintended pun. They are a great group of kids and I’m glad we get to go back tomorrow.
Club 2: So here the club went from 5 kids to 8 kids. At the beginning I was a little sad that one of the girls didn’t come back. Then 10 minutes into club she came with 3 friends so that was exciting. She brought her brother and it was great that he came because he was outgoing. That really helped the rest of the kids. Also we had a mailbox decision so that was super exciting!
Club 3: With this club the 2 Muslims boys didn’t come today. But we found out that they actually weren’t really strong Muslims, and that one family member had actually gone to church a couple of time in Lebanon. We were glad to hear that but continue to pray for these boys. Today we had 5 kids so that was awesome to see and 2 of them were siblings who we had advertised to. Apparently they had guests over and couldn’t come yesterday but were able to come today. The kids all listened and were engaged and I know 2 of them should be coming back tomorrow. Prayer that more kids will come, especially since there a lot of Muslims in the area.
Club 4: Thankfully we made it on time for this club today. All 6 girls came, but they were way too energetic today again. We moved inside because it had rained and it felt like they were all over the place. However they did calm down for the Bible story which was good. But closer to the end they got distracted and it began pretty difficult to get through the Wordless Book. At a point one of the girls said God was made of money, and as I was trying to correct her theology one girl said:
“God isn’t made of money, but He is valuable.”
It was encouraging to know that even with all the stuff happening that these kids are still getting stuff from the club. But continue to pray for this club and for Grace and I to have the energy for this club.
Also on the way back from Millet Grace began having a hard time seeing properly and now she is on the couch with a bad headache. Pray that this won’t be a problem and for good health to continue driving and teaching.
God Bless,
Gwyneth
Well, I didn’t actually, but I thought it would make an exciting title. And driving on the grid roads today was pretty interesting, with all the rain, it was pretty muddy. There was some scary moments (and I wasn’t even driving that fast…) but God was watching over me, and I think I’m getting to be a semi-decent driver on gravel 🙂
My first club today had just the two same host kids, so we’re going to be joining up with Montmartre tomorrow. So that’s nice for me because it cuts back the amount of driving I have to do, and I can actually be at my VBS in Indian Head for the first hour too.
At Indian Head, there wasn’t any new kids but almost all of the kids from yesterday came back. I got lessons handed in to me and verses were said so the kids are participating and enjoying themselves. The Pastor and his wife are just lots of fun too, so that’s great.
In Montmartre, we had a bunch of new kids. I think we’re at 18 registered, and it turns out that my cousins who used to live there in Montmartre were camping close by and are friends with my hostess, so they came and that was fun to see them.
I went back to the church in Glenavon at 3:00, even though we changed the time of the club to 6:30, just to make sure that any kids we forgot to tell about the time change didn’t show up. So there was no kids then, but I’ll probably go back just to make sure tomorrow. If kids show up then and in the evening, I guess I’ll just run the club twice. So I also went at 6:30 and 7 kids came then! So that was lots of fun, they were pretty rowdy but a few of them listened really well and I’m hoping they can come back tomorrow.
I don’t really have any specific prayer requests today, just patience and energy as this is a busy busy week for me, and that the kids at each club would listen and learn something from the stories, regardless of if they are three or thirteen.
Thanks so much everyone, and again, especially to my CG Elfrieda. You are a huge blessing!! Thank you so much!
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