Hey everyone, I hope the rest of you teachers had a great day teaching. My clubs were good, with 11 in Lebret (1 new friend) and 20 in Balcarres (4 new friends). Again the clubs went well with kids who listened and participated. There’s not much different from yesterday.
It’s kind of sad to think I won’t be teaching the bible story again this summer. I love today’s bible story, of how King David showed kindness to Mephibosheth by basically adopting him into his family, although the majority of kings would never have done that. Our memory verse shows that God has done the same for us, by showing us kindness and love and actually giving us the opportunity to become his children. I often marvel at the fact that God would love me. I look at myself and sometimes I think “what person could possibly stand me, never mind the king of the universe?” I know my thoughts and what a terrible attitude I have, and how I am often distracted and, honestly in many ways, how I’m spiritually unprepared for the job I have teaching these precious children.
Yet God knows my heart even more than I do. He created it and he knows it better than anyone else. But when he looks at me, somehow he does so with love. Love, and kindness, and forgiveness. The thought brings tears to my eyes…he loves me and wants me to love him back. That he loves me so incredibly much that he would send his own son to die, for me, a sinner. Someone who was living in blatant rebellion to him. God loves me enough, that not only did he send his son to die for me, but he also invites me into his family. Adopts me as his own daughter, beloved and cherished. He looks at me and says, “Olivia Theresa Mile, my precious daughter, I love you and I want you to be with me.”
It’s shocking how he chooses to love me. I am far from deserving of such love. But I am grateful. So, so grateful. I have failed him over and over, but every time, he invites me back with open arms. In fact, there is not one single thing that can separate me from God’s love or take it away from me. The least I can do is try, with my skewed view of love, to love him back and to do my best to spread his love to others.
That’s why I love teaching this story so much. This is honestly probably my favourite story to teach out of the five we have, because even coming from a solid, Christian home where I have two loving earthly parents already, the idea that God would literally adopt me as his own daughter has always amazed me, and I see my amazement mirrored on the faces of the kids I teach, every week. God’s love is so amazing, and getting to tell kids about it is probably my favourite thing to do.
Every year I hit this point in the summer. I usually end week 5 tired, kinda grouchy, and ready for a week off (it sounds terrible, but it’s true). But then once I actually start teaching week 6, I realize, “this is the last time I get to do this for an entire year…” and it’s heartbreaking. I’m so glad that I still have 3 more days with these kids.
A lot of the kids in my clubs this week are churched, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve made a decision yet. Just today I saw on one lesson that a little girl who’s mom is helping at the VBS decided to follow Christ last night while she was doing her lesson. Please pray for these kids. They are all so sweet and they all desperately need Jesus. So pray that he would soften their hearts to him, and if they already have, then I would be able to encourage them farther in their walks with him. Thank you so much.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
Posted By: Crystal Durell
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So first of all, I’m teaching with God this week, he’s my only partner… and I’ve come to learn a few things about myself. That I can do actions good, and I can turn the pages of visuals good… BUT WHEN EXPECTED TO DO BOTH AT THE SAME TIME BOTH SUFFER TERRIBLY!!!!
So please, pray for some extra help in that area.
Second- CLUBS!
Club 1: it’s a really fun club, we have some hindu kids coming, and today a group of aunt’s and a grandfather came today. The grandfather didn’t look very impressed, and they wanted to check out the club. I’m a bit nervous as they are going to be sitting in on the club tomorrow, but the kids seem to be really into learning about Jesus. Even if they aren’t happy just pray that the kids will keep coming and that God will take care of them. Also, some unchurched kids have been coming and they are having some problems listening to the stories, and they don’t want to do the songs. (In the middle of ‘let’s get started’ I said, “if you dont stand up you don’t get prizes.” To which they immediately stood up) Not just them, everyone seems to have some problems listening especially at the end. Pray for listening ears!
Club 2: up a few more kids! Most of them younger kids. But they really like the songs *so refreshing from my first club* also they seem really interested in the stories, just pray for these guys to open their hearts up to God.
Club 3: we had more kids! A few a really rambunctious… some who genuinely want to listen. Some churched, some unchurched, its a pretty healthy mix. We had a girl who went to a club last week, but she loves clubs so much, she came back this week! (For stories I swore her to secrecy, so anytime that I have to pause she smiles and says “I know what happens! But I can’t tell anyone.” So cute XD ) Not only, but the unchurched girls came back! Praise! They really want to know how Zacchaeus’s story ends, but every time I get to it, their mom comes and picks them up to go! Please pray that there will be time to tell this story! (And for listening ears)
That’s it for clubs, but also some stuff that’s going on that can best be described as ‘some serious personal biz’. I’m trying my best to keep it from interfering with my job, but it’s difficult because my job is not just the 3 hours a day, in my clubs, it’s all the time after when I spend it with brothers and sisters in christ, and when I am playing with the kids before or after a club. I dont want anything to get in the way of what God wants me to do.
For those who pray, thank you for your prayers.
Over and out! God bless.
Posted By: Grace Sichangwa
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I can barely believe that it is already Week 6. This summer has been hard, and filled with hard work, but God has been good. It has been so encouraging to rest in Him, knowing that He supplies all that is necessary for His work… Today was rather eventful. Here goes… (And yes, I posted 2 blogs tonight in order to make up for my lack of internet last week).
Club 1: I had taught in this neighbourhood earlier this summer, so Gwyneth and I decided to be prepared for repeat kids. We had gone advertising with out hostess the night before, and it seemed fairly promising. The kids came gradually as the club progressed. We initially began with three kids, and thinking I was so clever, I brought the Do What’s Right visual. In the middle of explaining the song, half of the visual comically fell out of the book… To be honest, I wasn’t too sure if it was a sign of what was to come for the rest of the day, haha. The total attendance for this club was 6.
ChangChang Adventure: While we were waiting for the next club, we decided to wait in a parking lot. I tried to park into the tight lot, and I underestimated the amount of room that I need to turn. As a result I technically had my first collision 🙁 I scraped the back end of the car 🙁 As I have learned from my vehicle issues in the past, I immediately called Mr. D, unsure of what to do. I began to write a handwritten note with my number on it, and I saw the owners of the car come. I spoke to them, and showed them where I had impacted their car. Clearly in this situation God was at work, because after I explained to them, I could not believe their reaction! They looked at it for a bit, said it was okay, and told me to have a good day! Ha! God is awesome, clearly even when I am not. After this, we headed to the next club…
Club 2: Gwyneth had taught a few of the children in this club earlier, and these kids were a blast! They were full of energy, but as a result, time seemed to constantly run out. It was encouraging to hear Gwyneth share about the different things that she had seen God do in the lives of the kids in the past – it is awesome to get to watch what God is doing in these young hearts. Out total attendance is 10.
Club 3: After a real time squeeze in arriving on time, Gwyneth and I ended up making it to this club (Side note: Praise the Lord for Google Maps for Smartphones!)…. and man, I have experienced tough clubs, but this one was tough. The brokenness that I could sense from some of these kids, was crazy. I knew it was going to be a tough club, but it was realized fairly soon. When I mentioned a Bible, and showed it to the kids, most of them had never seen or heard of a Bible before…. This club was tough. It was a real learning curve. But at the end, one of the kids explained, “Club was fun. It was kind of boring at times, but pretty fun.” I’ll take that review, haha! Our total attendance is 7.
Club 4: This club was out in Sherwood Park, in a park near our host’s home. We arrived, and for the longest time, it seemed as though the only people visiting the park were dog walkers. At one point, I noticed a boy playing at the playground, but since I had no invitations, I thought it might be weird to this child if I tried to invite the child (especially since no parent was in sight). With about 20 minutes to go, a boy walks into the park, and asks if we are having a 5 Day Club, and that same boy on the playground… well, apparently they were brothers. It was encouraging to have club with these boys. Our attendance for this club is 2.
Prayer Requests:
– Praise the Lord that my mistake while driving worked out well. However, I could use prayer for concentration and focus while driving – I know I’ve covered at least 6K since training began.
– For the kids in Club 1 & 2 that have attended prior. That they would be continue to learn more about the Father throughout club this week, and that the Holy Spirit would give Gwyneth and I wisdom in how we can facilitate that.
– Club 3; overall we just need wisdom in how to teach, and run this club effectively. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the Spiritual eyes, and ears of these little children. Many of them have never heard about God before.
– I had been suffering from some head pain, and irritation since my accident, haha. Prayer would be appreciated that the Lord would give me protection, and healing.
– Overall energy, passion, compassion, and Holy Spirit awareness as we finish off this summer.
Praise be to Him! The One who alone refreshes, and sustains!
(Funny story real quick, behind the title: The 10th song on the 5 day clubs CD is called “Finishing Strong”, and I don’t know, I just can’t stand the sound of it. But it has a good message about fighting the battle to the very end and so here we are on our last week and so I thought it would be an appropriate song for the week)
I can hardly believe it, it’s the last week of teaching! This summer has gone by so fast and God has done some incredible things…entering this last week is exciting and kind of sad at the same time.
First, I’ll apologize for not blogging much last week. My laptop was having trouble connecting to the internet at my billets so it wasn’t always working properly.
Last week was awesome. I stayed with my billets from week 2 again, and that was lots of fun, to spend more time getting to know them. We went on lots of adventures and had a lot of fun. As for clubs, my first club ended with 25 kids, my second club had 26, and my VBS had 5 registered by the end of the week. Needless to say it was a pretty crazy morning with 51 kids, but it was lots of fun, and both hostesses were encouraged by the good turnout we had.
This week I have a club in Lebret and a VBS in Balcarres. It’s a bit of a slower week than what I’ve had so it’s nice to have some time in the morning to relax and have some time off. The club is at the house of some friends of ours, at 3:00. This afternoon we had 10 kids, 7 of which were my hostess’ children (and that’s a mix of biological, adopted, and foster kids. They’ve got a really neat story.) The kids listened pretty well…actually I hardly heard a word from them the entire hour. So that was nice, they were really well behaved.
I was super excited for the VBS in Balcarres, because I taught it last year, and they requested me back this year again, so I was just so happy that I get to teach it again. It was just as awesome as I had hoped it would be. I think last year we had like 15 by the end of the week and today we already had 17, and they’re expecting more later this week. And the kids kinda remembered me and I remembered most of them so it was just so much fun to reconnect with them.
I’m really happy with how this last week has started out, and even though it’s bittersweet, I’m excited to finish out this summer really well, so please pray that I would do that. That I could stay strong to finish off my last two clubs with enthusiasm and strength and I wouldn’t start relying on my own strength now, but that I would allow God to carry me to the end. Thank you so much everyone!
Posted By: Gwyneth Sichangwa
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Hey so last week was a fun time of teaching. Sorry I didn’t really post, but I thought I should give a quick conclusion before talking about my clubs today. At my first club last week I had a mail box decision there as well which was super exciting. It was a good week of teaching that was super exhausting, but to know that 2 new names are now written in the Book of Life makes it all worth it.
This week the ChangChang’s are back to teach one last week in Edmonton. We have 4 clubs and I seriously have no energy left, so please pray for strength, energy and just patience with the kids.
Club 1: This club is on the exact same street of a different club Grace taught a couple 2 weeks ago. We decided to bring in our extra story from last year Pilgrim’s Progress. It was great that the kids are engaged so please pray that we can continue to encourage these churched kids in their faith.
Club 2: At this club I had a great surprise when the girl I lead to Christ last week came. It was so awesome to see her understanding and growing even in that short amount of time. Continue to pray for this girl and just that Grace and I can continue pouring into her life. The kids we do have are very energetic so pray that they will calm down for tomorrow. There are also lots of unchurched kids so pray that their hearts will be soften and receptive.
Club 3: This club had 7 kids but during the club there were 3 that left. But these kids were all over the place and it was very hard to get through the small amount we did. But during the club all of the kids asked us what a Bible was. I was a little shocked by this so we just went through a verse and the Wordless Book. The one girl there said that it was fun but boring at some points. I was glad that for her first time being exposed to Christianity she was excited for tomorrow. Pray for these kids as we continue to just plant seeds at this club.
Club 4: For this club we are in the park and for the first 30 minutes or so we didn’t have any kids. As we waited there was a boy who came and talked with the host’s son, but didn’t want to stay the moment he knew it was Christian. Please pray for this boy and that he will come to know who God is. But with this club there ended up being 2 brothers with our host’s 2 kids. We didn’t have time to go through a story but it was a good time. So pray that more kids will come and that we can continue to encourage these kids.
God Bless,
Gwyneth
Posted By: Crystal Durell
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After intense examination, I can assure you that I am in fact alive and did *not* drop off the face of the earth for a month. (Vacation, terribly sorry to all of you)
First of all, some intense catch up. My Kamsack week had a total of 6 decisions! God is so great!
But now to the present (or perhaps more recent past)
Assiniboia! What a lovely place!
First club we had 13 kids! So many of them paid attention and did really well, we have some hindu and unchurched kids so please pray, but praise! We had an awesome turnout for the first day!
Second club: we had 8 girls, they also listen pretty good, but a few kids put their hands up for the invitation and didn’t come after, so just pray for their hearts to be opened. (And for the little boy who took one look at us and ran back to his mom saying “I don’t want to go anymore!!!”)
Club 3: I’m told this club will fluctuate… but today we had 4 kids. Some of whom are a tad restless, and some of whom are unchurched and very interested in the stories… but left before they could recieve any prizes or the invitation. So please pray for listening ears and for kids to come back tomorrow.
Also a bit of an extra prayer request, I’m guessing something amazing is going to happen, because some attacks are getting pretty intense. But I know God’s right here with me.
God Bless!
Posted By: Rose Williams
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I was driving down to Estevan yesterday, on Sunday, and I’ll start off by saying that the three-hour road trip was uneventful for the first two hours. I was about 15 or 20 minutes out of Weyburn, it was 7:30 PM, and I was driving along when suddenly the cruise control quit and the radio stopped playing Adventures in Odyessy. The electricals on the car began to go and it was behaving very strangely. I pulled over, texted Vangi to pray, turned the car off… And it didn’t start again. It was dead.
A police officer stopped and asked if he could call a tow truck for me to take me back to Weyburn. I instead decided to call Mr. Durston, figuring he’d know what to do. Mr. Durston called the Ryans, who lived not too far away, and Mr. Ryan came out to rescue me. The car started again with a boost, and I drove it to the Ryan’s farm, left it there and took the Ryan’s vehicle down to Estevan, getting there almost two hours later than planned! It was a bit difficult to find my billets house in the dark, as I couldn’t see any house numbers! I was very glad to get finally get there! I hoped it would be easier to find my way around Estevan in the daytime!
So… pray for my car. It’s one of the 5-Day Clubs vehicles, the DJ Honda. It’s pretty old, and it could be that the alternator went. Pray that it’s a fixable problem and that it would be reliable for me to drive around Estevan and back to Regina on Saturday. Thank you to all who prayed for me when I was stranded beside the road on Sunday, and shoutout to the Ryans for helping me and letting me use their vehicle!
So despite all that, my clubs went pretty well today. The first club had 6 kids, all young ones under 7. They were pretty good at listening and seemed to enjoy the club. The hostess said some new ones could come tomorrow, so hopefully this club will grow!
My second club was in Bienfait, a small town just out of Estevan. There were 7 kids, mostly younger ones again. One girl was walking by right before the club started, so she came. Pray that she would come again tomorrow! My CD player died twice during this club, so we sang the end of the song without music! Hopefully it continues to work for the rest of the week. It did work at the next club.
My last club was in the afternoon, and I got a bit turned around trying to find it. I missed the turn at least three times, drove in circles, prayed for guidance, freaked out people by not answering my cell phone, attempted to use the GPS in the Ryan’s vehicle, which was both confusing and helpful, but mostly helpful, because I did find my way there! If I had been in the DJ Honda I wouldn’t have had that GPS, but maybe I wouldn’t have missed the turn! The hostess tried to call me, and I ended up missing 5 calls on my phone because I was frantically trying to find the club and it didn’t register in my mind that the buzzing sound while I was driving was my cell phone ringing! Oops!
I got to the club 25 minutes late, and did a very speedy memory verse time and Little Rascal story, and finished the Bible story only 5 minutes late. There was about 10 kids, I think. Despite being rushed, it went well, and I think I can find it better tomorrow! At least that was only the first (and hopefully last!) time I have gotten lost trying to find a club!
Now that I know where all the clubs are, I think it will be a good week! Pray that the kids hearts would be open to accept the gospel. While I was giving the invitation at the last club, asking if anyone wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts, and a kid said, “I don’t want to do that.” Pray they would receive the Word with eagerness!
-Rose
Posted By: Andra Ramstead
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Wow!! Tomorrow is the first day of the LAST week of 5-day clubs. One week left! This has been the fastest, best summer of my entire life so far! I can honestly say that I have never felt the joy of the Lord like this before! But even though I feel God’s joy and strength, the devil still finds a way to creep on in. today i have to admit i have started to feel slightly jealous of everyone with a partner. i have done a lot of weeks without a partner, and now, thinking of the last week i admit i have been wishing for a partner to make the last week fun and exciting. But i realized that this is where God wants me, this is where he wants all of us.
i know that God is going to be working this week, just like he has during all of the other weeks.
our summer is almost over, but the battle will not be over until the lord returns for us. stay strong this week. the devil will try to sneak in and take away the joy of the lord. it may be by sparking jealousy in your hearts, or it may be by causing you to be sick, maybe you won’t see any decisions in your clubs this week. but i know that i always have to remember and pray, God’s will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
praying for you all this week!
Prayer Requests:
That I will stay focused on the Lord and His work, and not let my mind wonder to the things that seem to make life fun and exciting. If God wants me to be teaching on my own this week, then that is what I will do. But I know it won’t be easy this week.
Thank you so so much to everyone who has prayed for me throughout the summer! Knowing that people are praying for me helps me so much! God is using your prayers!
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