What does Kids club look like?

My CTEN pastoral care team/leaders from the home front, Bob and B, were here to visit me this past week, and with the blessing of their time here, they were also able to capture some great pictures of what happens on a Friday at Kids Club (His Ark) and pictures of some of my students at Bizweni (the special needs school) !

Before I show those, though I just want to take the time to really say how COMPLETELY BLESSED I am by Bob & B, Jack & Carol, and all of my other CTEN staff!!! I was a little anxious about meeting Bob and B for the first time when they came to visit last week, but like I said it went so well!!! They asked lots of questions to get to know me and my ministries (past and present) better, helped in so many ways, and just showed genuine compassion for me. They made a list of things to pray over me when they’re back home.  I just have to retell a moment of history here: I’m just still in awe of how God opened the doors in February 2012 and then used a complete stranger to confirm to me that CTEN was SUPPOSED to be my sending agency. When my mom found CTEN online, I was literally just crying on the couch thinking all of my doors to be in South Africa on a long term basis had been closed. I think about this often and am in constant gratitude that He led to me to a ministry that truly lives up to it’s mission. If ANYONE is looking to be a missionary, I will strongly encourage them to look into CTEN. I know they have been a vital part of my time here!!!!

 

Here’s what a typical day of Kids club looks like! Enjoy!!!

First, we meet as a team an hour before the kids are supposed to come, so we can pray together, review the lesson &  the materials/props needed for the puppets and Bible story, and discuss anything we need to know about depending on the week!

Then we head to our open field on dry days or the paved street corner on rainy days (or after many days of rain!) to get things ready!!! Putting up the behavior balloons, setting up the tarps and blankets for the kids to sit on, and getting the music on so the kids and leaders can dance together, and so those that are close enough can hear it is almost time to start!

Here are some our kids waiting for the rest of their friends to come!

 

 

One of our regular attendees, Valencia, enjoyed all of the extra hugs, spins, and love with Bob and B at Kids Club this week!!!

Then while I drive a few volunteers through the township to call kids to Kids Club with our megaphone , the rest of our staff play with our kids. You will see Anja, a German girl who is volunteering with another organization & His Ark, playing with some of our little ones while they wait!

Finally we get to start! We start with our prayer and talk to the kids about their week and get ready to play games! To play the games, they have to remember the memory verse from the week before. We only have a few that are really good about remembering the verses, but we are always to come up with fun ways to help them remember the verses! Thank you to everyone in my home church, Community Bible Fellowship, that taught me songs through Well-Versed Kids and Adventure Club!!!! They have come in HANDY!!!

We then play a crazy game. This picture isn’t from this past week, but it captures one of our more crazy moments in games!

It is then time for worship!!! I’ve loved teaching the kids new songs- many of the same songs I used at home in CBF’s youth ministries!! They are really getting good with “Trading my Sorrows”!

Next, comes our puppet show!!! Jack and Jill help teach us what new words mean and talk about how we can do what we talk about in real life. We are still working on our puppeteer skills, but with time we will look like pros!

Then we teach the kids our new memory verse for the week that is based around our theme or lesson for the day! We are always trying to find more fun ways to teach the kids the verses- using some of those same songs from Well-Versed Kids - and also teaching or showing a more hands-on mini-lesson about the verse looks like. For example, this week we were talking about waiting patiently on God and Anja showed us how when we eat a banana that is still green it doesn’t taste as nice as the one we WAITED for to turn yellow! Simple is best!

The Bible stories are always fun to do- with some serious creativity to bring some of these stories to life with limited space, supplies and staff, but we always seem to manage to get the story across! You may recognize this photo, as I’ve already used it on the blog, but sadly there were no pics from the day Bob and B were here. I think that is because they were the only adults left to watch the kids as the rest of us were in the skit!

We then wrap up our formal time with our kids, praying with them for the rest of their week, that God will protect them, keep them warm, and keep their tummies full.

Then the craziness really begins as we begin feeding our kids. We’re trying many different methods to keeping the chaos to a minimum, currently using a numbering system when they register/check-in at the beginning that has seemed to work well. Here are some photos of eating time:

And always, our wonderful helper….couldn’t do what we’ve been able to do without her help….more about that coming soon!!! Love my Pauline!!! <3

I hope you’ve enjoyed your day at a DRY kids club with me!! Stayed tuned for what it looks like when it rains!! Haha!

Thanks again to Bob and B for everything- but especially providing us with some really nice photos of what we are doing on a Friday! I’m always too busy to really have much time to take a photo!