Since the start of the new school year, our Woman's Bible Study has been focusing on the fruit of the spirit and other biblical characteristics. I have enjoyed studying the topic with the ladies at church as we look to strengthen the characteristics in our own lives each day. Let me remind you of the Fruit of the Spirit in this post and how I have seen God showing me these characteristics through all the activities the past few weeks.
English Class (Group A)
Joy.My first class of students are filled with joy! They come to class with smiles and energy. The first students to arrive to the class are eager to greet their classmates when they arrive, and they excitedly ask to repeat favorite games, read stories, and add vocabulary to their projects. Currently, BINGO is this class's favorite game, so I create easy 3x3 boards with our vocabulary and the winners are rewarded a single Skittle. It is so simple, sometimes I surprised they are still so excited to play. (Even my translator is thrilled when he sees it in the lesson plan!) Though I had thought their excitement in the game rested on the little piece of candy they could win, the students further surprised me when one asked, "Can I read the BINGO cards this turn?" I explained that if the student draws the BINGO cards then she can't play and win the candy. Still, she asked to read the cards. I passed the cards to the student, who sat in front of the class and read the vocabulary aloud for her classmates to play. Immediately, I had a queue of another four students begging to have a turn playing the "teacher" and reading the vocabulary. My translator laughed saying, "It is more of a reward for them to be the teacher for 10 seconds than a little piece of candy." It's the little joys that make this class so special.
An autumn scavenger hunt
New vocabulary for our houses
Self-Control.
I have been trying to get my second English Class into a deeper level of English by encouraging them to use the vocabulary they already know to help them understand the context of a short reading exercise. To do this better, I've been creating activities that review vocabulary they should be familiar with (many of which are lessons I have taught them in previous years) and gradually increasing the level of the activity for those who are able to keep building on their English. In the lesson last week, each student had to show a level of self-control as I places two pieces of chocolate in front of them. Working together, the students had the task to create a Venn Diagram with English Vocabulary to compare the American Hershey Chocolate and the Belgian Truffle. Even though they had to wait to eat their treat, it appears to be one of their favorite activities so far!
Chocolate Comparison
A class of self-controlled students
Gentleness.
"Gentle" is a word that is often used with toddlers as they are still not aware of their own strength when playing with a friend; yet, the time with these toddlers is truly gentle. Naturally, they are lively and full of energy, and still they are quick to sit on my lap, grab my hand, or give a quick hug. The time with these Littles is truly precious, and I am glad to be a part of their learning development. We had a theme about Spiders and about Cookies in the past two weeks - two very contrasting themes, but both fun nonetheless! Last week when we were sitting down for Circle Time, I was waiting for all the kids to come to the circle, however, one Little wasn't going to wait and she started leading our Hello Song for everyone. I looked to the mothers and said, "Apparently, I'm out of a job!" (Though being able to sing the songs without me is exactly what I hope for these growing Littles!)
Play-doh Cookies
Spider's Web and Spider Creations
Goodness.Last week, Czech Television came to club in Boskovice and to our new club location that we are preparing in Letovice to create a segment about Elim! The kids ere excited to show skills and trick in front of the camera, and some brave kids even volunteered for a short interview. It is so good to see the interest the news has in our clubs and we are excited to share all that we are doing for all of Cwch to see.
Time with the kids in Boskovice
Love.
I love the time I get with these girls in Connect Club. They have so much fun in fellowship together and adore the special time we have for group. After finishing the story of they Israelites crossing the Red Sea, the girls learned they had to live in the desert for another 40 years after not obeying God's instructions. But before they had to spend all the years in the desert, we looked a one important verse after the crossing of the Red Sea: Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped near the water. Exodus 15:27. Our youth club is called Elim because we want to be an oasis for the kids in this city. It was fun sharing with the girls the biblical meaning of our club, and to celebrate, we had an Oasis Party!
Faithfulness.
We continued the story after the 40 years in the dessert with the faithfulness and bravery of Rahab. We talked about how it is hard to stay firm in what we know is truth, like Rahab, and remain faithful even when you're the only one. We used smiley stickers to create a finger-play of what happens in the story and made red bracelets with the challenge to share Rahab's story of bravery with a friend and give them the bracelet. I was excited the following week when the girls said they shared the story with a friend, mom, or cousin!
Patience.
We finally made it to Jericho! It was our goal at the beginning of the school year to work through the stories of Joseph, Moses, and Joshua in continuing with the lineage series we began last year (mainly focusing on Abraham's storyline). The girls love recalling the stories and building from one story to the next. I am looking forward to future lessons with this group as they have that foundational understanding of the "Fathers of Israel," which is critical knowledge in so many of the gospel stories as well! While acting out the fall of Jericho, I had the girls walk around our wall structure seven times. By the fifth time around, the complaints were vocal, though many didn't complain for themselves, but for the characters in the story - "I can't believe they just walked for six days!", "I don't know if I could have handled it.", "The Israelites were patient." That last one seemed to be a key in the discussion as the girls asked why God would make the Israelites walk day after day with no view of progress. Patience and Trust were the two words we landed on. The girls were inspired to have patience and trust as the Israelites had.
Building Jericho
Marching
Kindness.Curiosity is a gift that these girls regularly open! I studied at a Bible University for four years, but it couldn't have possibly prepared me for the questions these girls ask - "What color hair did Joshua have?" and "How many names are listed in the Bible all together?" were my two favorite from last week. It is so fun that they want to know each detail as they are imagining the story and what characters must have looked like. (I understand, thanks to Phil Vischer, my imagination of the story as a child included a smiling cucumber and a storytelling tomato!)
While at a Christian festival over the summer, there were a few times I found a clothespin that someone had secretly clipped onto the back of my snapback. Apparently, some kids at the festival had written inspiring short messages on the clothespins and secretly attached them to people as we walked through the crowded festival. Upon finding the hidden messages, my friends and I would then secretly pass the clothespin on to a stranger. I thought the idea was clever and I started thinking how a silly little clothespin with a short phrase like "Smile, God loves you!" brought so much kindness with it. The girls at Connect and I created clothespins for them to clip onto backpacks after school or to stick onto notebooks in class. I asked the girls, "What do you think will happen if 20 of these clothespins are passed around your school? How can it change someone's day?" The girls ecstatically wrote and decorated multiple clothespins to spread kindness and God's love throughout their school.
"God loves you" & "Pass it on" & "Smile!"