November-December 2010
Awana Clubs
In recent history, we would barely have enough K-2 boys on Monday nights to play the games around the Awana circle. God has answered our prayers for more. (This had been a specific prayer of Mom Williams, too.) Over two dozen attend this year! Praise God with us for all of the volunteers from our own congregation, the students from Olivet Nazarene University, and our team of prayer and financial supporters who make this 3-nights-a-week outreach possible. So far140 children and teens have enrolled.
Jaroslav Elijas writes John 3:16 in Serbian
during missionary night at boys Awana.
Awana Games Competition 2010
Women’s Fall Retreat
by Gertrude Mittons
The weather was dreary and wet on Saturday, October 23 when the women from our church and from neighboring communities met for the Women’s Fall Retreat. Inside, though, warm greetings and friendly conversation met us as we prepared for what is always an uplifting day. After singing several songs of praise, we enjoyed completing a craft project, and gathered for a bountiful lunch.
Ms. Pearl Willis, founder of the Roseland Community “Good News” Daycare Center in Chicago, delivered the spiritual food for the day. Her lesson came from one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Hebrew 11 reminds us of the faith we all need to grow in God’s word. We focused on verse 17, which tells of the faith of Abraham and Sarah. She made the story so real to us as she used it to tell how she had to grow in faith, especially when her life sometimes seemed to be a place of darkness and despair. She challenged us to avoid “Hagar” choices when there is a long wait between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise.
“Ms. Pearl” inspires all who hear her. I know that her words will continue to push me when I need that little nudge. Once reluctant to work with children, Pearl and her staff have nurtured many children physically and spiritually for the past 17 years, allowing their mothers to work and to continue their education. I highly recommend her book, A Pearl of a Great Price, which is a beautiful example of a life changed by faith in God. The group discussion after her lesson served as a reinforcement to all. The sun was shining when the retreat ended—a perfect ending to a wonderful day.
Tips for Teachers
Since the Bible Witness Camp is located just over an hour’s drive south of Chicago, we offer the possibility of attending the Greater Chicagoland Sunday School Association’s (GCSSA) training events to our Sunday School teachers and Awana volunteers as often as we can. On October 16, Phyllis Goosby, Joan Branson, and Dave and Becky McMillan attended the event held in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Mrs. Branson shares some of the helpful insights she received from the sessions for young children.
If We Can Play, We Can Teach!
Use music to sing the scripture to be memorized; young children learn through repetition and hand motions. Have the children pray and give prayer requests. Keep a journal of prayer requests, and reflect on answered prayer. All of their “WHY” questions are teachable moments—take advantage of them. For Bible story time, talk to, play with, and engage children. Tell them the “point” of the story often. Can the children repeat the “point”? Use “wonder” questions.
Discipline
Show your love for them through your actions: always be kind and gentle. Listen. Let them learn that God loves us all. Remind them that hands and feet belong to them, and that they are responsible for keeping them to themselves. If children talk during listening time, the speaker stops talking until quiet returns.
Children with Special Needs
Two-thirds of Jesus recorded miracles were for people with physical needs. The “different” person must feel welcomed and loved. Ninety per cent of people with special needs are unchurched. Twenty per cent of children have some type of learning disability. Use active (learning by doing) and interactive (person-to-person) learning. Give the children time to process questions and answers. Give help without embarrassment; do not rush to the child who always requires assistance. Show your love for Jesus and each child with all of your actions. Praise them. Always welcome parents and children, kneeling or stooping to meet the child first.
Activities
Women’s Bible Study 9:00 A.M. Saturdays, November 6 and 20
Practice for Christmas Program
Sundays, November 7, 14, 21, 28, Dec. 5 (after church) and Saturday (morning) Dec. 11
Adult Thanksgiving Dinner Monday, November 22, 6:00 P.M.
No Awana Clubs Thanksgiving Week
Last Week of Awana for 2010: November 29 – December 2
Christmas Program Sunday, December 12, 10:00 A.M.
Angel Alert! The Night that Heaven Came Down by Celeste Clydesdale
New Year’s Eve Family Fun Night 8:00 P.M. Friday, December 31
Electronic Edition
If you would like to receive the paperless Camp news, send a note to our email address, giving us yours. When the newsletter is uploaded to our web site, we notify you by email. You get the photos in color and we save a little postage!
Thank You
We continue to receive cards and notes of sympathy comforting us after the passing of Lizetta Williams on September 10. We appreciate you all and thank you for your encouragement as we make the inevitable adjustments. Many have sent memorial gifts and we are grateful. Since she spent so much time in the camp kitchen, we are thinking of some new equipment there. Other gifts in her memory will go into the Marshall A. Williams Memorial Fund—making it the Marshall and Lizetta Williams Memorial Fund. This is a Christian Education fund from which we purchase Bible study materials and provide scholarships for teacher training events. It also enables us to give “thank you” stipends to our summer camp counselors and technicians (junior counselors).
Dave and Becky McMillan, Mary Williams, Mark and Karen
Williams
Sunday School Offerings help with Trudie Hayon’s work in Trinidad and Tobago
Awana Club Offerings assist Joji Barredo with her ministry in the Philippines
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