Today was the last day of normal kids club. It was of course kind of depressing because after water day tomorrow, we won't see our kids anymore. This whole summer I have been teaching a class of 7-10 year olds. I normally have 20 or more and some of the kids aren't consistent to come every day. Kids club in total has about 60-90 kids a day. We start with free time and then do games, songs, and crafts. Normally volunteer groups bring the craft and run the games and songs but since we do not have a group this week, we have been doing everything! I was in charge of crafts, and in an effort to use up some of our hundreds of yarn balls, all of the crafts this week involved yarn.
After craft time, we put dividers up in the gym and teach a 20 minute class. Last week we talked about Ephesians 4:29 and using encouraging words. This week was about avoiding fighting and the story of Lot and Abraham and how Abraham let lot choose his land first. Teaching has been one of the biggest challenges. It takes a lot of preparation and you have to really focus to fit everything into 20 minutes.
Our kids are very well behaved, partly thanks to our punishment system of taking away snacks. But after being with them all summer they definitely have a special place in my heart and I will be so sad to leave them tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
1,000 Pounds of Onions
Surprise! Last Thursday we received a donation of about 20 50 lb bags of onions. They were all old and many of them had bad spots. So our job was to sort, then peel all the bad onions and cut out the bad spots and then wash them. We started late Thursday morning, but then our volunteer group left at lunch. Onions can be very overwhelming, so in the afternoon Sarah, Eric, Jasmine, Catherine, and Phillip and I got down to business. We got gloves, extra shirts, and face masks. Our whole entire building smelled of onions. It was intense! We worked really hard and most of us worked through pre-teen club. We gave away as many onions as we could to the pre-teen moms.
Going to the Park
So we have kids club three days a week and between 60-90 kids come to Joy for that.
However, this week I had the opportunity to do something new and take myself and some of our volunteer group (a youth group from Arlington TX) to the community park.
DeZavala Community park is a community center and public pool and park where parents can leave their kids for free from 8:00 to 6:00. There are a few adults there and the USDA provides lunch to any kids who are there. In addition to kids, there are several teens and seniors hanging out there.
The park isn't far from Joy, so we walked there in about five minutes. I first went on Tuesday and my assignment was to sing songs about God with the kids and play a few games. Obviously, the kids at the park are rather unorganized and we can't force them to participate, like we can at kids club. Tuesday went okay, but put a big strain on my voice. I picked out "My God is so Big" because it specifically talks about God's power. We also sang some fun songs that the volunteer group knew and played a game.
We went back Wednesday morning and stayed for a longer time. This time I had the youth pastor and intern from our volunteer group with me and they hung out with the teens at the park. I recognize a few kids and teens who come to Joy, but most of the kids at the park were new to me. The kids kept asking to play games like Simon Says, but they often bend the rules. They like to slowly stand back up and keep playing after they've gotten out. We try to focus on songs, because that is the only way we're teaching them about God, but the kids always asked to play a game and our voices got very tired.
The third time we went was Wednesday afternoon. Then, I neglected to pray with the group before we went in, as we had the first times. That afternoon was completely chaotic. We had kids of different ages all in one room and they were completely reluctant to stop moving around or talking. I have learned that sometimes you just have to start singing and see who joins you. We only stayed 30 minutes because the kids were going swimming soon after and very excited about that.
Thursday morning was my final park trip for the week. This time, I remembered to pray with the group before we went in, and the power of prayer was clearly demonstrated. After only two days, many of the kids already know my name and ran up to hug me. I realized that like most kids, they are craving attention and affection. I felt bad that I didn't know many of their names. I had six volunteers with me and Eric, so we thought to split the kids up into groups by age. With the older kids we sang one song and played games. I am hoping that if they get to know us, they will be able to come to pre-teen or kids club. With the younger kids, we sang several songs, led by a few awesome volunteers. While I was leading one of the last songs, my voice got so tired that I stopped singing and found that a lot of the kids had learned the song and were singing with us. It was a beautiful moment.
We plan to go back next week. It's a tiring project but I have already learned about the power of prayer and the value of simply sharing love.
However, this week I had the opportunity to do something new and take myself and some of our volunteer group (a youth group from Arlington TX) to the community park.
DeZavala Community park is a community center and public pool and park where parents can leave their kids for free from 8:00 to 6:00. There are a few adults there and the USDA provides lunch to any kids who are there. In addition to kids, there are several teens and seniors hanging out there.
The park isn't far from Joy, so we walked there in about five minutes. I first went on Tuesday and my assignment was to sing songs about God with the kids and play a few games. Obviously, the kids at the park are rather unorganized and we can't force them to participate, like we can at kids club. Tuesday went okay, but put a big strain on my voice. I picked out "My God is so Big" because it specifically talks about God's power. We also sang some fun songs that the volunteer group knew and played a game.
We went back Wednesday morning and stayed for a longer time. This time I had the youth pastor and intern from our volunteer group with me and they hung out with the teens at the park. I recognize a few kids and teens who come to Joy, but most of the kids at the park were new to me. The kids kept asking to play games like Simon Says, but they often bend the rules. They like to slowly stand back up and keep playing after they've gotten out. We try to focus on songs, because that is the only way we're teaching them about God, but the kids always asked to play a game and our voices got very tired.
The third time we went was Wednesday afternoon. Then, I neglected to pray with the group before we went in, as we had the first times. That afternoon was completely chaotic. We had kids of different ages all in one room and they were completely reluctant to stop moving around or talking. I have learned that sometimes you just have to start singing and see who joins you. We only stayed 30 minutes because the kids were going swimming soon after and very excited about that.
Thursday morning was my final park trip for the week. This time, I remembered to pray with the group before we went in, and the power of prayer was clearly demonstrated. After only two days, many of the kids already know my name and ran up to hug me. I realized that like most kids, they are craving attention and affection. I felt bad that I didn't know many of their names. I had six volunteers with me and Eric, so we thought to split the kids up into groups by age. With the older kids we sang one song and played games. I am hoping that if they get to know us, they will be able to come to pre-teen or kids club. With the younger kids, we sang several songs, led by a few awesome volunteers. While I was leading one of the last songs, my voice got so tired that I stopped singing and found that a lot of the kids had learned the song and were singing with us. It was a beautiful moment.
We plan to go back next week. It's a tiring project but I have already learned about the power of prayer and the value of simply sharing love.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Five hundred dollars and Wood paneling
We have a very exciting project going on at Joy! It began when a husband and wife took the missionaries and staff out to dinner and then gave each of the three teams $500. The Summer missionaries got to decide what to do with the money but our challenge was to invest the money into something that would be long-term.
Our building was constructed in 1965, and we decided to invest the money into an improvement project. The walls in our gym are metal on the bottom, with five feet of wood paneling above that.
The wood paneling was falling off and missing in several places, which was a mild safety hazard. In addition to keeping our kids safe, we wanted to improve the integrity and appearance of the building. So the plan is to take down the paneling, sand the glue, fill in the holes with spackle, and then prime and paint the drywall.
The project has a few challenges: One is that paint and primer may go over budget and we are relying on additional donations. Another is that we are relying completely on volunteer groups to do the work. We can't do much work during the weekdays, because our gym normally has community kids or adults inside. So, you can see that faith in God and prayer are major ingredients in our project. It's true- we are attempting something that would seem like an impossibility. Logic tells me that we should put our money into a project that we can guarantee to complete with our skills and our $500.
But that's not how the body of Christ works. Already we have seen God work through various people. Our volunteer group last week included a few people who were knowledgeable in construction. They were able to give us advice and help us take measurements and calculations. Our proposal was approved on Thursday and the group worked from 5pm, when we left, until 9pm to remove all of the wood paneling. We were so excited to see that the dry wall was in fairly good condition and the glue from the paneling didn't seem to make any major holes.
I will keep you updated on the project. I'm so very excited to see God work in this.
Our building was constructed in 1965, and we decided to invest the money into an improvement project. The walls in our gym are metal on the bottom, with five feet of wood paneling above that.
The wood paneling was falling off and missing in several places, which was a mild safety hazard. In addition to keeping our kids safe, we wanted to improve the integrity and appearance of the building. So the plan is to take down the paneling, sand the glue, fill in the holes with spackle, and then prime and paint the drywall.
The project has a few challenges: One is that paint and primer may go over budget and we are relying on additional donations. Another is that we are relying completely on volunteer groups to do the work. We can't do much work during the weekdays, because our gym normally has community kids or adults inside. So, you can see that faith in God and prayer are major ingredients in our project. It's true- we are attempting something that would seem like an impossibility. Logic tells me that we should put our money into a project that we can guarantee to complete with our skills and our $500.
But that's not how the body of Christ works. Already we have seen God work through various people. Our volunteer group last week included a few people who were knowledgeable in construction. They were able to give us advice and help us take measurements and calculations. Our proposal was approved on Thursday and the group worked from 5pm, when we left, until 9pm to remove all of the wood paneling. We were so excited to see that the dry wall was in fairly good condition and the glue from the paneling didn't seem to make any major holes.
I will keep you updated on the project. I'm so very excited to see God work in this.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Souled Out Camp
Last weekend was Camp and it was SO much fun. We took 35 10-16 year olds from all 3 centers to Trinity Pines Camp. The theme was Souled out and we got awesome t-shirts which were designed by one of the kids at Fletcher.
We left friday morning on a school bus and arrived in the afternoon. Straight away, we got to have an adventure and climb the ropes course and rock wall. It was super hot, but at the end there was a zip line which gave you a great breeze. There was an easy and difficult rock wall. Some of our summer missionaries were very persistent and gave the difficult side seven tries. They finally made it up. Then a few skillful ten year olds impressed us by going up the harder side as well. Most of us got very emotionally involved in the climbers' endeavors.
The kids got to attend four small group sessions throughout the weekend. We also had full group worship with Sandra's band...Aviator Love, and our preacher Larry was a local youth pastor. The band was fun and sang in Spanish some. Larry spoke on the sermon on the mount. He talked about the good and bad fruit, the wide and narrow gates, and the firm or sandy foundations.
We played some awesome group games on Saturday. They were human foosball with a balloon, shuffle your buns, and never have I ever.
We got to spend a long time in the pool between night swimming on Friday and Saturday afternoon free time. There was also a blob and canoeing.
One highlight was the Saturday night variety show, in which the counselors got to do skits for the teens. Jasmine and I choreographed a lively dance that we taught to seven of the other missionaries.
After worship and group sessions on Sunday morning, we headed home. We each received a happy meal for the bus ride.
We were exhausted on Sunday afternoon, but I completely enjoyed getting to know more of the teens and spend time with them at camp.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Pre-Teens
The pre-teens come on Thursdays and Fridays from 3-5 and are one of the most fun groups. We have about 10 pre-teens and most of them are boys. Five of them are named Jose and one is named Joe. They come in and have free time for a while. We usually play basketball or soccer. Last week we played soccer for almost an hour. Then we play organized games like elbow tag or an awesome circle game called signs.
We take turns teaching them and yesterday was my turn. They are studying about Paul this Summer, so I was teaching about the persecution of Paul, how he was lowered out of a city in a basket and stoned and expelled all because people wanted to kill him. They were so much fun to teach because they are eager to look up the verses in their Bibles and read them. I feel like I kept their attention so hopefully God had something for them to learn.
We take turns teaching them and yesterday was my turn. They are studying about Paul this Summer, so I was teaching about the persecution of Paul, how he was lowered out of a city in a basket and stoned and expelled all because people wanted to kill him. They were so much fun to teach because they are eager to look up the verses in their Bibles and read them. I feel like I kept their attention so hopefully God had something for them to learn.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Block Party
To back up a bit... The block party was actually last Saturday.
The way it worked is a church donated money for all the centers to buy block party games. Each center had a different theme and they will trade materials so every year we'll get a new theme.
Our block party had a farm theme. We had several adult volunteers from a local church and were lucky enough to have two teenage volunteers to wear a pig and a chicken costume.
Everyone else was very festive, with farm animal hats and bandanas.
The first hour was fair games. My game was guessing which chicken had an egg under it. Unfortunately, when one kid won, it was hard for me to sneakily relocate the egg.
Our party also boasted face painting and balloon animals. After games, we did crafts and a puppet show. Some of my team members are quite talented at puppets despite our lack of selection when it comes to puppets.
We sent the kids off with hot dogs for lunch.
The way it worked is a church donated money for all the centers to buy block party games. Each center had a different theme and they will trade materials so every year we'll get a new theme.
Our block party had a farm theme. We had several adult volunteers from a local church and were lucky enough to have two teenage volunteers to wear a pig and a chicken costume.
Everyone else was very festive, with farm animal hats and bandanas.
The first hour was fair games. My game was guessing which chicken had an egg under it. Unfortunately, when one kid won, it was hard for me to sneakily relocate the egg.
Our party also boasted face painting and balloon animals. After games, we did crafts and a puppet show. Some of my team members are quite talented at puppets despite our lack of selection when it comes to puppets.
We sent the kids off with hot dogs for lunch.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Field Trip
Today was the best day ever! In an amazing undertaking, we took 60 of our kids (4-12 year olds) to a place called Oil Ranch. My class had 18 kids, but they are all well behaved and we had fun. It was hard at first because we went to the petting zoo, but only 10 could go in at a time and my class was last. We played for a while, and some of my kids started to fall apart, due to the heat, so that by lunch I had one threating to throw up and one minor injury. But we gave all the kids gatorade and everyone perked up.
After lunch we continued on to a train ride, where we saw some cows and pigs. It was so incredible hot. We let the kids keep their gatorade bottles and they continued to fill them up with tap water all afternoon. For myself, I drank two caprisuns, a big 32 oz bottle of gatorate, and a bottle of water. It was crazy hot.
We also had the pleasure of a moon walk and a poney ride. My favorite moment of the day was when one of my particularly enthusiastic and somewhat chubby eight year olds finally got his turn for the poney ride. When he was half way around the circle, I heard him screaming, "What is he doing? What is he doing?" Well, his horse had stopped and was pooping, so we all found that hillarious.
We saw a lot of other animals, including baby rabbits, and a baby lamb. I have a child who complains a lot that told me he hates farms on the way there. But for some reason, the baby lamb made his day.
Taking 60 kids on one school bus with five summer missionaries and a few volunteers seemed like madness to me, but somehow we pulled it off and the kids loved it. Most of them were very tired by the time we got on the bus to come home.
After lunch we continued on to a train ride, where we saw some cows and pigs. It was so incredible hot. We let the kids keep their gatorade bottles and they continued to fill them up with tap water all afternoon. For myself, I drank two caprisuns, a big 32 oz bottle of gatorate, and a bottle of water. It was crazy hot.
We also had the pleasure of a moon walk and a poney ride. My favorite moment of the day was when one of my particularly enthusiastic and somewhat chubby eight year olds finally got his turn for the poney ride. When he was half way around the circle, I heard him screaming, "What is he doing? What is he doing?" Well, his horse had stopped and was pooping, so we all found that hillarious.
We saw a lot of other animals, including baby rabbits, and a baby lamb. I have a child who complains a lot that told me he hates farms on the way there. But for some reason, the baby lamb made his day.
Taking 60 kids on one school bus with five summer missionaries and a few volunteers seemed like madness to me, but somehow we pulled it off and the kids loved it. Most of them were very tired by the time we got on the bus to come home.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
VoBS
Vocation Bible School is a program designed to teach work skills and how work and God's word relate. We are offering VoBS to a few of our teens for the first time this Summer. I teach the class Tuesday mornings, Sarah teaches it Wednesday, and on Thursday the teens work on a painting project as application of what they have learned. The class is two hours, and it was definitely a challenge to enthusiastically fill up all of the time.
The first week that I taught VoBS was somewhat discouraging for me because to be honest, I felt like the class was boring. I kept asking the kids questions but everyone was tired sounding.
Today, VoBS was a lot more fun. I spent a lot of time creating games out of the lessons. I made a memory game that matched verse references to pictures of what the Bible says our purpose in life is. (To be ambassadors for Christ, to be the light of the world.)
I also taught that money is not the root of all evil, but the LOVE of money is.
Next, we covered the ten commandments. The VoBS book, much to my delight has a song about the 10 commandments that I learned as a child. I recopied the song on a white board and let the guys fill in certain blanks.
Unfortunately, I only had two guys today. Please pray that the teens will be able to come to VoBS and that they will enjoy it.
The first week that I taught VoBS was somewhat discouraging for me because to be honest, I felt like the class was boring. I kept asking the kids questions but everyone was tired sounding.
Today, VoBS was a lot more fun. I spent a lot of time creating games out of the lessons. I made a memory game that matched verse references to pictures of what the Bible says our purpose in life is. (To be ambassadors for Christ, to be the light of the world.)
I also taught that money is not the root of all evil, but the LOVE of money is.
Next, we covered the ten commandments. The VoBS book, much to my delight has a song about the 10 commandments that I learned as a child. I recopied the song on a white board and let the guys fill in certain blanks.
Unfortunately, I only had two guys today. Please pray that the teens will be able to come to VoBS and that they will enjoy it.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Joy Fellowship Center
Out of the three centers, I was assigned to Joy. The summer missionaries working there with me are Catherine from Georgia, Sarah and Jasmine from Mississippi, and Eric from Houston.
Joy has the following ministries:
food pantry
clothing closet
Kid's club
Preteen club
teen club and
Senior ministry
So, we had a lot to learn last week.
We do some everyday work, such as cleaning, sweeping, unloading food, organizing clothes, and bagging bread. But we also have the involved responsibilities of teaching classes for teens and kids and leading games and crafts. There have been plenty of fun moments too, in the form of playing basketball and uno with the preteens, and of course getting to know our fellow summer missionaries.
check it out at
www.missioncenters.org
Joy has the following ministries:
food pantry
clothing closet
Kid's club
Preteen club
teen club and
Senior ministry
So, we had a lot to learn last week.
We do some everyday work, such as cleaning, sweeping, unloading food, organizing clothes, and bagging bread. But we also have the involved responsibilities of teaching classes for teens and kids and leading games and crafts. There have been plenty of fun moments too, in the form of playing basketball and uno with the preteens, and of course getting to know our fellow summer missionaries.
check it out at
www.missioncenters.org
Friday, June 10, 2011
Welcome to Houston
Well I have been in Houston for almost a week and a half but this is my first blog post. Working in Houston is very busy, but so much fun. To review, I am a Summer Missionary at Mission Centers of Houston. The organization has three separate centers in the inner city of Houston.
First, our group... There are 13 summer missionaries this year- 11 girls and 2 guys. Five of us, including myself, were placed through GA BCM. The other missionaries come from Mississippi, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
The building we stay in is next door to the Gano Mission center. Our room upstairs is like a dorm, with ten sets of bunk beds, a giant closet, and a bathroom with four showers. We eat all of our meals, which are donated by local churches, in the mission center too.
First, our group... There are 13 summer missionaries this year- 11 girls and 2 guys. Five of us, including myself, were placed through GA BCM. The other missionaries come from Mississippi, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
The building we stay in is next door to the Gano Mission center. Our room upstairs is like a dorm, with ten sets of bunk beds, a giant closet, and a bathroom with four showers. We eat all of our meals, which are donated by local churches, in the mission center too.
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