Jesus said
"The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath"
Mark 2 v 27
Day One Youth Ministries
February half term, I was invited to Three Bridges Free Church, Crawley, all the way from Penzance Baptist Church. I was there to observe and be an extra pair of hands if necessary, with the Holiday Bible Club 'Bible Pentathlon' from the new Just Add Children series, written by Pastor Colin Jones.
Any Holiday Bible Club needs a committed team of workers with plenty of enthusiasm and energy. Most importantly they must have a desire to share the Gospel, to make the Lord Jesus known to girls and boys.
With the 2012 Olympics fast approaching, this particular theme of the Holiday Bible Club was most appropriate! Throughout the week approximately 100 different children heard Bible stories (with the use of excellent visuals), learnt new songs conveying Bible truths, quoted memory verses, took part in exciting quizzes to reinforcing lessons learnt through the Bible stories. The serial story for the week Eric Liddell (UK Olympic Champion), honoured the Lord by observing Sunday, keeping it set apart, therefore missing one of the most important races!! Read the story if you've not already done so and see how God honoured Eric's faithfulness.
Following the Olympic theme, each Bible story was chosen so as to include, in some measure (however small!) a particular sporting event. For example, on Monday the account of David and Goliath was ably acted out with the THROWING of the stone from David's sling which killed Goliath! Of course, David's trust in God was the real focus! Another was RIDING, as the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem, later being arrested then crucified. The real focus here being the Saviour of those whose trust is in the Lord Jesus. I won't mention the others as any interested in this Holiday Bible Club will have to find out for themselves!
Attractive bookmarks were handed out each day with the memory verse and picture of the day’s story on them. This was a great opportunity, along with detailed and challenging work sheets going home with each child to mostly unchurched children. Oh yes, then there was the daily dose of games and story related crafts.
An excellent week using brilliant resources - which are adaptable for churches of any size or experience as all you have to do is 'JUST ADD CHILDREN'.
Grace Baptist Mission 150th Anniversary Conference
Put ten missionary kids together in a room at a missionary conference, with Don Carson preaching to their parents across the way, and they won’t want to feel short-changed. Stir them together and put them in the care of Tirzah Jones – brilliant! That is what happened at Grace Baptist Mission’s Anniversary Missionary Conference at Cloverley Hall in October. It was a great time for some ninety missionaries and staff, together with members of Council, to come together for three days of ministry, fellowship and discussion, and it was superb to know that Tirzah had a lively programme organised for the children. Most of them had never met before, but she had them bonding together quickly and they loved the programme she organised. Together they explored the lives of the kings, from Ahab and Jehoshaphat through Joash and Josiah to Hezekiah. They learnt about all the missionaries serving around the world with GBM, and made a huge patchwork banner that now hangs on the staircase at GBM Mission Centre. My son Josh insists the songs were the best bit. There were other crafts, making pencil pots and crowns, and when the group needed to be occupied in the late afternoon, games and quizzes and plenty to do. By the end of the week all the kids loved being together and had formed a gang, as seen from the group photo.
Then we all loaded into cars on Saturday morning and drove to Solihull for GBM’s Anniversary Thanksgiving. This was an overwhelming experience, as 1400 supporters turned up to hear Don Carson, and share the sense of thanksgiving to God for his grace. This meant a glut of children in the TOGO sessions, but never fear, Tirzah and a team of volunteers were there to handle the panic. Thinking on their feet, they made do with a smaller room and coped when the main meeting seriously overran.
All in all, it was a joy to be working with Tirzah again, and we recommend her to any organisation that needs help with a Holiday Bible Club, or a special children’s day in your church or elsewhere.
Jim Sayers, deputy Mission Coordinator, Grace Baptist Mission.