Hong Kong- Days 3-4

The next two days were the 3rd and 4th graders. They were probably my favorite group. They warmed up to us quickly and they paid more attention to the lessons and stuff then the Sparks did. Also, since we used the same lessons for all four groups we were familiar with the lessons and things went a little more smoothly. There was one girl (Joyce) who was really sweet. She gave us all letters telling us that we did a good job and stuff like that. It was really awesome to see that we really were making an impact on these kids because it was sometimes hard to know if you were getting through because of the language barrier.


Below are some pictures of the 3rd -4th grade kids.


This is a picture of our whole 3rd-4th grade group.
We had 75 kids.




This is Joyce and me.

Hong Kong- Days 1-2

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing out out a summary of my trip to Hong Kong.

Background: We were in Hong Kong for two weeks and ran four different camps and one games training event. We also did some sight-seeing.

First day of camp- We had 111 Sparks (k-2nd graders)! That was exciting! :) As it was our first day, we were a little nervous and apprehensive. Here we were with 111 kids to our measly 10 leaders (they did have some leaders with them thankfully.) We started the day with some stretches to an upbeat song to get them ready for soccer skills stations. That was another intimidating thing. Before this trip, I knew almost nothing about soccer and here I was trying to teach these kids how to play it. Aaah! :) It wasn't as difficult as I had expected though. The hardest thing was getting the kids to listen while I gave them instructions. After an hour of soccer stations we went in and had Zone Time.

Zone time is basically lesson time. We sang our theme song, Mission: Unstoppable (yes, our theme was a take off on Mission:Impossible), then we did a skit. Our skits were about two spies, Zach and Madison who were trying to solve the puzzle box mystery. The mystery is to "find the path to get through heaven's gate" They have several adventures from which they learn how wonderful heaven is, the consequences of sin, what Jesus did for us on the cross, what we need to do about it, and what we do after we've accepted Jesus as our Savior. The different skits were based on the colors of the wordless book. After the skit we sang some songs. The kids (and leaders) loved to sing. It was a lot of fun to see them having so much fun while they praised the Lord. After that we had our lesson. For the first lesson (heaven,) we had an interview with the "Apostle John."

After zone time we did small group time. We broke up into smaller groups (about 11 kids per group) and talked about what the lesson meant. Then we did a craft. We had the Sparks group make penny heart medallions and bottlecap necklaces. The bottlecaps that we used for the necklaces were ones that you can only find in the U.S. and we had them use the beads of the five colors from the wordless book so they could use it as a witnessing tool.

This is my group making bottlecap necklaces

We did this twice in one day because we had a five day curriculum and only two days to do it in.

Second day of camp-

We did the same thing only we decided to do regular games like duck, duck, goose, and red light, green light instead of the soccer stations.

Here are some pictures of the Sparks

This our whole Sparks group.

This is Esther and me

Nathan and Me

This is just a group of kids who wanted to get a picture with me.

They were all really sweet kids.

Chronicles of a tricked sister

Well, I have to admit that I was taken in the other day. I really shouldn't have been but I was. My brothers were walking some dogs a couple days ago when they came across watermelon lying in the gutter. Now, I'm not sure about you, but when I see a watermelon in the gutter, I don't think of ways to trick my siblings into eating some of it. I walk calmly past it. My brothers, however, decided to kick (yes kick) it home and try to get me to eat some. When they got it home, they set it in front of the door and then rang the doorbell. One of them was inside and announced that he would 'get the door.' They brought it in and washed it off (it had a gash in it however.) Then they came in and told me there was some "yummy" watermelon that they had "found." When I asked them where they had gotten it, they answered, "Oh, didn't you hear the doorbell? We found it in front of the door" Seeing that a piece of the watermelon had been eaten (supposedly anyway) I cut a piece and took a bite. It wasn't bad but I heard the boys laughing in the other room so I thought something might be up. Sure enough they told me to read their "buzz" post and there was the story. Needless to say, I did not finish my watermelon. I suppose the moral of this story is to never eat watermelon that was "found" in front of a door.

No motivation

Ever been so ready to be done with school that absolutely nothing motivates you to get it done? Well I'm there right now. Hopefully I'll be done with everything by the end of May but who knows. I'm really ready to be done.

1 Corinthians 13

I'm going to try and type out all of 1 Corinthians

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.
5 Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.
6 Does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth
7 Bears all things believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
8 Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies they will fail whether there are tongues they will cease, whether there is knowledge it will vanish away
9 For we know in part and we prophecy in part,
10 but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away
11 When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part but then I shall know, just as I also am known
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Tired

These are just random thoughts from my day. It's amazing how writing things down actually helps relieve stress. I can put down on paper (or post in this case) the problems and struggles I have and then, later on I can come back and read the posts and see the work God has done in my life. It's been almost a year since I last posted and right now I'm really busy and I'm getting exhausted from doing so much. This past Sunday, the lesson was about prioritizing your time and making sure that you were doing the right things. It really got me thinking and I am determined to prioritize my life and make sure God is at the top of my list.

Another thought I had was that when I spend time with God I noticed that I feel more energized and ready to meet the day's challenges and lately I haven't spent much time with God at all. If I'm not reading God's word and talking to Him in prayer, how can I know what He wants me to do. It's a daily struggle to put God first in my life so I must continually remember that He will strenghthen me and that without Him I can do nothing worthwhile.