Friday, July 18, 2008

Inspired!

An email I received from Margie Blaker, one of our 1-2nd grade shepherds:

I remember that we did a Discovery room lesson featuring the free rice web site awhile ago. Well, have you heard about the girl who was inspired by that web site to start her own to help abandoned animals? Here are her web sites...

http://www.freekibble.com/

and

http://www.freekibblekat.com/

pretty awesome, huh?

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Teaching!

Last Sunday I taught the lesson. ME! This was quite the new experience for me, as I've been a shepherd almost weekly for over a year. It actually went great, minus completely forgetting to do a major portion of the lesson with the first service kids (um, oops!). We actually had about 18 kids in the second service, which was awesome. We learned about the image of God, how though we are all created to look differently on the outside, God made us very much the same on the inside because we were made in God's image. Then, I showed them the pics from the Mwanzo Academy (which they thought was SO COOL!) and we wrote letters to the students there. These were the 3-6th graders, and I was amazed at their awesome letters. Some were very basic, but others were so detailed and kind. The kids seemed very excited to become pen pals with the kids at the Mwanzo Academy, and I think really got the point that kids (and people in general) all over the world are very similar. We all play, eat, love our families, communicate, etc. While the details of languages and cultures may vary greatly, our humanness makes us alike. I had a great time teaching, but I think I'll stick to shepherding for awhile!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Announcements!

There is so much going on in Kids that I must update! Please check here for all the latest news and events, as I'll do my absolute best to keep this up-to-date.

Baptism-August17

Baptism is a way for you to publicly say, "Hey, I need Jesus and want to follow Him." This is a significant step in an individual's spiritual journey.

Kids learn so much from what they see and experience, so plan to attend this next baptism on Sunday August 17. Let them see and learn what baptism is about. Let them ask questions and talk about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

If you have questions about baptism or if your elementary-aged kid has expressed a desire to be baptized, please give Lori a call. We want to help our parents acknowledge and celebrate their child's spiritual journey.

Any kids that desire to be baptized on August 17 MUST meet one-on-one with Lori and attend the baptism meeting on August 10. Contact Lori at lori.tate@westwinds.org or call 750.1111, ex.14.

(Taken from newsletter)

Mwanzo Academy

As part of our learning on the image of God in July, we will be taking a look at some other cultures. We can see that while cultures can be very different from one another, all cultures are made up of people who are made in God’s image. We may look different, speak different languages, wear different clothes, and live differently from one another we all share the same Father who created us to love each other, as He loves us.

Brad and Karina Kimpell have been in contact with a woman named Jackie, who runs a the Mwanzo Academy in Kenya. Jackie rents two small rooms to hold school (there are currently 13 students), but would like to rent out two more so she can take on more students. She needs to pay her teachers and the cook, and also have money left over for her own rent for herself and her two daughters. Her total expenses each month are about $450. She receives some assistance from the sponsoring church ($300), but the bottom line is that she is not making ends meet for herself or for the school.

This month all of the offering money collected in the studios will go to Jackie. We would also encourage you to get your children involved in thinking of ways that they could raise additional money to put in the offering. Perhaps they could collect and return some pop cans? Make a few bucks by doing extra chores? Forgoing that pop at the restaurant and ordering water instead, with the money being put toward the offering? Whatever way your family decides to help, please talk with your child this month about ways we can help Jackie and her students fulfill their needs.

In the Discovery room, your child will receive a prayer card with a photo of one of Jackie’s students. Please pray for this child by name. This card will be a great starting point for you and your child to dialogue about the image of God, cultures, poverty, etc. We will also be making similar cards with pictures of Westwinds Kids’ pictures to send to Jackie, with some letters from our kids. What a great opportunity for your child to have a pen-pal in Kenya! Hopefully, we will keep up our relationship with the Mwanzo Academy and both their kids and our kids can learn a great deal from each other.



The kids and teachers of the Mwanzo Academy in Kenya.


Soccer!-July 10

Myself and possibly my husband will be hosting a kids pick-up game at Ella Sharp Park, July 10, 6:00. You may have heard 6:30 elsewhere, so to clear up any confusion, you may come at either time! A group of kids will be there at 6 and we will start the game. Anyone else who comes after that can readily be "thrown in"! We will play for about an hour to an hour and a half. Parents, please plan to stay around the field. We'll meet by the swings/softball diamond area and then go find a nearby field. Kids: bring your own ball and water (if you don't have a ball, that's ok, we'll be playing with only one for most of the time). Get ready to have fun and get dirty!

An extra question to be discussed (comments, please!): How did your children respond to their experience in Fusion last Sunday? What types of conversations did you have as a result? What did they like or connect with?