Blessed are they that mourn

This week, Mr. Lei led the story, which I prepared for him. Which seems like "cheating" on the training process, but not really. When I first taught Sunday School, I had a manual to teach from. The only difference is that this manual is currently being written a week at a time!

And this week, because it was expressly written for Mr. Lei to lead, it was written in Chinese instead of English:

一個王叫希西家	戴冠冕
是好的王	大家拍掌歡呼
作王29年就死了	坐
他的兒子瑪拿西作王	戴冠冕
他很惡	大家表示憎惡
他父親所拆毀的邱檀﹐他重新建築	整好"[邱檀] 紙﹐貼在牆
又教平民這樣作	大家又整又貼
他選擇敬拜最惡的假神	貼大 [惡] 字在牆
他將自己的兒子作燒祭	帶男子到[惡] 字前﹐加黃色紙
神派很多先知叫他不要作惡	幾個男子來拉他手
但他不聽神的話	趕他們走
所以神要懲罰他
亞述王的章帥來拉他到亞述國	男子帶槍﹐用鐵鉤鉤他﹐拉他走
瑪拿西在亞述國很辛苦
他在那裡有兩個選擇
他可以埋怨神的懲罰	表示向神生氣
或可以埋怨自己的罪	表示向神道歉
他怎樣選擇﹖	(問大家)
神有甚麼反應﹖	(問大家)
神憐憫他﹐讓他歸回耶路撒冷﹐仍坐國位	人幫他拆鐵鉤﹐帶他回來﹐戴冠冕
是不是公平﹖	(問大家)
原來神是個好憐憫的神。聖經說﹕
神啊﹐憂傷痛悔的心﹐你必不輕看	瑪拿西拆大[惡] 字﹔貼詩篇51:17
哀慟的人有福了﹐因為他們必得安慰。	一齊讀馬太福音5:4

 

Questions, anyone?

 

Our story was about how the wicked King Manasseh was punished with exile, but when he repented of his sins and cried out to God, he was comforted and restored to his kingdom. The little boy who played Manasseh didn't really want to wear his crown, and then when the manacles (made from pipe cleaners) were put on, he started crying quietly. He didn't actually understand the story, but was a perfect "repentant Manasseh" nonetheless!

For our game for this week, we said that when you mourn you cry so much you have to wring out your hankie. We put a big bucket of water in the center; each child was supposed to dip his/her washcloth into the bucket and wring it out into his/her small ice cream tub. First one to fill it up was the winner. Not all the kids quite grasped the idea, but they all love playing with water, especially when it's 90 degrees outside, so it was an acceptable game. Yik San, our little Manasseh, got completely over the misery of his exile and was as happy as could be splashing around!

 

For our craft, we mended broken hearts—puzzles made from craft foam. Bible study—again, just on the beatitude itself.

 

I did tell each family to wear or bring leather shoes for next week. We shall see if they remember.