God is Omnipresent

After three rather dismal Sundays attendance-wise, things were cooking again today with seven families attending. Mrs. Chu led the Bible story for the first time and did a good job. It's HARD for me to keep my fingers out of the pie, though. I want to "help" by having the props ready, and then if the story-teller doesn't remember them right away I jump in and "interfere." This "training leaders" stuff isn't as easy as it sounds! I hope I can learn to keep my hands off & just encourage.

Once again, I did need to write the story in Chinese, as below. From I Kings 20, it tells about how King Ben-Hadad thought that they had failed in the siege of Samaria because "their God is a god of the hills, and if we fight them on the plain, then we will win." Wrong, Ben-Hadad!

以色列歷史上一個國王叫亞哈。他不是很好的王﹐但神往往祝福他。	戴冠冕
他住在以色列首都撒馬利亞﹔首都有城牆	兩張臺﹔亞哈和幾個以色列人後面
亞哈的時代﹐亞蘭的國王叫便哈達。他很惡﹐也很驕傲。	戴冠冕
便哈達的軍隊已經有段時間圍攻撒馬利亞。有一天﹐他差使者到城裏﹐對亞哈說﹕明天便哈達會差幾位臣僕來搜查你的家﹔他們喜歡甚麼﹐你要讓他們取甚麼。	戴白色旗到城﹐開書卷來讀。 說完就走。
亞哈覺得無奈。但有一個先對他說﹐不要懼怕。神應承你﹐他會把便哈達的軍隊交給你手。但不要等到明天﹔要現在出去。	穿紅色外衣
那時候﹐便哈達的自信心大到他在自己棚裏休息﹐飲酒。	用酒瓶扮飲酒
亞哈的軍隊出來的時﹐一位使者給便哈達知﹐但便哈達不了解﹐說﹕不方便見他們﹐不如問他們是甚麼事。	使者去見便哈達﹔便哈達趕他走
原來他們出來打破亞蘭軍隊﹗他們打死很多人﹐但便哈達騎馬逃走。	2-3個軍人用檢打人﹔便哈達騎馬逃走
那位先知再次見亞哈﹐說﹕因為便哈達還未死﹐你要準備﹐出年春天必要再打仗。	先知再來見亞哈
便哈達和他的謀士在蘭現在計劃怎樣打破以色列。便哈達說﹕我知道我們為甚麼失敗。即是因為我們在撒馬利亞打仗。以色列的神在那裏幫助他們﹔他管理山區。我們的神乃是管理沙漠和平地。所以﹐我們只需要在平地打仗﹐就必得勝﹗哈﹗哈﹗	便哈達和2-3個人一齊坐 他說完計劃﹐個個一齊歡呼
現在就是春天。	帶花入來
便哈達和他的新軍隊開始在近亞蘭的以色列鄉村打仗﹐以色列軍隊要出來。	一齊用檢打不近亞哈的人。他們哎救命。以色列軍隊也帶檢出來
便哈達很開心﹐以為現在必得勝。但﹐有沒有﹖	問大家
沒有。以色列打破亞蘭軍隊﹐用鐵鏈綁著便哈達帶他回撒馬利亞。	所有亞蘭人坐低。以色列軍人綁便哈達﹐帶他去撒馬利亞。
便哈達不得勝﹐因為耶和華是神﹐不但在以色列國﹐乃是 {無所不在} 的神	指示{無所不在}﹔大家一齊讀。

The moral of the story was "No matter where you go, God is there." So for our game, we had a magnetic fishpond game, with the parallel statement, "No matter which fish you catch, you still get a prize." I took pictures of all the plastic fish & put them on a poster with the names of different fruits next to each one. So as each child caught a fish, he/she then had to compare it with the poster & determine what snack they got—from one of six different jars of cut-up fruit. We played several rounds & I think some of the kids would have been happy to play all morning. But we had to move on to craft time, sorry! Here I cheated big time. I really didn't want to get into how Ahab had blown it by letting Ben-Hadad go, after all this. So while I didn't re-write history to the point of having Ben-Hadad killed, I had him brought to Samaria in chains. I crocheted a "chain" out of gray yarn for the prop, and so craft time involved teaching the kids to crochet a simple chain. I was surprised and pleased by how one of our more belligerent boys really concentrated on this—apparently he's been taught it before at his sheltered workshop but still needs some help, so he was going to see if he could master it this time. He did pretty well. A fun twist on the craft time was having one mom and one grandma demonstrate two different ways of "chaining" using only their fingers; no hooks! And their chains looked more like chains than mine did! Wish I'd known before preparing for the story, ha!

Bible study was on Psalm 139:7-12. Mr. Lei led & I was out with the kids so didn't hear how it went, but he was pleased with the discussion. Including two exciting "testimonies" from one mother who has not yet declared herself a believer. In fact, last time we specifically talked to her about it, she said it was all just interesting stories to her. But lately she has been bringing her elderly mother back and forth to a hospital in Hong Kong for cancer treatments. She shared about her mother being in a room with a mentally handicapped person whose Christian family was visiting constantly and showing a lot of love and care for her. "Only Christians have that much love for their handicapped family members," she said. (This in spite of her own rather good example of care for her son…!) She also reported that she had asked her mother if worshipping her idols all these years had done her any good now that she's sick. Mr. Lei didn't report the grandmother's answer, but that Mrs. Liu would dare to challenge her mother on this point is amazing enough! She is obviously really thinking about where the truth lies.

Bruce and I leave for vacation tomorrow, and we are looking forward to the break. Not from the kids—I was just thinking this morning, I've heard of some schoolteachers who don't want to teach children's Sunday School after teaching all week. And I can understand that, and yet, my thoughts this morning while walking to church were, "I am so lucky! I not only get to work with these kids all week, I get to work with them on Sunday too!" But I won't miss the pressure of preparing the lessons for a couple of weeks. Kevin Hui is now a student at Macau Bible Institute, and is assigned to visit various churches this quarter, but was able to arrange to be at Merciful Love next Sunday so he will be preparing & leading "God is Omnipotent" all on his own. We will be back in time for the following Sunday, but for that day we will just have an all-church picnic in a local park. We'll sing our most familiar songs and play some favorite games from the past two years at Merciful Love. We will be able to bring in the gospel by reminding everyone what Bible story/spiritual truth each game relates to. Hopefully the relaxed atmosphere & environment where the kids can run around freely, will give us a better chance for individual conversations with some of the adults. Mrs. Liu especially. Please, Lord, let the weather cooperate!

God is all-knowing

Our story today was from I Samuel 16. Here it is:

The first king of Israel was named Saul (boy with crown). Was he a good or a bad king? (ask all) At that time, there was a prophet called Samuel (boy in mantle). One day, God had a message for him (angel in halo flies in): "I chose Saul to be king of Israel. Even though he is very disobedient, he can continue to be king. I, Jehovah, am (point to "unchanging" on growing list of God's attributes on poster, have all read aloud); I don't say one day he can be king and the next day say he can't. The word of God is true, isn't that right? (ask Samuel, then ask all). But Saul should be punished, shouldn't he? (ask Samuel, then ask all). So, I have already decided that Saul's descendants will not be king after him. Instead, I have chosen someone with a purer heart to be the next king." God tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem, and bring his anointing oil (angel gives fancy jar containing fragrant beads) in order to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the next king. (angel pushes Samuel away. Samuel walks several times around room, stops before boy chosen as Jesse) Samuel invites Jesse to eat with him (sit at table with bowls and chopsticks) Samuel asks Jesse to introduce his family. Do you have any sons? Jesse says yes, here is my oldest son Eliab. (put #1 label on boy who comes & shakes Samuel's hand). Samuel says to himself, wow, what a handsome young man! (Ask all: isn't he handsome?) Are you also a smart boy? (ask Eliab) Surely this is the Lord's chosen one! (angel flies in, makes sign for "wrong!") Angel says: "You are only judging according to his outward appearance. But God knows everything and is able to look into people's hearts. So He has not chosen this son." Samuel asks Jesse if he has any other sons (our poor Jesse kept answering "no" in all honesty, and kept getting corrected.)
#2 label placed on boy introduced to Samuel as Abinadab. (angel makes sign for "wrong") Any more sons? #3—Shammah (wrong)
(etc. for sons #4-7) Jesse says to Samuel, am I not blessed with wonderful sons? Samuel says, yes, but don't you have any more? Jesse says, well, there's the youngest, but he's just a kid; we left him to watch the sheep while we came to eat with you. Samuel says, I want to see him. So his youngest son, named David, is introduced to Jesse. (angel makes thumbs-up sign). God says, this is My chosen one, a man after My own heart. So Samuel gets up and anoints him (pours fragrant beads on head) and blesses him (makes sign of cross). Then Samuel leaves. Sure enough, after Saul dies, David becomes a king who is pleasing to God. God is truly a (add "all-knowing" to poster, have all read) God, knowing a person's future and the secrets of his heart.

Game: God is all-knowing; how much do YOU know? We placed different colored, different shaped construction paper in a row on the floor. On each was a different letter of the English alphabet, a different number, a different English word, and a different Chinese word. As kids "landed" on different shapes they would be asked either the shape, color, letter, number, Chinese or English word. Correct answers got gold stars.

Craft: David was not only a king, he was a musician. So we made "lyres" out of tagboard and rubber bands. One of the few crafts the kids were interested in taking home!

Bible study: Psalm 139:1-4

In the afternoon, several of us took an hour's bus ride to a village up in China to visit the former caregiver of one of our kids. Enjoyed that outing together very much, and we think Auntie Hing did too! But the boy she used to take care of wasn't able to come this time, so we'll have to make another visit some time before too long!

God is all-wise

Another slow day at MLFF, with only three families in attendance. There was a Special Olympics event going on, that is understandably, though disappointingly, a bigger draw than church for our unbelieving families. But we did go ahead with our regular program this time.

Our story was from I Kings 3:

Israel's most famous king was named David (crown one boy). But today we aren't going to talk about David. After he dies, his son Solomon became king (first boy sits, second boy crowned) Now, Solomon was still young, and concerned about whether or not he would be completely accepted as king. One night, when he was sleeping (lies down on mat), he has a dream. (angel with halo flies in, S. sits up) God says to him, whatever you ask Me, I will give you. S. says, please give me wisdom and understanding to be a good king for Your people. God says, you have asked well. You did not selfishly ask for riches or honor or long life or revenge on your enemies. So I will give you the wisdom you want, wisdom greater than any king before or after you, but I will also give you riches, honor, and long life. (angel leaves, S. gets up)

One day after this, Solomon was on his throne when two women came to see him. (S. sits on fancy chair, two girls come to him, one holding doll). Girl 1 (holding doll) says, the two of us live together. Recently we both had baby boys. Last night when we were sleeping, she rolled over on her boy and killed him. But then she took the dead baby and put him in bed with me, and took my baby to bed with her. So this morning I thought my baby was dead, but then when I looked more closely, I saw that the dead baby was hers. Girl 2 says, she's lying; her baby is dead! This baby is mine! (grabs doll) They continue yelling no, it's mine, (grab doll back and forth)

Solomon says, okay, okay, quit fighting! You say it's yours, she says it's hers…give the baby to me. (give doll to S.) S. calls a soldier over (boy with sword) and says, take this baby and cut it in two. Each woman can have half. (Soldier raises sword over head) Girl 2 kneels down and says don't kill the baby! Let her have it! But Girl 1 says, no, the king has the right idea; half for each of us. S. tells the soldier to stop & says, give the baby to girl #2. She is its real mother. (soldier puts down sword, gives baby to Girl 2)

***

Our Solomon did not quite get the idea of sitting up in bed; he wanted to either sit up or lie down. It took him three tries, but he finally got it right. Everything else went very well.

For a game, I had covered a large foam die with fabric on which I had written the characters for wisdom, understanding, riches, honor, revenge, and long life. Each child (or adult) would throw the die and read the character. For the "selfish requests", they would receive a piece of cereal from a small cup with the same label. But if they threw wisdom or understanding, they got a piece of cereal from each of the six cups. Very popular game!

For our craft, we had stickers of animals (made from computer clip art) which, unlike the baby, had been cut in half. The rear half of each animal was already stuck to a piece of paper, & the kids had to find the proper front ends to match & stick on. (I possibly could have left some sets completely "unstuck" for the kids to find the pairs, but I was afraid it would be too frustrating for some)

For Bible study, we looked at James 1:5-8 & 3:17. The verse from chapter three was to help us not doubt God's wisdom, by helping us recognize it through its characteristics.

Well, God knew I needed a break from the constant push of preparing new material every week. Heavy rain this morning kept a few of our families away; others were unable to come for various reasons. Only our core family, the Leis, and one boy whose caregiver leaves once the Leis arrive (the caregiver speaks no Cantonese, and takes Sundays off, so the Leis have agreed to "adopt" Man Chun on Sunday mornings).
So rather than do our usual routine, we just sang and then had sharing and prayer. Oh, and we did play what will now be next week's game--Ka Hei and Man Chun will definitely not mind playing this one again. (It involves food!)
Today was the Leis' 20th wedding anniversary! Congratulations!

God is Unchanging

Our story this week is/was about a very famous Bible character we've heard about before: Abraham (introduce boy as A.) He is not famous because he was a perfect example, but because of what God did in his life to show His own faithfulness.

One of Abraham's famous ancestors was Noah. (introduce boy as N) Do you remember who Noah was? (ask all) (give N. picture of ark as a hint) Did N. know God? (ask all) Yes, he did, but his descendants gradually forgot Him and started worshipping other gods. A's family was like that. But when A. was 75 years old (tape #75 on front of A's shirt), God told him to leave his family and go to a land He would show him. (angel with halo flies in to tell him to go). God promises him that in that land, He would make A. into a great nation. So, A and his wife Sarah (introduce girl as S.) get ready to travel (both don backpacks). A's nephew Lot wanted to go to (introduce boy as L), so they brought him along (dons backpack). (The three walk together to large sheet of green paper on one side of room & take off backpacks). The first thing A does is build an altar and make an offering to God (stool, sticks, picture of sheep he tears up & puts on sticks, pours shredded yellow & orange tissue paper on for fire) He says, starting today, we are God's people in this land.

But before too long, the weather isn't good and there isn't enough grass for all the sheep. What should A do? (ask all) Instead of praying and asking God's help, he decides they should all go down to Egypt! (put on packs again, walk to large sheet of brown paper on the other side of room). Things go pretty well there for a while, and both A's and L's flocks increase (give each pictures of multiple sheep & goats). They have almost forgotten God's plan! But God hasn't changed His plan. Eventually A. and the king of Egypt (introduce boy with crown) have an argument, and the king of Egypt tells him to leave (pushes A away). (all walk back to green paper) Well, when they get back there, they soon decide it isn't very convenient for A & L to live near each other because of all their sheep needing more grass. So finally, L. leaves (sits down)

By this time A. is over 80 years old (change number to 80+). God again appears to him and says, I am definitely going to make you into a great nation here in this land. (angel flies in, congratulates A). A says, well, but I'm already over 80 years old and I don't have any children yet. Even my nephew doesn't live with me any more! How can I even become a LITTLE nation? But God says, trust me. I have not changed my mind, and I will bring it about. (angel leaves) Not long after this, S. says to A, I have this great idea. Since I am too old to give you children, why don't you have children with my maid, Hagar? (introduce girl as H) Was this a good idea? (ask all) But does he do it? (ask all). Yes, and so when he was 86 years old (change number), H had a son, named Ishmael (give doll to H) A was quite pleased with himself for coming up with this great solution, and celebrated. (passes out red eggs to all adults present—a Chinese tradition when a baby is one month old) Everything seems to be just fine, God isn't punishing him or anything.

But when he gets to be 99 years old (change number), God appears to him again and says, A! I haven't changed my plans for you! I am going to make you into a great nation! A says, yes, thank you, do bless my son Ishmael. But: (angel does sign for "wrong!") God says, you know, when I first created man, I said that a man was supposed to cleave to his wife, and I haven't changed my mind about that either! My plan has always been to bless you AND YOUR WIFE with descendants. A. says, but we're SO OLD! But is God still God? (ask A) Can God do anything? (ask A) Does God lie? (ask A) Well, then! (angel flies away) And sure enough, when A. is 100 years old (change number), Sarah has a son, named Isaac. (give doll to S.) When God first gave this promise to Abraham, how old was he? (ask all, hold up #75 next to number on A's shirt) How many years before he saw the proof of it? (ask all) But did God keep His promise? (ask all) But did A. have to be perfectly obedient for God to keep His promises? (ask all)

**So, that was the story. For our game, I put out the same number of letters in a large circle on the floor as we had kids. Each child got a corresponding letter label on his shirt. The object of the game was, like God, no matter how many other things changed, was to get back to the original thing. Each child, in order, kept throwing our large die and moving that number of letters around the floor. When a child landed on his or her letter, he had "won" and was out of the game. We never finished playing the whole game though. We had eight kids, so it was taking forever for them to get back to their places and they were getting a bit antsy. Though I always prepare for extra, I had only been expecting five kids—I think it would have worked a lot better with the smaller number. So, if anyone out there has a better game idea for this concept of God's unchanging nature, please give suggestions!

The craft was easy & cute. Each child got a single-serving size Pringle's potato chip can with a section (maybe a third of the can) already cut out from top to bottom. Their job was to paste wrapping paper on the outside & ends of the can, line it with cotton batting, stuff a cotton ball in the gap behind the face of a "baby" (these great person-shaped plastic spring clips I'd found at an educational store in the US), lay it in the cradle & cover it with a little piece of cloth for a blanket. When the kids had completed the craft, they received the chips from their can, which I'd reserved in little plastic bags (SO glad I'd prepared just enough cans!!) Boy was THAT a hit! The kids have never been that totally well-behaved during the free time, munching happily & then enjoying playing on full tummies.

For Bible study with the adults, Bruce focused on Numbers 23:19