Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Our story:

Last week we looked at Israel's first king, Saul. Now we're going to jump ahead several hundred years, to a time when God is about to punish the entire nation for how much they have sinned. He spoke through a prophet named Jeremiah (boy in prophet's mantle). Now, Israel had promised God that when they heard His commands, they would say, "Yes, Sir!" (a line from one of our songs). (ask all): Is it important to keep promises? (ask all): Did Israel keep their promise? They did not! But they kept fooling themselves, saying that God loved them, so He would never punish them. So, one day, God's word came to Jeremiah. (girl with halo "flies" in): "Go to the descendants of Rechab and invite them to come to the temple with you. There invite them to drink wine." (angel flies away. J. chooses three to be Rechabites and brings them to table. Sets out three cups. Holds up wine bottle.) J. invites them to drink wine, but they refuse. They explain, "Over 200 years ago, our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab vowed that his descendants would not drink wine. So, sorry, but we can't drink this." J. says, "Oh, don't be so polite, come on, have a drink." But the Rechabites refuse again and leave. (they leave) J. says to God, "What was that all about? I invited them like you said, but they refused, very politely too. Did I do something wrong?" (angel reappears): "Actually I wanted to show you what a good example they are for the Israelites. Here their ancestor says one time, over 200 years ago, that his descendants wouldn't drink wine, and they have been obedient to this day. They are truly loyal and pure in heart. But my people Israel in general? I have told them over and over to obey my commandments, and they don't listen!" (ask J.): Do they deserve to be punished? (ask all): Should they be punished? "They definitely will be punished. Some will die, some will be carried away as exiles to other countries. But the descendants of Rechab? I will bless them, because they have shown their hearts are pure. (angel leaves. J. finds the 3 Rechabites and shakes hands.)

As usual, I've taken some liberties with the story! There's no angel in the Biblical account, for example, but it gave one more child a chance to participate in the story, and also made for more visualization & less just talking.

That "over 200 years"? Recently in my devotions in II Kings I noticed that the name of a man who fought alongside King Jehu of Judah was Jehonadab son of Rechab. My assumption is that this is the same person as is cited in Jeremiah 35.

For a game, we searched for "pure (milk chocolate) hearts" under moving teacups—like the shell game. Funny how well the boys concentrate when there's chocolate involved! For a craft, what's purer than snow, right? So we made snow globes, which were VERY simple (thanks to the florist's clay I finally tracked down on Home Assignment in anticipation of this craft) but fun.

A friend from Hong Kong, a special ed teacher, gave a brief devotional during the regular Bible study time, on how the innocence of their children illustrates the kind of purity of heart God blesses. Then she gave time for questions as well as praying for the parents. Her talk was very well received.

Blessed are the Merciful

We had a great time at our second anniversary celebration this past Sunday! To illustrate this beatitude, we used the story of David cutting off a piece of Saul's robe in the cave (I Chronicles 24). Wa Hon is not only the biggest kid in our group, he also loves to dress up, so he was a natural to play Saul in his fancy robe (made of wrapping paper). The "X" on his breast is to show he was not a good king. ("David" got a gold star for being a good guy.)

Special highlights included David demonstrating his loyalty to Saul by an "apocryphal" scene of presenting to the king the booty from one of his successful battles. David (Ka Hei) was told to kneel down in front of the king. Instead, he sat on the floor. No, kneel! Okay, he knelt. Facing the wrong way. No, turn around! So he turned around. He was very tolerant of all this—he's come a long way! So then we told him to present this bag of "silver coins" to Saul. He opened the bag and gave him one coin. No, give him all the coins! So he started pulling them out very reluctantly one by one. So much for loyalty! Ha!

Our facility lends itself well to these little dramas. When David and his cronies were to hide in the cave, we sent them to the bathroom which opens at the front end of the "sanctuary" (and makes for some rather unworshipful moments at times…). They hid in the bathtub behind the shower curtain. Later, after Saul & his army ran around unable to find David, Saul went into the cave to sit on the toilet. (My understanding is that that is what the Bible really means!) So then the parents sitting back in the main room just saw David's hand coming out from behind the shower curtain and cutting off a corner of the paper robe.

For the game, we recycled the one from the story of the hemorrhaging woman in unit 4B. Rather than take a piece off of Saul's robe, the object of this game was for each child to remove a piece of candy that had been attached loosely to an adult volunteer's "robe." Unlike Saul, Mr. Lei was instructed to keep moving to make the game more of a challenge. When it came to Wa Hon's turn, he didn't quite get the rules. He just sprang up and started "dancing" with Mr. Lei!

For craft time, we had made up some simple tunic-style garments out of an old tablecloth. Each one had a tear ("like Saul's robe") that had to be sewn up. This one turned out to be hard for the moms to let the kids do. I was really pleased when one mom finally decided to make her son at least pull the needle through the cloth each time she started it through. Ka Ho is our most hyperactive kid right now & tends to shun craft time as being too restrictive. But he needs to learn to settle down, so I hope this is the start of a trend.

We ended up our morning with a potluck. Grandma Si made the most wonderful fried sticky-rice! Yum!

Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness

After Jesus had already died, risen, and returned to heaven, His disciples when around to different cities and countries to preach the gospel.
Two who went together were Paul and Silas	Two boys with cross pendants walk around
They went to a Greek city called Thessalonica, and stayed at the home of someone named Jason.	boys knock on "door", another boy as Jason welcomes them & pours them tea
The next day, they went to the Jewish house of worship	have boys & girls sit on separate sides of the room as in a traditional synagogue
They used the Old Testament, which is the original Bible of the Jews, to explain the truth about Jesus to them.	hold up Bible
"Every year you celebrate the Passover, when God forced the king of Egypt to let His people leave.	"Silas" displays flannel scene of house, pyramids in background
They had to kill a lamb and offer in to God, then take some of its blood and put it on the doorposts. When God came to punish Egypt, the Israelites didn't have to be afraid, because of the lamb's blood..	"Paul" adds lamb on altar, blood on doorposts
So Passover shows us how the lamb's blood made them not have to fear dying..
Now Jesus' blood, in the same way, protects us from God's punishment so that we don't have to be afraid of our souls dying."	"Silas" switches to blank flannel scene; "Paul" puts up Jesus on cross
What do you suppose was the response of the people?	(ask all)
A few people believed	1-2 get up and join P & S at front of room
But most of the people said, no way, we are already God's people. Those people who worship idols are sinners, but we don't need God to forgive us!	laugh at Paul & Silas, tell them to go away They & "new believers" leave & go into side room.
After they left, some people said, it isn't enough to turn them out of the synagogue; we should chase them out of town too!	everybody gets up and starts running around looking for P & S. Can't find them.
Finally someone says, well, this Jason invited them in. We can punish him at least! So they grabbed him and dragged him in front of the judge..	grab "Jason" and drag him to the judge (tall boy in black baptismal robe)
The judge fined Jason but let him go.	Jason gives money to judge
The new believers told Paul & Silas they'd better go. So they went on to Berea.	"new believers" push P & S away, they walk around room.
Once again they went to the synagogue first.	separate men & women again
And again they used the OT to explain the gospel	(repeat flannelgraph story)
What response do you suppose they had?	(ask all)
They said, wow, if this is really true, it's wonderful! We wouldn't have to fear God's judgment any more, we could have his righteousness! But of course just because it sounds good doesn't mean it's true. Let's check it out for ourselves to see if what they're saying really is in the Bible.	Pass out Bibles to everyone. Whoever is first to find Isaiah 53:5, reads it aloud
Yes! Everything they're saying is really according to God's word! We can enjoy God's reghteiousness and not fear his punishment! Yahoo!!	everyone jumps up & down & celebrates with P & S

Game: Racing to "hungrily" eat bowls of pistachios—which are translated "happy nuts" in Cantonese!

Craft: fridges filled with "righteous" food (veggie stickers)—thanks, Dave K., for the great idea! It worked very well!

Bible study: Matthew 5:6

Blessed are the meek

There once was a man known as John the Baptist.	choose one boy
he wore a robe made of camel hair, and a leather belt	wool vest, leather belt
he ate locusts and wild honey	eats gummi worms—the word for locust in Chinese includes the word worm, so we said these were "close enough"-- & a spoonful of honey
A lot of people recognized that he was a prophet of God, and were very curious about him, so they went out to the wilderness to see him and hear him preach.
Sometimes they would be there until night & it would get cold, so some people would bring extra clothing	one child puts on two extra garments
Other people would bring food	one child gets sack with snacks.
and they would follow John as we went about preaching	all children follow Si around room
John taught the people to repent and obey the law of loving your neighbor as yourself. His preaching was very practical; you didn't have to do real big things. For example, he might say:
It is awfully cold today. I see some people are wearing extra clothes. They should share them with people who didn't bring a coat.	child wearing two shirts gives one to another child.
And people who brought food, you should share it with those around you who are hungry.	child with snacks passes them out
He spoke so well & helped people understand God's word, so many people wanted to be baptized and become his disciples.	Si "baptizes" children by pouring shredded blue crepe paper over their heads.
Today, who is coming to be baptized? Jesus!	adult with white vest.
After Jesus is baptized, a voice spoke from heaven…	have another adult read: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Wow! This man was even more amazing than John! So a lot of people quit following John and followed Jesus instead, wanting to learn more about Him.	all but one or two children leave Si & follow "Jesus"
Do you think John was very happy about that?	(ask all)
His own disciples said to him, this is not very fair! Aren't you terribly disappointed? How do you think John answered?	(ask all)
He answered, "Of course I'm not disappointed! In fact, I am delighted! It was a privilege to teach people about God's law, but when God's own Son comes, of course people ought to follow Him!
As for Jesus, although he accepted everyone who wanted to follow him instead of John, what did he say about John?	"Jesus" hugs all the kids who have followed him.
He said, "…no one has arisen who is greater than"—whom?	show verse with John's name left out, one child sticks it in place.
You know, in Jesus' time, there were a lot of people who liked to teach the law and get a lot of glory for it. But nobody remembers any of their names any more!
The one we remember is John the Baptist, who was humble enough to be willing to let Jesus be greater than himself.	shake Si's hand, give him gold star.
Jesus spoke truly:	(read out beatitude 3 together)

 

Game: humble task: throwing away the garbage

Craft: humble task: shining shoes

Bible study: Matthew 5:5

 

The highlight of this lesson for me was when I fed the gummi worm to "John the Baptist". He is an older, more intelligent boy who was very troublesome when he first began coming—didn't want to cooperate with the activities, would hit other kids who bumped him, etc. Then once sort of by accident, Kevin and I ended up inviting him and his mother out for tea. That was a major turning point for this boy, a-Wai. I think it was because he began to understand that we really cared about him. The look on his face this Sunday when I held up this "worm" was priceless—like I had totally gone out of my mind! But everyone encouraged him to try it, assured him it really did taste good—and he finally ate it (and liked it). Obviously his trust has come a long way. His extremely timid mother is also starting to come out of her shell the tiniest bit. God is working!

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.

 

 

 

 

Starting the Beatitudes (unit 6)

It's so good to be back at Merciful Love again! I missed the kids, I missed the moms, I missed the fun! Yesterday we launched a new unit on the Beatitudes. For #1, Blessed are the poor in spirit, we used the story of the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 4. Here's how it went:

In the time of the Zhou Dynasty (hey, we're Chinese!), because the Jews had not obeyed or honored God, they were punished by God and carried off to exile in Babylon (boy with sword drags entire group, encircled by string, around room). Among them (single out one boy) was a young boy named Daniel. Daniel loved God, but because the whole country was being punished, even good people had to suffer.

At that time, the king of Babylon was called Nebuchadnezzar (boy with crown). One night while he was sleeping (N. lies on mat, snores), he had a dream. When he woke up (gets up), he was very uneasy. He really wanted to know the meaning of his dream. He said, "Last night I had a dream. I saw a big tree (child places tree on flannel board). It was beautiful! It had luscious fruit (child places fruit in tree). Animals found rest in its shade (child places animals under tree); birds built nests in its branches (child places nest & birds). But then, suddenly an angel (girl with halo) appeared and said, 'Cut down the tree, and leave it a stump ("angel" exchanges tree for stump), and wait for seven times to pass over it, (children place numbers 1-7 across flannel board) until it understands that all it has is from God.'"

N. asked, "Who can explain this to me?" (question for all: who do you suppose could explain it?) It was that young man who knew God: Daniel. (D. walks up to N.) Very nervously, Daniel said to the king, "Oh King, I hate to tell you this, but God says, that tree is you. Your power and position are going to be cut off, in order to teach you to acknowledge God and not be so proud. Oh King, I urge you, repent quickly, and perhaps God will not have to punish you like this."

(q: How do you suppose N. responded?) "Oh. Thanks, Daniel." (D. sits back down) A year later, nothing has happened, and N. has forgotten all about his dream. (q: do you think God has forgotten?) No! One day, N. was walking around on the roof of the palace, surveying his kingdom. (N. walks back and forth, making boastful gestures as appropriate). He was saying to himself, "I am really great! I have made Babylon a great kingdom. Nobody anywhere has power like mine!" Suddenly the angel from his dream appeared (girl with halo), and said: "N! Starting today, you have no power at all—you have nothing at all—until you come to understand your true position before God!"

Immediately, N. had something like a stroke and lost his mind. He was driven out of the palace and had to live out in the field, eating grass like an ox (boy with sword takes off N's crown & pushes him away. N. eats shredded seaweed snack). No one took care of him. (q: What happens when no one cares for him? When no one cuts his hair?) His hair grew very long, like eagle feathers. (place mop top on N's head). (q: what else would grow long?) His fingernails! (attach "long fingernails"). He was like this for seven years. (children remove numbers from board one at a time) Then his mind was restored. He cut his hair (take off mop), cut his nails (remove), and was restored to his position as king (N. recrowned, sits on chair, all rise & applaud). But from that day forward, he never forgot whose power was really the greatest! (q: and whose power is that?)

Well! Now you know what our Sunday skits look like! Some simplification, some embroidery. But I trust true to the spirit of the Word.

Our game for this was "How long will the tree stand?" A small potted tree was placed on a piece of cardboard resting on a dozen toy blocks. Each child in turn had to remove one block by reaching in with a pair of tongs. (Good pre-scissor skill!) The rules were supposed to be, whoever made it fall was out for the next round. But one boy showed up late, took his place at the table and immediately made the tree fall! I could hardly make him sit out right away. So, quick change, we had no "losers." We just played it a couple times more for the fun of it, and that was fine.

For a craft, we said, Nebuchadnezzar's fingernails growing long was not good, but sometimes ladies like to let their fingernails grow kind of long, and then they paint them. So each child had to paint their mom's fingernails! (The kids who were really fast at this ended up doing their toenails, too.) Glad I remembered to bring nail polish remover as well, ha.

For Bible study, we just discussed the meaning of being poor in spirit, and encouraged everyone to give thanks to God for blessings that we do not deserve (such as our apartment not flooding because we happened to be home when rainwater started pouring into our laundry room last week—while many people no more wicked than we have been suffering much flood damage in the US this summer).

So: do we have fun, or what?

(Nebuchadnezzar at his lowest point)

Unit 5 – Parables of Jesus

It's good to be home at last! So wonderful to see all the kids and parents this past Sunday. Kevin and the Leis were in charge. They did the last of the parables unit and then had a welcome-back potluck for us.

Here is the chart of what they did while we were gone:

date	parable	game/craft	B. study
4/6/08	sower	paper boats (Jesus spoke from one)	Mk 13:1-9 II Cor 9:6 Gal 6:7-8
4/13/08	unforgiving servant	forgiving debts game	Lk 11:4
4/20/08	Good Samaritan	binding wounds game	Mt. 5: 44-48
4/27/08	rich fool	heavenly treasure box	Mt. 6: 19-21
5/4/08	workers in vineyard	artwork— grapes	Rom 9: 14-18
5/11/08	friend at midnight	??	Lk 11: 9-13
5/18/08	tares among wheat	craft: planting good seed	Mt. 13: 37-43
5/25/08	wedding banquet	game: dressing for banquet	Lk 14: 26-33
6/1/08	10 virgins	lighting candles game	II Tim 3: 12-17
6/8/08	wicked tenants	production line fruit game	Gal. 5: 22-26
6/15/08	prodigal son	craft : folding cow heads(?)	Eph 6:1-4 Col 3:21
6/22/08	talents	digging up buried treasure	Lk 16: 10:13
6/29/08	rich man & Lazarus	craft: MLFF record books	---
7/6/08	Pharisee & tax collector	game: pairing Ph & T. C.	Mt.6:5-8

Kevin can't remember everything exactly—I know how that goes!

This past Sunday, the 6^th, was his last Sunday with us. We will all miss him! I don't know how things could have hung together while we were on home assignment without him. We wish him the very best as he goes on to study at Macau Bible Institute this fall, and continues to seek God's will for his future.

Sad things as we start our new term with MLFF is that two of our kids' paid caregivers lost their employment visas in the past month. One of them had been with her charge for the whole ten years of his life. And if it weren't bad enough that he has lost this secure presence in his life for reasons he probably doesn't understand, his new caregiver is a Filipina who speaks very little Cantonese! So communication is an issue. As it is for the other boy's new caregiver, who speaks only Mandarin. We're glad to see that both boys are still coming, and we even met their mothers for the first time this week as they are helping ease the transition. That was good.

Well, I will get this posted, and starting this Sunday I will start giving more detail. Even if no one is reading this besides myself!