Well, Wednesday has come and gone, and thus, so has day three of holiday club here in Lochcarron. While many of us may have been a bit sluggish today, it still went off wonderfully well.
The morning again started with a time of devotion, fellowship, prayer, and last minute preparations for the team. This is such a precious time and provides us as leaders with the opportunity to focus our hearts and minds on the day and the task at hand. It's a great time that allows us to fellowship with one another, sharing encouraging words and praying specifically for the day and it's activities and for all of those involved. Practically speaking, it allows us to work through the day so that everyone knows what's going on and when, and it goes a long way to helping the day run smoothly.
Kids started arriving not too long after our team meeting broke up. There were several activities for them to work on until the morning kicked off. Then, as usual, John and Amy got the kids fired up for Jungle Jamboree, and then we went straight into singing. The kids seem to be loving the music (despite a few miscues by the music leaders... oops!). The Father Loves Me has been a real hit this year. And the kids sing Who is the the King of the Jungle pretty much year round. We've also introduced this week I Just Want to Be a Sheep, which is such a catchy tune that EVERYONE seems to be singing it all day, every day! Here are a few photos of the opening time and singing.
Mairi then shared the parable of the Prodigal Son with the group, spending time emphasizing that we are all prodigals, yet our Father welcomes us home, embracing us, and rejoicing when we return to him. She had a few actors that aided, acting out the story as she told it and the kids were really engaged. We then broke into our small groups and took time reinforcing the parable with the kids, both with the retelling of the story and various activities and worksheets. I actually had my group retell the story to me, rather than me to them (they're the oldest group) ... and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did with the entire story. Later in the morning, after a break for snacks, crafts, and games, we come back together as a group and have a quiz time, which is a great time to reinforce the story with the kids and see just how much they have heard and retained. The kids did a great job today with the quiz time. The quiz time was followed by the memory verse, which again went so well and the kids are doing a great job remembering it. The day concluded with a few songs, and then it was off in separate directions for everyone.
This afternoon, the teens gathered in the hall for a few minutes and I spoke to them on the parable of the Good Samaritan. As seems to be usual when I give talks, I never really seem to remember what I actually said, but I hope that I successfully made it clear that like the good samaritan, Jesus has compassion on us and comes alongside us when we're down and out and He heals our wounds and bandages us up, picking us up and setting us on our way again. This is the message I hope I conveyed to the kids, especially the non-Christians in the room (of which I assume there are many). For those in the room who were Christians, I hope I took it a step farther and challenged them on how they live their lives each day in regards to loving one another and loving others with whom they come in contact. My goal was to challenge them to consider whether or not they were willing to be interrupted, to have their plans interrupted, in order to help or serve another person in need, just as the Good Samaritan did. I also happened to have a rather providential story to tell after the incident with the car an the tire over the weekend... hopefully that helped to provide an objective lesson that they could understand.
After the devotional, we loaded up in the mini-bus and several cars and headed over the Shieldaig for a boat trip. Two different groups went out in the boat and while one was out the others were at the village hall learning how to play four-square... which they really seemed to enjoy. This was a great opportunity to get to know some of these kids better and spend some time with them as individuals, even within the group. The kids really just seemed to enjoying being there and being together, which is really a refreshing scene.
In closing, I would ask that you continue to pray...
- Pray for the holiday club, that the Gospel would be shared by spoken word and witnessed in our deeds and the way we love and serve the kids and each other. Pray that kids would come to know Jesus as their living Lord and Savior this week - that they would know that they are the prodigals, who are forgiven and celebrated as they come home, each and every one of them. Pray that as the week rolls on that we would all remain well rested and energized.
- Pray for David and Mairi and their precious girls. The Lord is indeed at work in this town, but where there is light, there is also darkness pushing back. Pray that they would stand firm in their convictions in their faith and in their ministry here. They have such a passion for the Gospel and for seeking the lost. Their willingness to open their hearts and their home to love and serve others, young and old, is so encouraging and also convicting at the same time. Pray that the Lord would bless their time here and that He would use this ministry team in a mighty way.
We do earnestly covet your prayers and greatly appreciate each and every one of them.
In Christ -
Emily
PS... There was a problem uploading many of the photos... more will be posted later.
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