Kindergarten: Talking Donkeys

The kids totally enjoyed making their donkey puppets. The craft went well with our lesson on Balaam and the Donkey that Talked

Posted via Blogaway

Communion Service at Royal Valley Free SDA Church

Posted via Blogaway

Adventist Youth Program Idea #5

Personal testimonies should have a special place in the Sabbath program. Each Sabbath, the congregation should be encouraged and educated in a way that throughout the coming week they will be able to live and create fresh experiences that will strengthen their personal bond with Christ. These experiences, when shared with the church in the Sabbaths to follow, will in turn inspire and encourage others in their daily walk with the Saviour.

More often than not, though, the program leader will have a problem finding someone from the congregation to share an inspiring experience with the church. There are two possible reasons that could account for this.
First, the members do not have such experiences. Second, they are too shy to come up front and share the experiences they do have.

One way to deal with both problems is through this simple activity.

PROGRAM IDEA: Group Testimonies

Objective: To encourage the congregation to share their personal experiences as a Christian.

Materials Needed: None

Mechanics:
Divide the congregation into as many small groups as reasonable. Ours did well with four. Instruct each group to gather experiences from the members for each of the following categories:
1. Answered Prayer
2. Helping Others
3. Witnessing to Others
4. Conversion
5. Overcoming Temptation

You could also add other categories or come up with an entirely different set of categories. Give the group about ten minutes to gather these experiences. Time pressure is sometimes necessary to motivate the members to volunteer their experiences. Also, dividing them into smaller groups will encourage them to contribute. Plus, there’s the assurance that he/she won’t be the only one to do it.

At the end of the allotted time, have the group representatives come up to share their experiences with the bigger congregation. It’s also advisable to set a time limit for each group to present. The adult males at our church had more than five representatives, and we only then discovered that the “quiet” ones have a lot happening in their lives that are worth hearing!

At the end of the afternoon, we heard at least 20 different experiences from our members, most of them sharing for the first time.

Optional: Have the entire group come up front at the beginning of their turn to sing a hymn, serving as intermissions between the mini-speeches. We did this at our church so the non-representatives could still take part in the larger program.

I hope this helps your AY Program plan for this coming Sabbath. If you do use this program idea, do share how it goes. I would very much love to hear from you.

God bless!

Check out other AY program ideas in this blog by clicking here.

Kindergarten: The Ten Plagues of Egypt

I know I promised a post on Baby Moses and I'm getting around to doing just that. In the meantime, I just have to share this puzzle activity on the Ten Plagues of Egypt because I put a lot of work into making it. haha


After making each individual piece fit, editing each piece, cutting up into 12 different files, fitting them up together to see if they'd fit back, and finally laying out for printing, I now think I deserve applause. and I still have to cut them up using real scissors and sort the pieces (120 pieces, to be exact) into envelopes. remind me why on earth I thought of this activity. I'm definitely saving this and using this again and again just to make the effort worth it.

The idea is to hand out the puzzle pieces to the kids and have them glue the pieces back together on a prepared sheet. I do hope they enjoy doing this.

Anyway, none of the clipart used is mine so I'm paying forward by sharing the puzzle here.



If you do use this for your class, do tell me how it goes.

God bless!

Kindergarten: Greedy Gehazi

I’ve been teaching the Kindergarten class at my church for a year now, and I’m only beginning to know the ropes of teaching little kids. During that year, I had 19 students in all, with about 12 present each Sabbath. The eldest was seven years old and the youngest was barely one. We had to put them together in the same class because we didn’t have teachers. This quarter, however, a sister volunteered to teach the older kids, leaving me with 13 children.

Each Sabbath, for about forty-five minutes, we sings songs, learn a Bible story, learn a new memory verse, and make a craft.

The other Sabbath, the story was about Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, who got greedy and decided to lie his way into getting garments and gold from Captain Naaman.

Every week, I give them a sticker with our new memory verse so they could review it at home. The following Sabbath, those who can recite the verse from memory get a butterfly sticker to stick on their paper gardens.
Our memory verse last week was from 1 Timothy 6:6, which I think was perfect for the story.



For our craft activity, I had the kids make a wall décor based on their memory verse. I got this idea from Hands On Bible Teacher, which I think is a marvelous blog about a marvelous Children’s ministry by a very dedicated teacher.

The kids enjoy being in class, and I’ve grown to really love making learning about Jesus fun for the little members of God’s family.

		Contentment Wall Decor VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m still looking for ways to improve my teaching and programming. Learning about other teachers who share my love for ministering to children inspire me to work harder and pray more for this branch of the ministry.

In my next Kindergarten post, I’ll be sharing how our Baby Moses class well. see you.

Kindergarten: Monggo Project

Last Sabbath, I had the kids start on a project and object lesson rolled into one: planting mung beans.

They were absolutely excited about it and couldn't help but jump and run around with their plastic cups.

First, I made holes in used plastic cups, and had them fill it with soil that I readied in advance. They were then given five mung beans each to plant in their cups. I also made them water the beans. They wrote their names in the cups and we set them aside.

They were so excited about the beans that they were really hesitant to just leave them there. As we carried on with the class, one of the kids interrupted me and exclaimed, "Teacher! The beans are about to grow, I can feel it!"

And teacher couldn't help but laugh and get excited with them.

This post will be updated on a regular basis, probably daily, with pictures of the growing mung beans.

DAY 1 (Planting Day)

Karl Nathan Gogo

Sheim Aidrion

Ashley Mhae

Ayn Angela

Harlie

Precious Joy

Shane Matthew

And we have a special guest participant: Ryna, from the Juniors Class.

I forgot to take pictures for Day 2. *face meets palm*

DAY 3

Ashley Mhae

Ayn Angela

Harlie

Karl Nathan

Precious Joy

Ser Ryna

Sheim Aidrion

Shane Matthew

I can't wait for Sabbath, when the kids get to see their mung beans again. Check back tomorrow for updates! :)

How to Make a "Teambuilding" Activity Super Fun

A rundown of tips to have a fun (ehem!) teambuilding activity with the youth, like we had yesterday at the beach:

1. If someone suggests that you hold a recreation/get-together/teambuilding activity somewhere special, agree with all your heart. Our getaway plan was Elleyse's idea, and we love it.

2. Set a date. For best results, set the date to tomorrow.

3. Plan, but not too much. Just agree on two things: (1) assembly time, and (2) to text one another.

4. Invite people. If they don't come, see Tip #10.

5. On the agreed date, meet up and head to your fun destination. If the said destination doesn't turn out to be as nice as you thought...

6. Go somewhere else. More fun if you don't know exactly where that "somewhere else" is so you have the opportunity to take "lost" photos of yourselves. Important: Don't forget to update late participants about your current and still-changing locations.

7. While lost, keep your eyes out for potential venues. For example, an old, rusty gate, with a view of the beach and a sign that says "Inquire." 

8. Set up food and drinks. These are things that you didn't actually plan on bringing (because Tip #3), but you're hoping at least one of you thought about it. :D

9. Play charades. Especially about the people who were supposed to be there but aren't. (haha. don't worry guys, we were nice... mostly.)

10. Take lots of pictures. For documentation and to make people from Tip #4 jealous so that next time they'll know better and join you.

11. Play games that make you look silly. No photo example of this in action. We were too busy holding our tummies in painful laughter. :D

and final tip...

12. On your way home, laugh a lot and excitedly talk about next week's "teambuilding" activity. And this time, do better than Tip #3.

Rebuked. Refreshed. Redirected.

It’s always a blessing and a joy to be with people who inspire and motivate me to do more for the ministry, especially those people with more understanding and experience.

Yesterday was one of those inspiring days as I got to sit with a pastor from another church and share insights about our upreach and outreach.

Here I’m sharing a few of his insights in the hope that you too will be blessed by them.

“You know what really works? As Christians, we should be cheerful and happy. I’ve seen really rich people who are without joy. We should be the happiest. We have Christ.”

“In all my study, I have understood only one thing – that prayer is the answer to everything.”

Nothing is impossible to him that believes, and prayer is the expression of that faith.

“Do not be contented with the good that you are doing now. Seek further education, upgrade your knowledge and your skills… Seek education that will improve your line of ministry.”

Sometimes, it’s easy to fall into the routine of the work, to do what you’ve always done in the same way and for the same people. But there’s more, always more that we can do for God. We only need to submit to Him to be used by Him.

“Time management. You cannot afford leisure time. Every hour must be productive. Every moment must be one of learning.”

And the best lesson I learned yesterday afternoon:

“Fire in the ministry is only a result of fire in devotional life.”

Yes, I was (probably unconsciously on his part) rebuked. My love for the ministry has more often than not manifested itself in activity, in output, in planning, in outreach, in desire for more action. Perhaps in my desire to shepherd others, I have neglected to shepherd my own soul through much prayer and meditation. He suggested that I fix specific times of day for prayer, like every two hours or so. Jesus Himself spent an entire night in prayer before He chose the twelve. A “hello, God” and a “good night, God” just isn’t enough.

It has been a wonderful day for my soul – refreshing in the sense that I am renewed in my desire to serve and given a new direction in the work, a direction that reaches not only out but also, and more importantly, up.

Highland Getaway: Epol Spring Resort

You know how sometimes you have to get yourself really tired just so you could relax? That was exactly what happened to us when we decided to take a break from work and drive up to the mountainside to enjoy nature.

Epol Spring Resort is about an hour and a half drive away from our suburban home in Davao City. On the way we decided to pick our friend Sam up from his home. And we found him high up on a tree, pruning its leaves!

Many minutes later, we arrived at the entrance excited and found out that the spring and waterfall was still a 300-meter hike down the hillside. We paid the entrance fee of Php 7.00 per person, plus Php 30.00 for the cottage, and a parking fee of Php 10.00 for the motorcycle and Php 20.00 for the car.

The hike was muddy and steep, and for a moment there, all we could think of was the hike back up. 
 
Now it turns out that it’s actually free to enjoy the spring and waterfall, and the seven-peso fee was for the use of the path which cut across private property. About halfway through the hike, the path crossed another person’s property, so we had to pay another Php 7.00. That makes a total of Php 14.00 per person.

There was also a safe-to-drink, flowing, all natural water spout right by the path.


And then, finally, a view of the waterfall, which was gorgeous and very very inviting.


We had a quick lunch and dove into the ice-cold water. And by “dove in,” I mean literally “dove in." 

I hurt the soles of my feet the first time I jumped into the water. But the experience was so worth it I jumped in twice more.

I also wrapped my phone in plastic to bring under the waterfall so I could take pictures and show everyone at home what it looked like.


And the view from above the falls…

Jade almost didn't get these photos right. Her hands were shaking from the cold.

Nature is always beautiful. Now, to hike back up. haha


On the way home, we stopped by Golden Gate Adventure Resort, which offers mountain treks, a zipline, and a hanging bridge experience.


We weren't budget-prepared for the zipline though, which costs Php 300 for a ride to the other end and back, so we’re skipping it for (much) later.

I arrived home tired and happy, reviewed the photos, went to bed, and slept till morning.
My feet still hurt as of writing this post, but I am rested and prepared for this week’s work, which is a lot.

Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.  Psalms 40:5