Words are not enough

I will try to put into words the last three weeks campaign with our Harding group. I have almost dreaded having to make this blog because I know I won't do it justice. In a nutshell it was "OUTSTANDING" and the whole thing was simply good! We spent the first couple of days pulling together our school program. This year we had a program specific to the P1-4's and one specific to the P5-7's. I am so glad we did this rather than have whole school assemblies because the impact this year was amazing. The younger kids we used a lot of puppet interaction and used the "Happy and you know it" song to pick out some of the puppets characteristics like : "If you're happy and you know it Flap your Lugs," which picked up on Trunky the elephant's big ears (Lugs being the Scottish word for ears). The puppets did a sketch on taking the time to be a friend. We encouraged the kids to be "Outstanding" with their lives and got really good responses from them on ways that they have been and can be outstanding - like Jesus. The responsiveness and involvement of the kids during the performances was evidence enough that the group had connected well, but the staff feedback since has been fantastic and has really set the stage and thrown open the door for next years group.

With the older kids we used drama sketches rather than puppets. This was brilliant and the content of the sketches really hit home with the kids. The group did an amazing job of being the character they were acting out and had the kids hooked all the way through and got the message across big time! Again we used the Happy and you know it song and picked up some of the character traits from the sketches like: "If you're happy and you know it ...do the Sandi (who's character tried to move a huge rock by treating the rock like she was training a dog) the kids would say, "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" I feel we got the balance of fun and the message just right. We used a movie clip from "The Lion King" where Simba is met by Raffiki, who tells him to follow him if he wants to see his father. The powerful part was when Muffasa tells Simba to, "Remember who you are!" We used this line to challenge the kids to always remember that they were God's creation and that we are all made in His image to do good. Again the response during the message was good. Another theme we used through the program was the idea of "Popcorn" something small explodes into something big. Again challenging the kids to allow the good inside them to impact this world. At the end of the program we we added another verse to the Happy and you know it song, it went, "If you're happy and you know it ... be the Popcorn! then everyone would jump and throw their hands and legs in the air like popcorn bursting out of the seed. This was a huge success with the kids!

I can say with no doubt that all 9 of the schools we had assemblies with were blessed richly and seeds were definitely planted. As well as the assembly programs we also got to have some relational building time with most of the schools where we would play some soccer or go and visit the kids in their classrooms. We got to join up with the Central school Choir one lunchtime and had a great time singing with the kids and staff. We had our mini bus break down on the way to Crimond school and were blown away by their willingness to come out and pick all of us up and get us the the school on time to do the assemblies.

We had so many other things going on like our Picnic, Bowling night, Golf outing with the teenage boys, Fellowship meals, trips to castles, beaches, spectacular scenery etc... All of these are crammed with memories and things worthy of mention, but I'm not writing a book here.

The schools were one of our main focuses, but e also ran a parenting seminar which Brother Jerry Bowling hosted for us. It was a little frustrating that only a few attended. It's an indicator that even though we know that healthy parenting is a massive need in the community, simply holding a seminar (as brilliant as it was) doesn't cut it. We can build on this reality. On a similar note we also benefited from a series of "Gospel meetings" with Brother Jerry and the fact of the matter is that people won't come simply because we are holding meetings ( as great as they were). The message from this part of the campaign is loud and clear, we need to learn some lessons form our approach to reaching the kids in the schools and have more contact with the community as a church.

Well, well, don't quite know where all that came from, but I do know things don't work the same way they used too. So, we need to take a good look at ourselves to see why our nets are not catching any fish!

I hate finishing on a negative tone, so lets go back to the impact we had in the schools! I don't know the exact number of children we were able to influence and expose them to our Father God, but it was in the region of 2,000. THANK GOD for doors of opportunity!!!

I want to close with a huge THANKS to Alex, Chuck, Hannah, Becci, Lauren and Dan - You were an "OUTSTANDING" group of servants. A special thanks to Jerry and Joan Bowling for their godly example and leadership in preparing God's people for works of service - God bless!

Well, I know there are huge chunks missed out, but hope you can get the big picture.

Take care!