Meet Kylea

Kylea is a 3rd Grader here at City Impact’s Bible Club and also at Belmont Elementary. Her favorite colors are black and red, and she loves macaroni and cheese and Dominos cheese pizza! She has 2 sisters and 1 brother, and her favorite thing about Bible Club is shopping at the store “cause you get to buy things”. One thing she is really good at is reading and riding a skateboard. When asked “what is one thing you have learned about God since you have been coming to Bible Club”, she answered “that he is unstoppable!” If Kylea knew she only had one more day to live she would “spend all my money on food, and visit family members”.

1st graders write goals about self control

Usually, I would write up journal entries for you all to view separately. This week for the 1st grade class I decided it would be best to write them all in one lump sum, because for this particular journal entry Mrs. Jamie (1st grade leader) had the students write on the same topic. The 1st graders were to write one sentence in their journals and draw a picture which would describe their entry about self control.

I will share what each of the 1st graders wrote for their sentence on self control.

Damian- “Be patient when you want to play.”

Avery- “O bay your mom.”

Olivia- “Obey your dad.”

Javier- “I will stop kicking my feet.” (This particular evening Javier was having trouble keeping his feet still under the table, and he thought it would be good self control to stop.)

Zahria- “Obey your teacher.”

Miranda- “Be patient win others are in line.”

I always learn so much from the little ones whose belief in God seems to come so naturally. It was so precious to see these little 1st graders take this seriously and I was so proud to see them make an effort to write out a sentence, even though some of it was not grammatically correct.

Hear about how God is working through devotionals at Bible Club

One of the things I really appreciate about working at City Impact is how often I get to see other staff using what they are passionate about to impact the students’ lives. This fall, Mrs. Anna put together devotional packets, which the students take home every week to complete. Every devotional is grounded in the Word and begins with a scripture for the children to read. For example, the first week’s scripture was Luke 1:26-38. Following the scripture, are three days of questions and each day has a different focus. Day One, just asks for the facts surrounding the verse. Day Two, asks students to dive a little deeper into what God is saying and to summarize the overall message from the passage. Then on Day 3, students apply and reflect what the verse says to their own lives.

An incentive for completion of the devotionals is earning more GFG bucks, which can be used to buy things in the Gifts from God store on program nights. Students earn 5 dollars for every day that is thoughtfully completed. It was emphasized that the reasoning behind doing these devotionals was not just so they could earn more GFG bucks, but to have a deeper understanding for Gods word.

When I heard that the students were going to be taking home devotionals every week I was so excited, because even today I struggle with studying Gods word. I know it would have helped greatly to have begun learning at a younger age.

The first Tuesday after we handed out devotionals, almost 20 students brought them back; with all three days completed! Boy was I blessed when I read through them and saw how the Bible Club students really did put their hearts into it. I was so excited that I wanted to share some of the answers with you. I know I already shared that this week’s devotional revolved around the verses in Luke 1 verses 26-38. These verses talk about when God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her that she would become pregnant with a son and she would name him Jesus. As carrying this child was an act of obedience for Mary so the students were asked on day three “what is one thing you could do this week to obey God?” Here are some of the answers.

“Obey my parents and don’t say o my God.”

“Listen to Him (God) because he can tell you to do something in your heart.”

“Pray.”

“Do my bunny chores even if I don’t want to.”

“Pray, worship Him, and read the bible.”

I could not resist sharing this answer with all of you. The question was “is it always easy to obey God?” and Miya answered “N.O. – spells no!”

This is just a little taste of what was brought back in the devotionals this week. Again I will have to say that it was so fun to see the effort that was made.

Dinner Time

Every week I have the opportunity to sit with a different class and eat dinner, and I love every class I eat with. This week I decided to eat with the 5^th graders and it was a highlight of my night.

Recently, Mrs. Renee (a long time volunteer) traveled to Atlanta and while she was there she bought shirts for each of the 5^th graders and brought them to Bible Club on Tuesday. Now, it would have been really easy for Mrs. Renee to just set out the t shirts and have the students pick one out, but she decided to make it a learning experience.

Mrs. Renee set out the t shirts on a couch and told the students that in order to receive a turn they would have to answer a question. She had come up with some Bible trivia and the first question was about Moses. Champagne answered first, so she was able to have first pick at the shirts. Then CJ answered correctly, then Milandra, then Adryanna, then Jurnee… The students were very excited to get the shirts and they thanked Mrs. Renee for bringing them.

This story is so special because it shows in such a simple way, how much our volunteers care about the kids at Bible Club. It goes far beyond the 2 hours they spend with them on Tuesday nights!

Meet Malachi

Malachi is a 2^nd grader who attends Bible Club regularly. He is a student at Elliot Elementary this year and his favorite color is black, “because anything can go with black.” He likes to match. Malachi’s favorite food is hot dogs cut into macaroni and cheese, and he has 5 sisters and 1 brother! I asked Malachi what his favorite thing about Bible Club was and he said “learn about Jesus, because he died for our sins.” Malachi wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up. One thing he is really good at is soccer and hockey. If Malachi had one more day to live he would get a snack, lay down, and watch T.V.

Special Guest

Worship, what does worship mean? Well as you think about it I will tell you what the students at Bible Club would tell you. If you asked them the very same question they would tell you “worship means thinking only about God”.

Worship takes place at the very end of Bible Club each time we meat, this is where the students come to get hyped about worshiping out creator. The night’s activities were centered on what it means to worship God, so when it was time to come together all the students could answer Mrs. Ashley when she asked them what it meant to worship.

Mrs. Ashley read the students the story in the bible about Paul and Silas when they were in prison and how they worshiped God even though they were in a scary dark jail they still knew it was most important to worship God. I was so pleased to see how intently the students listened and how well they respected Mrs. Ashley by being quiet and staying in their chairs. When Mrs. Ashley was finished with the story she was very excited to tell the students that there was a very special guest coming to be with them during worship. Up on stage where Mrs. Ashley was standing there was an easel with a chalk board on it and some paper, and beside that was a big green comfy looking chair. The students were quiet and eager to know who this special guest was and finally Mrs. Ashley welcomed Him to the stage. God was the special guest welcomed to the stage, and Mrs. Ashley asked the students to help God feel welcomed because he was very excited to come join them.

After God was introduced Mrs. Ashley did an activity with the students where she wrote on the chalk board the things the students were thankful for. The night ended with prayer and the students singing “Awesome God”, with no music!

To give you a little glimpse of how well the students participated I wanted to share this with you. During worship I was sitting at the back of the fellowship hall by the door waiting for parents to come pick up their students and a woman walked in and said “oh it must me quiet time”, I smiled and said to her “no they are just listening really well.” Tuesday nights worship was such an improvement from the last time before break and I know we were all so excited to see all the students behave, respect each other and God.

Book for God

I think I say this a lot, but sitting in on the 1^st grade classroom always brings me great joy, because every time the students answer questions I can tell they are coming straight from their hearts. This Tuesday I enjoyed spending time with them so much as they learned about worship, that I want to share my experience with you all.

As I walked into the 1^st grade room, Mrs. Angie had just finished up reading the students a book (about Gods love) and was getting ready to pass out paper and colors. While the students were sitting quietly Mrs. Angie asked them to tell her “what is so special about God”? Javier said he is special because “he gives us water”, Damien said “He deserves to be worshiped”, and Zahria said “He wants everyone to have a good life”. The students were then to pick out some colors and then color a picture of why they think God is so special!

The 1^st graders were having a great time and I was very surprised to see all the wonderful pictures being drawn, the 1^st grade room sure does have a few great artists! Mrs. Angie asked the students if they remembered the book that they had read just a few minutes prior to this activity and they all remembered that the book was about God’s love. Mrs. Angie went on to tell the students that they were going to make their own book with all the pictures they were drawing and then when it was all put together they were going to read it. Being that the theme was based on worship, Mrs. Angie read the students a verse in Psalms 29:2 ^“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness”, and then asked the students what it meant to be holy.

I was just tickled to hear their answers; Zahria said “Holy is like praying”, Javier said “being nice”, Avery said “giving”, and Olivia said “making friends”. Throughout the activity, Mrs. Angie reminded the students what it meant to worship God and how important it is. When the students were all done they put their pages together and read it as a book. I know God was smiling when he saw what they had drawn about Him.