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.

3rd graders learn what it means to really worship God

Beginning something new (like the new semester in a new building) can bring about many different challenges. It is so nice though, that all the Bible Club staff and leaders can team up to bring unity to the classrooms by remembering our mission of bringing God’s transforming hope into the lives of our kids.

The first room I visited Tuesday evening was the 3^rd grade room and what a lively bunch they were! After the children were assigned their seats Mrs. Sheri began talking to the students about how important it is to learn “give me 5”, she went around the room asking students to list the 5 components that are used to put together “give me 5” and each student who raised his/her hand did an excellent job answering correctly. I was very please to see how well the students were answering Mrs. Sheri’s questions and how respectful they were while others were talking.

When Mrs. Sheri was finished talking about the importance of “give me 5” she began passing out little baggies of potato chips to each student, and she told them they could start eating them right away. While the students were eating their potato chips Mrs. Sheri stood up in front of the class and read a book on the fruits of the spirit and emphasized how God thinks it is important for us to possess these qualities. At different spots during the reading of the book Mrs. Sheri went over to her glass of water and took some big sips, mind you the students are still eating their potato chips with no water anywhere to be seen on their tables. Mrs. Sheri made a few comments about how thirsty she was and how good the water tasted.

Now by this time I could feel my own mouth watering from watching all these students eat salty potato chips with out drinking any water! While continuing on with their eating, Mrs. Sheri introduced a new version of Jesus loves me to the students and they listened while they finished up their chips. I could hear students here and there asking why Mrs. Sheri got to have water and they began to wonder why they weren’t getting any water. When the song was over Mrs. Sheri asked the students what they wanted the most right then and they all said water! While Mrs. Sheri passed out water she asked “even though you were learning about Jesus you were really thinking about having water?” Mrs. Sheri then had the opportunity to talk to the students about “real worship” and when you are really worshiping God you are thinking “only” about Him. She emphasized how it can be difficult to do at times, because of other distractions. But God still wants us to spend time thinking only about Him, adoring only Him when we worship.