Special Moments

It just so happened that the last time the 5th graders met for Bible Club there were no 5th grade girls, but there were 2 student volunteers, Cecily and Amber who are both 8th graders at the Impact Leadership Academy. When it came time for the Bible Lesson and talk sheets, Mr. C took the two 5th grade boys into the room next door and the student volunteers stayed in the classroom with Mrs. Renee. Let me tell you, I was thinking to myself, “Oh great! Another lost opportunity for a story!” With much hesitation, I decided to stick around. I was not sure what the girls were going to do, until I saw Mrs. Renee hand each one a talk sheet and a Bible. I really appreciated Mrs. Renee’s fervor and “go get it” attitude. There was never a question as to whether or not they would be going over the 5th grade lesson; frankly I thought they would just talk about miscellaneous topics not related to the Bible Lesson. I am so glad I stuck around because the conversation produced from the lesson was wonderful. They read together verses out of different books of the Bible on the topic, restraining yourself, to be more specific. They talked about things like gossiping and holding your tongue. Each one talked about a situation they had run into in the past week where they did not restrain themselves. Then they talked about how next time they could do better. One of the verses towards the end of the lesson about the tongue prompted the two girls to be very open about their own personal lives. They shared with Mrs. Renee about their fears of going to High School in the fall and about some things in their home life. Talking about these things led Mrs. Renee to ask the girls if she could pray with them and the issues they are facing in life right now. What a sweet moment I was able to witness, and I know Mrs. Renee will not forget the time she shared with these two very special girls. It was wonderful to see God working and I am so thankful that something in me was telling me to stay in the classroom that night, boy what an opportunity for a story I would have missed if I would have left!

Encouraging others...

I have yet to find a person who does not like it when someone else encourages them.
God places people in our lives to encourage us, and I am so thankful He has done so.
Before learning about the Bible Lesson for the evening Mrs. Jeanine (Pre-K Classroom
Teacher) asked all the little students to go around the table and tell the person to
their right something they liked about them. Libby told Alejandra that she liked her
brown eyes because they were like her dads. Alejandra told Maliah that she liked her
star earrings, and Maliah told Jamiah that she really liked her dress. They continued
around the table and when they had finished Mrs. Jeanine asked them if it felt good
to tell some one else something they liked about them. All of them agreed that it did
feel good. Encouragement is what the Pre-K students were learning about. They were
learning about the story of Saul and Barnabus. They learned about how Saul was not
a very nice man and not many people liked him, but God placed a friend in his life
named Barnabus to encourage Saul. Barnabus believed in Saul, he believed that Saul
could be a better person and he also knew that God had the power to change Saul.
Barnabus told everyone that Saul was a good man and God did change Saul! Barnabus
encouraged Saul and he helped him encourage others.

Gifts from God

Join me as I hear from a few first grade students after they visited the GFG (Gifts from God) store, where they spent their hard earned GFG bucks (money they earn for completing devotionals and from coming to Bible Club) and tell us what they bought.

Damien- “Beach towels for the pool, and a game to play with my sister.”

Grace- “Bat and baseball for my sister cause she loves baseball, baby rattle for my mom, a hat for my dad and perfume for my grandma.”

Eli- “Tennis balls, cause I play tennis.”

Olivia- “Football for my dad, clips for my mom, a notebook for my aunt, clothes for my baby cousin and for my baby niece and a baseball for my brother CJ.”

Each time I witness the 1st graders shop I am always blown away when they tell me what they bought mostly because over half of the things they purchase are for other people! It takes me back to thinking about a goal that City Impact has, take a look at the last line because I think it goes right along with what these little 1st graders are doing.

Servant Leadership & Strengths Development
-Children will know and understand their personal strengths.
-Children will explore and use their strengths in a variety of contexts.
-Students will actively demonstrate love and kindness through words and actions.

Bible Sandwich

I fear I have not told you much about the wonderful worship coordinator City Impact has for Bible Club! Well to get you caught up a bit, her name is Miss Bethany and she is a student at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. We have been so blessed to have her part of the Tuesday night team. Mrs. Bethany is very kind, sweet and so gentle with the students. As I mention sweet to you, it reminds me of a little story I wanted to share with you all about worship the other night.

Mrs. Bethany has such a fun way of introducing and explaining topics to the young students of Bible Club. A few Tuesdays ago the students were learning about getting our answers from the Bible and during worship Mrs. Bethany decided to play off of this a bit. She had a table up at the front of the fellowship hall. On the table was a bag and in the bag were different food items. Miss Bethany began talking to the students about things we receive from Gods word; she was talking specifically about the whole Bible in general. She proceeded to hold two pieces of bread up, which were to be the cover of the Bible. She went on to pull out of the bag things like a can of frosting, which she named Hope and then spread the frosting onto the bread. Then she sprinkled on top of the frosting some sprinkles, which she called comfort. After the Bible sandwich was completed, Mrs. Bethany called for two volunteers to try it. Two students eagerly tried the sandwich and when asked how it tasted they both agreed that it was very sweet and probably the best sandwich they ever had! Mrs. Bethany went on to explain that God’s word gives us all we need. It is so sweet; it is not bitter nor is it sour.

Not only was I tickled to watch the students eyes as they watched the Bible sandwich being assembled, I was pleased with the analogy Mrs. Bethany used to make God’s word come alive in a way the students could relate to. What person doesn’t want to think of the Bible to be as sweet as sugar!

Meet Mrs. Renee

I currently live in Lincoln, NE. I am from a large family of nine kids. I am married and have two children. My favorite color is hunter green and I love any kind of Mexican food. In my free time I enjoy reading, (I have a major book collection from all different authors), knitting, sewing and cooking. I got connected to City Impact through Gifts of Love, I volunteered for this event and then started at the Ministry. What led me to this was I was volunteering at the Friendship Home as a child and adult advocate. I saw a lot of hurting children there who needed to know about Jesus, but we were not allowed to talk about this with them. I wanted to go somewhere where I could help plant the seed of Jesus in young hearts. I have lots of favorite memories; one was having girls over for pizza and jewelry making. I also love when ever I hear a child quote scripture. I have been with City Impact for over 10 years and currently I am a small group leader in the 5th grade classroom.

Goal: Servant Leadership & Strengths Development

-Children will know and understand their personal strengths.
-Children will explore and use their strengths in a variety of contexts.
-Students will actively demonstrate love and kindness through words and
actions.


Teaching students to use their individual strengths has been something that the volunteers and staff here at Bible Club encourage weekly. Not to mention Mrs. Anna (Youth Development Director) has been working with each classroom teaching them how to recognize their individual strengths that God has given them.

As I sat in with the 1st grade classroom last week, I was pleased to notice Zahria using a character strength of hers. If you know Zahria, you would know that she is one little ball of fire! She is always dancing, singing, and talking to anyone and everyone. Zahria is usually in tune to what others need, and often times I find her helping. If I remember correctly the character which best represents Zahria is the Lion, which makes sense especially in the situation I witnessed in the 1st grade classroom. The students were working with Miss Jocelyn (Youth Bible Club Volunteer) to find verses in 1st Peter. Let me tell you, it is so cute to watch all the little ones open up a Bible to search for books and verses. Zahria noticed that Javier was having a bit of trouble finding the book Peter. She took charge like a Lion, but ever so gently said, “You need some help? Its back in the back.” She then proceeded to help him thumb through the pages until they came to Peter. Javier did not mind one bit that Zahria knew where the book Peter was and he didn’t. In fact, he was the first one to offer to read the verses out loud.

I learned quite a bit about humility while visiting the 1st grade classroom, and I really want to use it more in my own faith because I know God calls us to be like children in this way.

Great Bible Challenge

Goal: Spiritual Development

-Youth will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
-Youth will develop into mature followers of Jesus Christ.




The lesson throughout Bible Club on Tuesday night was, “The Bible is an Answer to All My Questions.” This particular night, the 5th graders had a challenge to work through. Boy was it fun to see the students interacting with the leaders to complete this challenge!

Numbers were a bit low in the 5th grade classroom, but it turned out to be a good thing because each volunteer was able to take one student and work out the challenge one on one. I wish I could tell you how every one on one interaction went, but I was not able to be in all the groups at once! Each of the groups spread out so they were able to work on the challenge intently and with little distractions. I decided to sit with Vadoll (youth volunteer) and Kaprice (5th grade student). I was tickled pink to witness their interaction and not to mention it was so awesome to see them diving into God’s word together. Vadoll has a very kind spirit and it was so fun to watch that emerge while working with Kaprice. In the activity, the students were asked to read a list of verses and then match the verse to a phrase that best described that verse. They sat close together on a couch as Vadoll read aloud the verses and Kaprice intently listened. He seemed to be soaking up every word and it was so easy for the two of them to come up with the answers. For example, after reading the passage in Proverbs 15:4, they came to the conclusion that the word/phrase to match it with was respectful words. Vadoll was so good at helping Kaprice understand the verses! He would even take the verse they just read and try, in his own words, to explain it in a way Kaprice would understand it. Vadoll and Kaprice interacted so well and it was awesome to see them working side by side in God’s word.

Here at City Impact the vision is, “Transforming Families and Neighborhoods from the Inside Out by Equipping People with the Good News of God's Love.” Tonight the activity led Vadoll and Kaprice to be better “equipped” in their knowledge of the “Good News of God’s Love.” I enjoyed every minute of being with them in class.

For some time now Mrs. Anna (Youth Development Director) has been working with the students at Bible Club on finding their character strengths. On Tuesday, it was Mrs. Anna’s first trip to the 4th grade classroom. For the next 8 weeks Mrs. Anna will be working with the 4th graders to become familiar with a new way of journaling.

Mrs. Anna began by explaining to the 4th graders that she would be joining them for the next 8 weeks to teach/show them how to find what strengths God has given each individual person. After the explanation of why she was there, she told the class that they would be doing something fun for the first night; they were going to be making a very yummy snack!

The students were grouped into groups of 3, and then she told two of each three that they would be working together, and they were not to talk to the other person in their group. Then the two students in each group were given a bag containing the contents of part of the yummy snack they were making. The one person in their group was given a bowl with some other contents in it. Mrs. Anna then told each group to make their snack. You should have seen the look on their faces when they began to figure out that they didn’t even know how or what they were supposed to be making. After a few minutes of confusion Mrs. Anna said to the students, “Didn’t you get a recipe?” Then they all figured out that the one person who had been left to work on their own was the keeper of the recipe! They were then told to work together to make the recipe.

After they were done making their snack, Mrs. Anna asked them what it was like to try and make the snack on their own. Amara answered, “It was confusing because we didn’t know what to do.” This led Mrs. Anna right into talking about the new way of journaling. She explained that God made each and every person unique and each one of us has a gift or talent. She used the snack mix items as an analogy by saying that some of us may be a marshmallow and some of us may be an M&M, but we are not all chex mix. She explained that in the Bible the apostle Paul talks about the parts of the body and how each one is unique and different, but not one thing works separate without the others. Just as the body parts work together, so should the people who make up God’s kingdom here on earth. Mrs. Anna talked about how God did not give us our gifts just for ourselves, but He made us so we can use them for others. After that was said, Mrs. Anna told each group to pick a class to deliver their yummy snack to as a way of sharing their “talents” with others!

Kaylan pictured on the left

On Tuesday evening Mrs. Michelle (3rd grade classroom leader) asked the students to write about a situation which happened in the past week at home and which character (golden retriever, otter, beaver, lion) it brought out in them. When they were finished Mrs. Michelle asked for any volunteers to come before class and share their journal. Kaylan willingly jumped at the opportunity and here is what she shared.

“I helped my baby brother because he fell down the stairs head first and got hurt, but now he is ok.”

She was then asked what character it brought out in her and she said golden retriever.

Bible Club Volunteers Care

Goal: Volunteer Care
-Volunteers will be well trained and committed to the City Impact Mission.
-Volunteers will feel like a valued member of the CI Ministry Team.


From: Miss Lindsay (small group leader, 3rd grade)
To: Ian

“It is so nice to see you again! Come back! Happy summer”

From: Mercedez (small group leader, 3rd grade)
To: Zodell

“I see so much improvement in you. You haven’t been to reroute in a while, good job!”


From: Britton
To: Taylor

“Taylor, I really enjoy it when you volunteer to pray! God loves you!”

From: Miss Margaret
To: Channele

“You are so sweet! And I love it when you come here! It makes me happy to see you!”

Personal Responsibility in the 5th grade room

A few weeks ago before worship Mrs. Wanda (5th grade teacher) came to me very excited and wanted to tell me two things which she thought were “blog worthy” and boy was I excited!

Mrs. Wanda explained that during class one of the girls spoke up and told everyone that in the past week she had lied and she was asking if it was ok. The reason she had lied was to get into a party at the Light House. You had to be in the 6th grade to get in, so she lied and said she was. Mrs. Wanda was very excited because this brought about an opportunity to teach about being honest and how important it is to God to be honest. After the talk she was not ready to ask God to forgive her because she still did not think what she had done was really wrong. Later on the class was praying their inward prayers and when it got around to this particular 5th grade student she spoke out loud and asked God to forgive her for lying to get into the Light House party.

Not only was Mrs. Wanda excited to tell me about her student’s realization, she also said that this student does not usually pray out loud in front of the class. With all that said, it was the 5th grade girls turn to serve the food and so Mrs. Wanda asked if she could have a girl volunteer to pray for the food and with no hesitation the same girl who had spoke up earlier raised her hand and volunteered to pray out loud.

It was so fun to hear Mrs. Wanda’s excitement when she was telling me what had happened in class that night.

Milandra a 5th grade Bible Club student

What is one thing God helped me do lately, that I didn’t have to do, which showed kindness or sacrificial love to others?


“I moved into a new house and I didn’t want to share a room but I did even though I didn’t want to and I didn’t even throw a fit about it.”

Meet Mr. C

I grew up in northern Illinois with 4 older brothers. (5 boys, no girls!) From grade school through college, my Dad and his brother owned a dairy farm, so while we lived in town, we spent a lot of time working on the farm. My Dad’s side of the family has a German heritage, and Mom’s side is from Sweden. My parents and grandparents were all followers of Jesus, so I’ve always been part of Bible teaching churches. Growing up, we attended the First Evangelical Free Church in Rockford. I attended and graduated from Trinity College with a bachelor’s degree in Biology, which is where I met my wife Debbie. We were married in 1979 and have lived in northern Illinois, western Illinois, Lincoln (twice) and suburban Philadelphia. We have one child, Zach, who is graduating in early May from Oklahoma State with degrees in Aviation Sciences and Economics. He’s getting married two weeks after graduation, so we have an exciting, busy spring ahead of us!

I don’t really have a favorite color, I like all of them! My favorite food is filet mignon and in my free time I love to read, watch sports and spend time with friends. I was connected to City Impact when I was asked to join the ministry’s resource team in April 2004, and then served on the Board of Directors from 2004-2009.

Past experiences like growing up in a church with an active Youth Group, and going to a Christian college where investing our time, talent and treasure in the kingdom was part of the program have lead me to volunteer at a place like City Impact Jesus plainly told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Working with the kids, families, staff and the board of directors at City Impact are all practical steps of obedience to what Jesus’ commanded (John 14:15).

I have many favorite memories from volunteering at City Impact. To name a few, I loved the summer outings to Saltdogs games with the 5th grade Bible Club kids, to small group time talking about the relationship Jesus wants us to have with Him.

I have been with City Impact since 2004 and I am currently a table leader/small group leader, spending time with our 5th grade boys.

Pre-K showing love to others

The oh so cute Pre-K students are currently learning about the Easter story. They are talking about God dying for our sins and what an act of love it was that He did this for us. I spent a few minutes asking the Pre-K students what one thing they could do in the next week to show love to others just like Jesus showed love in the story they talked about.


Mariah- “Give my brother a big hug.”


Maliah- “Help my mom by cleaning up the living room and our bedroom.”


Jamiah- “Help my mom clean up the living room.”


Alejandra- “Help my brother clean up his room.”


Libby- “Help my sister make her bed.”


It is always so fun to sit with the youngest students of Bible Club because more often than not you get honest answers and that’s that!

4th graders shows responsibility

Goal: Personal Responsibility

* Students will learn and demonstrate appropriate social skills.
* Students will take ownership for their behavior.



The 4th grade activity on Tuesday night consisted of some very small confetti. After one group had finished they began to drop the confetti on the floor, it went all over covering the area with little pieces of black confetti. Just as the students had dropped the confetti Mr. Mike (volunteer small group leader) from the other team told the students to keep the confetti in their hands and to not drop it on the floor. You should have seen the faces on the students who knew they were immediately guilty of dropping that confetti on the floor, priceless! To my sweet surprise (without being asked) the students who had dropped the confetti immediately got down on their hands and knees and began to clean up the confetti. Joshua (4th grade student) even went and found a broom and after all the students had returned to the classroom he was out in the hall sweeping up the last few pieces of confetti.

Little Miss Grace extending some grace

There is a favorite game which all the Bible Club children like to play while they are waiting for program to start on Tuesday nights. They all gather together and play color tag. On Tuesday little Miss Grace (first grader) was heavily involved in playing color tag when her mom came out and asked her to show Sarah (a friend) how to play the game. Grace very kindly took Sarah by the hand and led her into the confusion. You see color tag is a very energetic and fast game. In the game, all the children, except a few, go to one wall and stand their waiting for the children in the middle to call out a color. If you have the color they call on your clothing or shoes you have to try and run to the other side of the room past the taggers, without getting tagged. Now you know what I mean when I say this is a game of energy and confusion! Back to the part about Grace and Sarah. Grace and Sarah walked to the wall of children and stood there waiting to hear the color. After noticing that Sarah was a bit unsure of herself, Grace walked up to Mrs. Bethany (Bible Club worship leader) and said, “This is my friend Sarah and this is her first time, do you think you could tell them to take it easy on her she’s a little nervous.” Oh how sweet it was to see Grace take care of her friend like that! It reminded me of the game that the first graders played a few weeks ago. The game was about helping someone in need, it reminded me of the baby doll that had fallen in the mud and Grace picked her up and was an advocate for Sarah. Grace very easily could have left Sarah to fend for herself, but she didn’t. Great example of how many times God treats us the same way.

Meet Miranda

Miranda has been coming to City Impact since her Pre-k years, this year she is in the 1st grade classroom, so that makes it a little over two years that she has been with Bible Club. Miranda’s birthday is November 28th and she has one brother and 2 sisters. Miranda’s favorite food is fried chicken from Popeye’s and her favorite color is fuchsia. When I asked Miranda what her favorite thing about Bible Club was she said this “I like to play!” I also asked her what is one thing you have learned about God this year and she responded very matter- of -factly by saying “He is my father, he is everybody’s father.” One thing that Miranda is good at is jump roping, and if she only had one more day to live she would spend it by doing good in church and school.

Stamps from the 3rd grade classroom

Stamp-1. a small printed card from City Imapct that expresses thankfullness or encouragement.


From: Taylor
To: Kaylan

“You’re a good friend, a good person, and a good learner.”


From: Simone
To: Taylor

“I like when you pray”


From: Kylea
To: Serinity

“You Roc!” “You are awesome and really good at expressing yourself, keep it up!”

4th Grade Prayer

Upward, Inward and Outward prayer is something done frequently at Bible Club. I really enjoy hearing these young children pray out loud because not only does it build their confidence in praying in front of a group of people, it also teaches them about the realness of God. Hear what some of these precious 4th graders had to say to God.

Prayer is usually always started with upward prayer. The students may begin this with:

God I praise you because…

Michaela- “You are wise and our creator”

Oralia- “You are the King”

Linda- “You love me”

Next is Inward prayer, which starts like this:

God I am sorry for…….will you please forgive me.

Daddiz-“Yelling at my cousins and being rude”

Joshua-“Being mean to my brothers”

Oralia-“Not doing what I was told”

To finish things up, the students focus on Outward prayer. During this time, students pray for a prayer request they may have.

Madisyn-“Help my sister get through the rest of her life and get what she needs.”

GG-“Ask for prayer for the people in Haiti.”

Oralia- “Help my mom and her ankle heal up quick.”

That was just a little taste of what goes on during prayer time in the 4th grade room. To add another note to this, I really enjoy when the 4th grade class prays because they all come together in one big group to pray.

A few weeks ago before worship Mrs. Wanda (5th grade teacher) came to me very excited and wanted to tell me two things which she thought were “blog worthy” and boy was I excited!

Mrs. Wanda explained that during class one of the girls spoke up and told everyone that in the past week she had lied and she was asking if it was ok. The reason she had lied was to get into a party at the Light House. You had to be in the 6th grade to get in, so she lied and said she was. Mrs. Wanda was very excited because this brought about an opportunity to teach about being honest and how important it is to God to be honest. After the talk she was not ready to ask God to forgive her because she still did not think what she had done was really wrong. Later on the class was praying their inward prayers and when it got around to this particular 5th grade student she spoke out loud and asked God to forgive her for lying to get into the Light House party.

Not only was Mrs. Wanda excited to tell me about her student’s realization, she also said that this student does not usually pray out loud in front of the class. With that said, it was the 5th grade girls turn to serve the food and so Mrs. Wanda asked if she could have a girl volunteer to pray for the food and with no hesitation the same girl who had spoke up earlier raised her hand and volunteered to pray out loud.

It was so fun to hear Mrs. Wanda’s excitement when she was telling me what had happened in class that night.