Dear Friend,
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ ” Romans 10:14-15
Thank you for bringing the Good News to the children of our island state! January is the height of summer ministry here in Tasmania, and we have been rocked by a large wave of COVID. This is only the second real “wave” for Tasmania so it’s a lot for people to get used to. However, that has not stopped ministry. While the number of children coming to events has suffered, God has come through time and time again, and new children that we have never reached before have come to both of the holiday programs so far. In both cases, adults (and a teen) had to be out due to catching COVID or being in close contact, but God raised up others at the last minute so summer programs haven’t had to miss a day! With so many businesses and other kids’ programs having to close due to staffing shortages, this is an act of God! Our summer ministry teacher training was held on Zoom, but this provided an opportunity for workers from clubs to be held in different parts of the state to attend together. It’s great to still be able to put technology into practice when you need it.
A few stories: At City Park, a Muslim child came along. I explained to the Mom that we would have a story from the Bible. Mom said she was ok with that. She had an appointment to go to. Of course, we will be glad to be a place for the child to be.
At City Park, two new children from an African country who had been separated from their Mom were finally reunited as borders opened in Australia. One of the first things they did after getting settled into their new home with Mom was to come to holiday club and build with Lego. I couldn’t really tell if they spoke English or not yet as they were very quiet. I pray that they will begin to feel assured in their new country and that we could be a little part of that.
After club at City Park one day, a couple of the Christian children stayed around to help me record puppet skits to be used in the Devonport holiday club the next week. They were being missionaries even though they couldn’t come with me to Devonport.
At Devonport, the puppet team that was to perform the skits with me was out due to COVID. However, a couple little girls in the club were eager to do puppets themselves, so I got them to be part of the puppet team. One of them had been to club in previous years, and I saw her growing in her leadership ability.
At Devonport, we had a little boy from London who was visiting family in Tasmania. He seemed a bit antagonistic to things from the Bible, but I am thankful that God allowed us to plant some seeds. For those who aren’t involved in children’s ministry during this time, I’d like to ask for prayer for strength for all the behind-the-scenes things that need to happen to keep ministry running in a safe way for the children. The two most time consuming of these for me is sanitizing all the Lego every night after club as this takes a couple hours of my evening and putting craft packets together for each craft so kids can have all their own materials in their own little plastic bag. These things are well worth it for children to hear the Gospel and meet together in person, but I would ask for prayer that I once again find joy in doing these smaller, necessary tasks.
Praise and Prayer: ·
Praise that God is sovereign over all things and has seen fit to continue to allow us to share the Gospel and teach in person. ·
Pray for next week’s Lego holiday club in George Town as this is a new geographical area for the ministry some of you have been praying about for a while. ·
Pray that children would come along as foundations are laid for ministry there. ·
Pray that children would be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ in George Town. ·
Pray that God keeps the workers free of COVID this week so that no one has to be out next week.
In Christ for the children,
Stephanie
Recent Comments