Damascus

The adventure began!  This week we followed Saul, who is also known as Paul, as he went from Jerusalem to Damascus in search of Jesus lovers.  He was convinced that these people were making fun of God by declaring Jesus is God.  His purpose in going to Damascus was to find these Jesus lovers who have fled Jerusalem, arrest them, and take them back to Jerusalem for trial.  But God loved him so much that before Saul/Paul reached Damascus God sent a bright light to get his attention. Then a voice said, "Saul, Saul, Why are you hurting me?" 

Immediately Saul/Paul recognized that God was talking to him.  "Who are you, Lord?" 

God answered, "I am Jesus, who you are hurting."  God wanted Saul/Paul to believe that Jesus is the Christ; the one God had promised to send to forgive sin.  God wants you to believe the same thing.  In astonishment, Saul/Paul believed in Jesus.  God told him to go to Damascus, but when Saul/Paul got up to obey he discovered that he was blind.  Where he spent three days not eating or drinking anything, but praying. 

Meanwhile in Damascus there was a Jesus lover named Ananias.   God instructed Ananias to go to Saul/Paul.  Ananias was to encourage Saul/Paul.  Even though Ananias knew that Saul/Paul was coming to Damascus to imprison Jesus lovers like him, he obeyed and went to Saul/Paul.  God used Ananias to heal Saul's blindness and to encourage him to obey Jesus.  Saul/Paul was so excited over Jesus that he began to preach Jesus is the Son of God to the people of Damascus!  God was going to use this Jesus hater-turn Jesus lover in an amazing way.  Next week we well see what plans God had for Saul/Paul. 

Pictures of our first week:  When the kids arrive they sign in, get a bag & Bible Buck, write their name on the bag and put the bag in the designated area. 

Then some of the kids head to the craft table.  This week we made a Passport Traveler's kit out of DVD cases (that I got for free from the Annville Free Library!)  They had to color a map of the Roman World.  Then they made a pocket our of cut felt and glued that to the inside of the case.  They added a pre-made Passport, a small pad of paper and a pencil.  The neat thing about these kits is the kids can trace Paul's travels on their maps using a Dry Erase Marker. 

Some of the kids really took their time coloring.  Others tried to see how fast they could get done!

 

When the kids were not at the craft table, they could play gaga ball.  They absolutely love this game.  I added a new pit this year.  It is made of PVC pipe and is SO MUCH lighter than the wooden one.  The wooden one will remain at the South Annville location, but the PVC pit travels with me to the other sites.  

  Then it was Tent Time!  Here we learned three new songs.  The kids really caught on to the motions.

This year I have a helper - Katelyn!  She will be teaching the Bible Verses, reading the Missionary Stories and overseeing the Review Games.  This year we will be learning the 8 verses that make up the Roman Road.  If the kids can say all 8 verse the same week, then they will earn the right to choose a book from the book box.  This week, Katelyn taught them Romans 3:23.

See how attentive the kids were while Katelyn taught Romans 2:23? 





Then I introduced them to the Wordless Flipper Flapper.  Eventually, the kids will make their own Wordless Flipper Flapper.  

Then it was our Bible Lesson: Damascus. 

SNACK TIME!  








GROUP GAMES
Now it was time to use some energy.  This week all our games involved bean bags.  For some groups, we had a bean bag toss.  Other groups played Bean Bag Madness.  An still other groups played Bonfire! 


Then we returned to the tent for our Missionary Story (ran out of time for the review game).  This week's missionary was Gladsy Awland, missionary to China.  After club, the kids could spend their Bible Bucks at the Club Store.  It was a fantastic first week of Backyard Bible Club 2017!