Canada Bound!

We are on our way to Canada and a week of teaching Bible at Mill Stream Bible Camp. Thanking God for traveling mercies so far and good deals on gas, food, and hotel for the night since we are on a limited budget. More pictures and updates to come. Thanks for your prayers!

Of course we had to stop at the first Tim Hortons we saw. I’m sure it will be the first of many.

Wow! Wow! Wow!–With Lee in Virginia–A TOS Review Crew Review

 
Wow! Wow! Wow!
That is what first came to mind as we began to listen to With Lee in Virginia from Heirloom Audio Productions. Let me preface this by saying that I worked at Walt Disney World in Florida for 13 years so I am used to quality. I worked in quality and I know what quality entertainment is all about. From the moment this audio book began to play I was impressed by the quality of this production. It was like going into a Disney attraction at one of the Disney parks. It was as if Walt Disney was the producer of With Lee in Virginia himself. The fact that every member of our family is a history buff, and we also love G. A. Henty, the  author of the book that this audio production is based on, made the listening even sweeter and more exciting.
First of all, this isn’t just an audio book. Audio books are books that are read aloud on tape. This isn’t like that. This isn’t like audio theater either. Audio theater is like a radio drama. This is much more than that as well. I like what the With Lee in Virginia website calls this production. They call it an “Audio Adventure”. It mixes the voices of real actors like Kirk Cameron, Sean Austin, Brian Blessed, Chris Anthony and Kelsey Lansdowne with fantastic sound effects and a musical score written by an emmy award winning composer. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, this is very well done!
I think that in light of all of the recent events regarding the confederate flag, the confederacy, and the Civil War, With Lee in Virginia is very timely. It reminds us that there were good, decent, Christian men on both sides of fight. It reiterates the fact that, despite what the history books or modern day historians try make it, the Civil War was not as cut and dry as you might think. Although, of course, we abhor slavery, this has made my entire family reevaluate the terms “good guys and bad guys”.
G.A, Henty wrote historical fiction. Although many characters in his books were fictional, many people that he wrote about were real people and he writes about them and historical events in an accurate fashion. In With Lee in Virginia the main fictional characters are fifteen-year-old Vincent Wingfield and a slave that his family owns, Dan, who is more than just a slave, but Vincent’s friend. Vincent is young person that believes that slaves should be treated kindly and like humans. He comes to the defense of some slaves that live on a neighboring plantation, and he is teaching one of his own slaves to read. When the Civil War breaks out, he and many of his friends quickly join thinking that it will be a grand adventure but they soon find out that war is not grand at all. It leads to death and suffering.
My kids were captivated by this Heirloom Audio Productions recording from the start. Jacob, our nine year old, was reluctant to listen at first, but, after listening to the first part one day, he couldn’t wait until the next day to finish the 2 1/2 hour audio adventure. Joshua began discussing some of the issues brought up the story even before we stopped listening. John Allen, who really loves G.A. Henty, was ecstatic about it and began commenting on how we need to read this or that Henty novel since we liked With Lee in Virginia so much. Sarah and I were amazed at how well done it is, and were delighted with the discussions that the kids were having.
We love it so much that we are listening to it in the car this week as we travel up to Canada. This time I plan on using the free downloadable study guide that can be used along with the audio adventure. The study guide is just as well done as the production. This 52 page guide has divided the recording in to 38 sections. Each section has three groups of questions – Listening Well, Thinking Further and Defining Words. Listening Well are listening comprehension questions that make sure the child understands what he has heard. The Thinking Further questions make the child think more deeply about the life lessons that are being taught  in the story. Defining Words is a vocabulary section that lists words that your child may or may not know. G.A. Henty was definitely a Christian author, and Heirloom Audio Productions is a Christian company so the study guide concludes with a Bible Study on duty, loving your enemy, and a section on what the Bible says about slavery. There are also some short biographies of the main non-fictional characters, a suggested book section for further reading and more.
I don’t think that there is any doubt in your mind what we think about With Lee in Virginia. We absolutely love it! And, we are now big fans of Heirloom Audio Productions. So much so that – shhhhh, don’t tell the kids – I am thinking about ordering one of their other G.A, Henty audio adventures to be delivered to my sister’s house (we’re visiting her after our stay in Canada) so that we have another great production to listen to on the way home! I really think you all will love With Lee in Virginia as well and you can find out more about it by clicking on any one of the highlighted links above. To find out more about what other members of The Schoolhouse Review Crew thought about this product just click on the banner below. Happy listening!
   

Miss Glenda Was Mad!

Miss Glenda was mad! Oh, she was smiling, but there was irritation in her voice as well! We have known and ministered to Miss Glenda since the day we began working at Good News Ministries 16 years ago. She's an elderly lady that is the grandma of the projects. She isn't any "sit on her porch in a rocking chair grandma", though. She is and always has been very active.

She was raised "back in the holler" outside of Byrdstown, TN about 20 miles away from the projects where she lives now. Although she dropped out of school way before her high school years to work on the family farm, she is still as smart as a whip. She may not be good at any academic subject, but she probably knows how to get  by in life better than the most educated of us do. When someone says that a person has "street smarts" it makes people think that someone knows how to get by living in a big city. I don't know if I would say that Miss Glenda has "street smarts", but she sure has "life smarts" and knows how to get by in life.

She can tell you stories about growing up on the farm and cutting tobacco in her youth. Then working, raising three daughters, and taking care of sick and elderly relatives in her adult years all while protecting her family from an abusive, alcoholic, husband and father.

When I first met her she was "tending to" her second husband who was bed ridden and dying. She had met him at some of bluegrass music festivals where she would join in some of the musical groups and play her guitar. They ended up forming a musical group and playing together and then ended up getting married.

Miss Glenda is in her 70's now but still as active as ever. She usually goes to bed before dark and is frequently seen at four in the morning sweeping sidewalks or collecting trash from people's yards to make the projects look better.

Today, however, she wasn't collecting trash or sweeping sidewalks, she was mad at me! Why was she mad? Because I hadn't come around to visit with her in a long time and we hadn't been having our regular adult Bible Studies! Unfortunately with Sarah and I both working part-time jobs and with us conducting day camps for the projects kids this summer, there hasn't been much time for the adult Bible studies and my every other day or so visitations to chat with the residents of the projects and make sure some of the elderly ladies were okay. In fact, I have heard that some of the residents had been asking if anyone has seen me and where I was lately.

Well, hopefully, soon I won't have to feel the wrath of Miss Glenda or any of the others. After much prayer and talking back and forth with Sarah, I have turned in my notice at my part-time job in order to concentrate on raising support and being a missionary again. We plan on starting up at least two Bible Clubs this fall for children as well as some adult Bible studies as well and, of course, my every other day or so walks to chat, minister to, and visit everyone.

Please be in prayer for us! We really can't get by on the money that is coming in now but we really can't carry on the ministry that God has given us when we are working part time either. Pray that more individuals and churches will join with us in our ministry by financially supporting Good News Ministries and our family. Pray for more prayer supporters as well. People that will commit to praying for us regularly are the foundation stones of our ministry. We cannot do it without them.

If you would be interested in coming along side of us as a financial supporter or prayer supporter please contact us for more information. Our address and phone number are below.

Thank you so much ahead of time!

Tim and Sarah Tinkel

Good News Ministries

904 Lee Drive

Livingston, TN 38570

931-319-2551

tink38570@yahoo.com

Something Was Very Wrong!

Something was very wrong with “D”. I could tell something was wrong because, despite his circumstances, D is usually always smiling but that day he wasn’t. I have known D’s family for years and known his family situation. It is a convoluted situation to say the least. It is full of situations that are almost unimaginable. D’s mom left his dad years ago to marry his dad’s brother. D’s dad ended up marrying the widow of his x stepdad. Yes, you read that correctly! D’s grandmother was married to her second (I think) husband. They divorced and he remarried. He dies and his widow ends up with D’s dad. It is almost like the song “I’m My Own Grandpa” but it isn’t funny – it’s very, very sad.

Fourteen year old D has come to day camp every day we had it this summer. I don’t think he’s missed a day. Almost from the start I gave him a helper position. Every day he is smiling and cheerful and does a wonderful job watching the younger kids, helping set up games, and just assisting where needed. One day earlier this week, however, he wasn’t smiling. I took him aside during the day and asked if everything was alright. Making an effort to hold back the tears D explained the latest drama in his life. His dad was leaving his stepmom to marry the sister of one of his best friend’s mom. They were planning on living right down the street from where they lived. D went on to say that everyone in his family was upset with his dad. No one wanted this to happen and that he and his younger brothers had decided that they were going to stay with the stepmom if they could and live with both her and their grandmother who lives across the street.

I feel sorry for D and his two younger brothers. His dad has been married I don’t know how many times and the three boys are almost like a second family. He has older brothers and sisters. He hardly sees his real mom. I knew his older siblings well but for several years had to curtail my ministry in that area of town. This summer we surveyed that are once again and have been inviting the kids from that neighborhood to day camp. Since we have the new “Bible Club Bus” we want to begin a Bible Club in that area this fall.

Please pray with us for D and his brothers. Pray that we can show those boys that, with God’s help, they can break the generational curses that are upon his family. There is much more that I can say about his family situation but I dare not. Enough has been said already for you to get the picture.

Pray for the neighborhood where D lives. It is even more impoverished than the low income housing area where we normally work. Just this morning another one of the boys from the neighborhood told Sarah that he hadn’t had any breakfast and was very hungry. It sounded as if he hadn’t had anything to eat since lunchtime at day camp the day before. We were able to secretly get him something to eat while the other kids were playing a game.

Pray for the Bible Club that we are planning on starting there this fall. We really want to show the children God’s love. There are some older boys in that area that really need mentoring. We thought about starting a separate Bible Study for them but their knowledge of the Bible is very limited and they have really enjoyed the flannelgraph and flashcard lessons that I have done, so we think we’ll just keep them in with the younger kids as long as they continue to not be a distraction. We would also like to eventually reach out to the parents.

Continue to pray for our family financially. We are amazed at how many doors God has opened up for ministry. Pray that God will provide funds so that we don’t have to have part-time jobs that might hinder what God want’s us to do.

If you would like to find out more about our ministry or how to support us please contact us. Our information is below.

Thank you so much ahead of time for your prayers.
Tim and Sarah Tinkel – 904 Lee Drive – Livingston, TN 38570
Tim cell – 931-319-2551 Sarah cell – 931-319-3113

Homeschool Planet is Out of This World!–A Schoolhouse Review Crew Review

 

Okay! It’s time for me to come clean and admit a few things. So, here goes:

• I can be one of the most disorganized people around.
• I really need a scheduler or some type of planner but I rarely use one.
• I have used online and downloadable homeschool planners and really like them.
• When I use lists I can be very productive but unfortunately I don’t use lists as often as I should.
• I forget things easily.
• When all information is in one place it really helps.

So, why am I mentioning some things that seem totally unrelated? Because I am super excited to be able to review Homeschool Planet from Homeschool Buyers Co-op! Homeschool Planet provides the solution to all of the things I mentioned above all in one place. However, I’m going to mention one other “come clean” admission – I have by no means whatsoever spent enough time Homeschool Planet to even be able to use all of the wonderful features that this amazing on-line planner has so I am going to say from the start that AFTER YOU READ MY REVIEW, you need to head on over to read what the other Schoolhouse Review Crew members have to say about this product. I can almost say with certainty that there is no way that any of the other members have used all of the features that Homeschool Planet provides either, but I’m sure that each reviewer has used different features and, if you read the other reviews you will begin to see all that this planner does and realize how immense it is.
What did I find amazing about it? Well, aside from it’s endless features I really like that it isn’t just a business planner, nor a home scheduler, nor a homeschool planner, but it is all of those things plus more wrapped into one. Let me tell you how I have used it so far.

First let me list some of the features of the personal scheduler that I have used and really love then I’ll get into the homework part of it.

• I love the fact that I can make a profile for each person in my family and then tag different people when I am adding something to the calendar. That way I can look at the whole calendar that lists what everyone is doing, or I can click on one person and just check to see what they have scheduled on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis.
• I also love the fact that I can color code events on my schedule. For example, light pink might stand for just a regular appointment; light blue is for my part time job; yellow is for our ministry; etc.
• I love that this is a planner that I can program to send me, or any other member of our family, reminder emails every day about what is going on each day. All I have to do is check my email on my computer or smart phone and there it is!
• I love that this is not just a personal planner but is a homeschool planner as well. No more flipping between planners and checking multiple date books to see what is going on each day. It is all in one place.
• I love that this is not just a personal planner/scheduler, but is so much more! It even has the capability of sending me a text with a list of things to buy at the store. If I am out shopping and Sarah wants me to stop by the grocery store she can go on the planner, make a list, and send it to my phone.
• Ugh! There is so much to the personal planner that I have only just touched the surface of everything that can be done with it. There is much more that I haven’t been able to use yet let alone describe.

Now, let me talk about the homeschool features of Homeschool Planet that I have used some, but not a lot, and that I am looking forward to using more in the future.

• We homeschool year round but are more delight driven homeschoolers in the summer. Some things are assigned, but not as heavily as during the actual school year. The homeschool part of this planner is amazing! I am looking forward to really delving in to this feature more when we really get into the year. The next few bullet points are going to talk about what the Homeschool Planner has to offer to keep track of your homeschool. Let me warn you, there are so many things that  can be done that I am not going to take the time to explain everything in detail or this review would be way too long. I’m just going to mention some things briefly.
• I  can make a calendar for the whole year and assign days that are homeschool days and days that are non-homeschool days. The planner keeps track of how many days of “school” we have had.
• When I assign work to be done for each child I can list what books are to be used, what pages I want them to read or, if it’s a workbook, what pages to complete. I can even attach a website or something else from my computer that the student can just click on and it goes to that website.
• I can program the planner to keep track of how much time is spent on each subject but can override it if need be.
• I can have each day's assignments sent via email to a particular student, have them just log into the website, or print it out to give to them (obviously, if I print it out the clickable features won’t be available).
• I can grade each homeschool assignment separately and keep track of the grades on the planner. I can even set up categories for each assignment and then assign a percentage of the final grade to each category. For example – tests are worth 50% of the grade, quizzes are worth 30%, and workbook pages/homework is worth 20%. And, as I enter in each grade, the planner keeps track of it all!
• The same features from the regular scheduler that I mentioned above are available in the homeschool part. I can assign colors to each subject so, as I look at the planner, I know what subject is assigned and when it is assigned just by looking at the color! And, remember, everything is right there in front of you and in the same place. If I just want to look at the homeschool stuff, I can. If I just want to look at the personal schedule, I can. If I just want to look at my schedule I can. If I want to look at Sarah’s and my schedule together, I can. If I want to look at everyone’s schedule – homeschool, personal, work – everything, I can!

I cannot say it enough that if I tried to list everything that this online planner this review would be way to long! I love the Homeschool Planet planner from Homeschool Buyers Co-op. This is for sure a keeper. It is better than any online planner that I have ever seen or used. There are so many areas of my life that I can’t wait to get organized by implementing the great features of this product.  Why don’t you head over to the Homeschool Buyers Co-op website by clicking on any of the highlighted links above and check it out yourself? There is even an offer to try it out for a limited time for free! Also, don’t forget what I mentioned above. Many other Schoolhouse Review Crew members also reviewed Homeschool Planet and I’m sure they tried and enjoyed different features than what I did. Click on the banner below to read what they had to say. Happy Homeschooling!

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Teen Prasso Ministries–A Schoolhouse Review Crew Review

 

 

Allegories have always been a popular way to teach. Jesus taught that way during his ministry and many Christian authors have used allegories to teach Christian truths throughout the ages. Lately, many of the classical allegorical books have become popular once again because of movies that have been based after them. Many people are catching the truths that these books taught, but, unfortunately, many people are still missing those Christian truths because they have never been taught how to see them. That is something that I have tried to teach to my children since they were very young. Some of the popular allegorical classics I read to my children when they were young and explained to them what was being taught.

I am going to be quite honest. I wasn’t looking for another Bible study curriculum to use with any of my children this summer. Not only because we have some Bible studies that we already love using, but because our summers are super busy. When I found out that we were going to review the Teen Prasso Teacher’s Manual and the Teen Prasso Homework Manual from Prasso Ministries I had mixed emotions. I thought it would be good for John Allen, my oldest, and he agreed but was hesitant as well. After spending a few weeks with it, however, we are very glad we were chosen.

The Teen Prasso Teacher’s Manual and Teen Prasso Homework Manual were written to be used with a group once a week with the group members doing homework throughout the week. We used them in a one-on-one setting, so, although I might touch on the group aspect a little, I will basically be reviewing this Bible study as we used them.

Prasso is a Greek word that means repeatedly, continually and habitually practice. That is really perfect name for this study. This is a Bible study that helps teens do just that. It doesn’t focus on any one book of the Bible or any theme, it focuses on the Christian life and living as a Christian. The 13 week Bible study (13 group meetings and 12 weeks of the homework journal) starts out talking about beginning your walk through life on the right path (God), using the right map (Bible), the bridge between us and God (Jesus), the difficult situations that we go through in life and why God allows us to go through them, the enemy that will try to lead us astray (Satan), some of the things that we might have to deal with on our journey (Lies, Pressures, Anger, Forgiveness, Pride & Selfishness), how we have to constantly refocus on God, and lastly, the journey ahead. I really, really like the progression of this study.

So, why did I open up this review talking about allegories? Because that is what makes this whole Bible study interesting. There is a story that continues from week to week that illustrates all of the themes that I wrote about above. It is basically about two teen brothers, Brandon and Derek, and their week long adventure hiking through a remote area of the Rocky Mountains. It begins with them getting several hours into their journey and, you guessed it, realizing that they forgot the map. You can probably see by the above paragraph where this is going. However, as I mentioned in my opening, allegories are a wonderful way to teach God’s word and this allegorical story is absolutely fantastic. I’m not going to reveal too much about it but it perfectly illustrates what the teens will have to face in their journey through life. It is not only the perfect illustration, but it really makes the student come back from week to week to find out what happens next. At least it did with John Allen.

 

Okay, I’ve talked about the themes of this study and about the story, now let me talk a little bit more about the study. Remember, this study was originally written to be used in a group setting, however, it can be easily adapted to be used one-on-one or in a homeschool setting. What I really like about it is that there is very little preparation involved. Everything is written out for the leader/teacher. Each weekly lesson has a key verse that can be used as the memory verse, and the lesson goal that tells you what the main objective of the lesson is. Usually the lesson begins with a short opening message/discussion, then you read a section of the allegorical story, another short message/discussion, another part of the story, etc. Each week is about three parts story and three parts message/discussion and always begins and ends in prayer. Obviously it is always best to read over the lesson ahead of time, but, realistically, this material is so well written and laid out that you could go from week to week without preparation – however, I repeat, that is not the way to do it – I just say that to illustrate how well done this study is written.

Lest you think that the allegorical story is the main part of this Bible study, remember, an allegory is a story that always has a deeper meaning. In this case, the deeper meaning is scriptural and the two or three short messages that are included in each week’s group session are full of scripture and Biblical stories that explain the deeper meaning in the story. Don’t worry, this is a definitely a Bible study, not a book club just discussing the story.

Which brings me to the Teen Prasso Homework Manual. There are five days of the manual/journal that the student is to complete during the week and then, on the sixth day he is to “rethink” what he has learned on the previous days. It took John Allen only a few minutes to do each day’s lesson. Each week deals with the theme of the previous group meeting, but is all scriptural. The student is guided to read several verses or a story from the Bible that deals with the theme of the week and then answer a few questions about what they read. Although the theme for the week is always the same as what was talked about in the continuing story and during the messages from the previous group meeting, the homework manual very rarely (if at all) refers back to the story. It is, however, just as well written on a teen level and asks great questions and has some great illustrations.

So, after using the Teen Prasso Teacher’s Manual and the Teen Prasso Homework Manual for several weeks what do we think now? We love it! I am so glad that we were chosen to review it. Since it can seem awkward discussing some of the things one-on-one that were meant to be discussed in a group, I rephrase some things and have loved sitting down with John Allen to discuss and read the story each week. Since there are some private things that the student is sometimes asked to write in the homework manual I didn’t delve into reading all of his answers to the questions when preparing to write this review, but by what he has said and what I did read, it looks like he has really enjoyed it.

I would heartily recommend the Teen Prasso Teacher’s Manual and the Teen Prasso Homework Manual to anyone looking for an excellent Bible study to do with their teens or with a group of teens. I am thinking about ways to use it in my ministry. There are a group of teen boys that I think this would be excellent for. To check out more about this Bible study and other materials from Prasso Ministries, just click on any of the highlighted links above. To read what other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought, click on the banner below.

 

Cursive Logic–A Logical Way to Learn Cursive!

 

Most of you know that for 11 years of my life I was an educational therapist and worked with learning disabled children. Part of the child’s therapy included cursive writing. It wasn’t necessarily to improve their cursive writing skills, it had to do with the brain as well, but it did emphasize how important cursive writing was. Therefore, you would think that cursive writing would be a big part of my children’s homeschool. Well sometimes life get’s in the way, just as it did with us when God gave us two children on the autism spectrum. Cursive writing wasn’t at the top of my list to teach my kids anymore. Just getting through a day of homeschool sometimes replaced it at the top of my list. Although my oldest, John Allen, isn’t one of my children on the spectrum, he did kind of get the short end of the stick with cursive writing. We did work on it some, but not enough.

Recently John Allen came to me and mentioned that he really needed to work on his cursive writing. About that same time, an opportunity to review the CursiveLogic Workbook by CursiveLogic came our way through The Schoolhouse Review Crew. When I saw that it was for children and adults of any age and that a teen or adult could work through the program quickly, I thought it would a great way for John Allen to improve his cursive writing skills. I’m glad that we were chosen. There are many aspects of the program that I really like.

First in foremost, I like the fact the everything is included in this one sturdy spiral bound book. The super easy teacher instructions and the student pages are all together. No fumbling around trying to find the pages in the teacher book that go along with the pages in the student book.

I also love the approach that CursiveLogic uses. It reminds me a lot of my educational therapy days. Here are some highlights.

1. It groups all of the letters of the alphabet into four groups grouped by shape. So, all of the similar letters are learned together.

2. The four groups are color coded so that the student can easily remember the four groups of shapes.

3. The letters in a particular group are all learned at once and are strung together. This helps reinforce each letter and teaches the student how to connect letters from the beginning.

4. Because many letters are learned at once, the student can begin writing words right from the start.

5. Catch phrases are used to reinforce to the student how to make the letters.

I really like how the student begins by tracing with his finger and saying the catch phrases and then proceeds to begin tracing with  a colored pencil that matches the color of the letters. It is all very systematic and very. . . well. . . logical.

I love the way that things aren’t tediously done. After seeing CursiveLogic, I wonder how all of the other boring systems of teaching cursive writing ever survived. John Allen loved it and proved that a student his age can easily complete this program in just a few lessons. A younger child would probably need to work more slowly, but that is the beauty of this program. There are no set pages to do every day. You can work at your own pace. If you want to do more, do more. If you are having problems, do less.

I highly recommend CursiveLogic for any student of any age or with any kind of writing problem. I am planning on using it with my middle child who has a lot of small motor problems. I think this will really help him learn cursive writing and, because cursive writing flows together, it will be easier for him to write.

To find out more about CursiveLogic just click on any of the highlighted links above. To find what other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say, click on the banner below. Happy Writing!

   

Time’s Fun When You Are Having Flies!

 

Times Fun When You’re Having Flies!

I mean. . .Time Flies When You’re Having Fun. Well, we do have flies but that wasn’t what I meant to say. I mean, flies are bad this summer but what I really meant was. . .

Oh for Pete’s sake I need to get on with it!

Anyway, I was lamenting that it has been a whole week since I posted anything on my blog! This has been a super busy summer with day camps and part-time job and ministry and a little homeschool and a little of just plain fun and I let time get away with me and forgot to post anything on my blog!

It really has been a very busy summer. We just finished our third week of day camp. It has been different since we no longer have our own ministry building to use. A local church has graciously allowed us to use their youth ministry center. It is a fantastic facility with a huge game room, a café, an auditorium and a car that looks like it is going through the side of the building!

Our day camps are designed for low income kids so most of our day campers are from the projects or other low income areas such as trailer parks etc. These are kids that don’t normally see stuff like this so it has  been a lot of fun watching them.

For the first three weeks of day camp we used curriculum from our umbrella mission organization BCM International. BCM has a great series called “Footsteps of Faith” that was originally developed for missionaries to use when conducting children’s Bible Clubs but is also used in homeschools, Sunday schools and more. Click here or on the highlighted link above to get to BCM International’s online store to peruse all of the great material that they have.

This summer we used their New Testament Volume 1 Lessons called “Who Is Jesus Christ”. Below is a picture of the kids taken with the finished review chart. They loved being able to name off all of the lesson themes and symbols. Many of them could do it by themselves without any help.

Our big fun craft project was homemade sidewalk chalk. It is super easy to make. Just one part corn starch to one part water and add food coloring. You may need to adjust it a little. Some folks like it thicker so they add more corn starch. Some folks like it thinner so they add more water. Some folks add liquid watercolor paint for the color instead of food coloring. Below are some pictures of our finished product and just a little of the artwork. More pictures to come!

It was a great week of camp. One more week of camp to go! We will be using one of BCM International’s summer camping curriculum, “Our God is Able” – a five day study on the life of David.

Please continue to pray for our day camps. So far this summer nine children who have attended our day camps have trusted the Lord! We are very excited. Please pray as we follow up on these kids after summer is over as well. We have a completely converted minibus that was donated to us so that we can hold Bible Clubs this fall. So far we are planning to hold Bible Clubs in the two locations where most of the kids live. The kids that live outside of one of those areas we will pick up and bring to one of the two clubs.

Pray also for our finances. Both the finances for our ministry and our personal finances. Right now I am working at a part time job where my schedule changes every week. In order to conduct Bible Clubs on a weekly basis, I would need to have at least two days off on a consistent basis. We really need to have an increase in support of about $1000 a month but are praying for an increase of $500 by the end of summer.

Thank you for all of your prayers for our ministry and for us. It is greatly appreciated.