Wales ~ Day 23

Only 4 days left! Time has really flown by. I've enjoyed every moment of my time here and am sure the last couple of days will be just as enjoyable.

A card and chick done by
one of the children

Last Wednesday morning I was at Castleton Chapel for the last Wednesday Sunbeams play-group before Easter. We had a great time making Easter cards and chicks that the children could give to their parents for Easter. It was great fun with loads of stickers, feathers and glue! There was also sand everywhere as several of the children had been playing with the sand box and kept bringing the sand over!

Me putting up the half pictures

    I then had lunch with Steve and Gwyn and saw a big tree being chopped down, the second since I've been here.
    We then went to the last Castle club before Easter and the mums had arranged a party for two of the boys because they are moving abroad for 3 years. So we did some games, one of which involved the children finding the second half of a picture they were given on the walls.
    I then went to iclub, which was very lively. We played some games and the children did a word search before listening to the story of Palm Sunday. We finished off with playing a game of dodge-ball, which I did not participate in!

Thursday I did Bible Explorer again with Steve and I read the stories of Daniel in the lions den and the conversion of Saul/Paul. It was the last of the series of 5 weeks and all of the children seemed very upset that Steve wouldn't be back, which was a really encouragement!
    In the evening I went out to another house for tea and we had a good time looking at lots of pictures of our families.

Friday was the last Sunbeams before Easter and this time I was left in charge of the craft! I was glad that there were only a couple chicks left to make as I got covered in glue as it was. At the end each of the children got an Easter egg and a little book of the Easter story which they got to take home with their fabulous cards, and because I behaved so well I got an Easter egg too!
    Later I had to pack for my second of 2 weekends away. This time I was away with the 18-30's group from Dunvant, staying in a converted barn (which was freezing!) next door to sheep. It was another amazing weekend with people who are really on fire for God and eager to learn more of His grace and love, as well as learning how we can grow closer to Him.
    On Saturday we went for a walk down to the local village which was lovely, if not a little cold. Several of us decided that because it was a nice day we would walk back to the site rather than take the minibus which was fine until the last hill. I don't think I've ever walked up such a long, steep hill. (It was much worse than the one at Menadue!)


Yesterday morning was another chance to do something new. Phil and I went into a secondary school with 2 other people and did something called 24. It basically consisted of the 4 of us reading out the account of the last 24 hours of Jesus' life. We had times for reflection where we gave the children a question to discuss, and some video clips of different moments within those 24 hours that changed the world. The children listened really well and had some good questions at the end which was great to see. It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad that I get to do it again tomorrow, to a different class, with Steve.
    In the afternoon I did Bible Explorer again with Phil and the children loved it. I read out the stories of 'The Lost Son' and the 'Good Samaritan' and all of the children enjoyed the chance to act out some of the different stories. One of the girls enjoyed last weeks session so much that when she went to the school library later on in the week she took out a children's Bible so that she could read all of the other stories in it! Amazing!


'The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.' ~ Psalm ch 118 v 14 (NIV)

I would appreciate prays for my mum right now. She is in hospital at the moment having broken her hip. She has had an operation and the doctors are hoping to get her moving tomorrow. Please could you pray that she might come home soon and not be in too much pain or discomfort for long. Love you dearly mum, see you soon! x

Wales ~ Day 16

I can hardly believe that I'm over half way through my time in Swansea! It's going by so fast, so much so that I haven't told you what I've been doing for the last five days. So, catch up time...

Last Thursday I had a study morning, in which I'm working through a Discipleship Course which I was given by FirstServe. In it there are various worksheets on things like 'Who is Christ?' 'World Missions' and 'Getting to know the Bible'. Each one has a thought at the top as well as things to read from the Bible and other Christian books.
    After lunch I went to Bible Explorer with Steve again, and this time he got me to read some of the stories! It was great fun watching the kids enjoy acting out different stories from the Bible.
    I was out again for tea with another lady from Church. We had a lovely time and after tea we played a card game that I'd never played before (I came last). One of the best things though was that this lady can play the harp!! I'd never actually met someone who could play the harp before.

Friday started off with Sunbeams in Mumbles, with a different group of kids to those who come on Wednesday's. It was great fun again watching the children make 'biscuits' out of play-dough and then putting them in the oven of their little pretend kitchen. I think they're starting to do it just to see if I remember where the play-dough is when it's time to tidy up!
   
Later I had to pack ready for a weekend away at 'One-2-Lead' which is a weekend focusing on personal development and leadership training. It was an amazing weekend with some amazing people, I learnt a lot and it really got me thinking.
    On Saturday afternoon, we went to a swimming pool, not far from where we were staying, and we went scuba diving and snorkeling! It was yet another new experience as I'd never done that before but it was great fun. We then rushed back to where we were staying to watch the rugby. It was certainly interesting being in a room filled almost entirely by Welsh people who enjoy watching rugby!

Yesterday I went with Phil to do Bible Explorer, at a different school to where Steve goes. The children again really enjoyed acting out the stories and dressing up as kings or Mary etc.
    I then rushed to Castleton Chapel in Mumbles for Castle Club. The children were making Easter chicks and decorating biscuits, one guess as to which was the most popular!

'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' ~ Hebrews ch 11 v 1 (NKJV)

Wales ~ Day 11

Monday was quite a relaxed day really. I went with Steve to do two assemblies in the morning and it was really interesting to see how he did them. He had a puppet with him (a dog) with the children all loved. He was doing an assembly on rules and told a Jungle Doctor story which the kids really enjoyed.

Easter finger puppets ~ so cute!

   After lunch I was helping at Castle Club (an after school club) with the craft. They could colour in little Easter finger puppets, decorate an Easter egg (a piece of paper shaped like an egg) and put stickers on it, which they loved! There were little rabbits that they could colour in too and bookmarks that they could decorate.

Tuesday was my day off so I didn't really do much. I was invited out for tea by a couple from the church in Dunvant which was nice and we had a good chat over tea.

Yesterday however, was a rather full day. I went with Phil to a secondary school assembly which was very interesting as I'd never seen a Christian go to a secondary school to take an assembly before. The kids seemed to be concentrating really well which can be unusual first thing in the morning.
    Then I went straight to the Sunbeams playgroup in Mumbles where there were about 10 children and I spent about 90 minutes playing with the play-dough with different children, which they all enjoyed (so did I!).
    Then after lunch I was back at Mumbles for Castle Club's Wednesday group where we did the same crafts as on Monday, but it was a bit more hectic as Monday's group consists mainly of girls who will sit down and do the craft all the time quite quietly, but Wednesday's group has a lot more boys who would rather run around and play on the PlayStation and Wii.
    Straight from Castle Club to iclub in Dunvant where we were playing games and making palm trees with about 12 children who were there. Then we watched an animated clip of Palm Sunday with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The kids at all of the different clubs really seem to enjoy it, which makes helping out a lot easier.

'Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”' ~ Matthew ch 28 v 18-20 (NIV)

Wales ~ Day 8

Well, I guess it's time to catch you up on what I've been doing over the weekend. So...

picture taken at the 'unknown' beach

On Saturday, Phil and the family took me to a beach (no idea which one) and we had a lovely walk by the sea, it was very cold, but the view was lovely.
    After lunch I watched my first rugby match, Wales vs Scotland. There was a bit of shouting at the TV from Phil, but I had no idea what was going on! Wales won, so they were happy, but it wasn't a very good game, there were loads of penalties.

On Sunday, I got to meet most of the other people from Dunvant church that I hadn't met already which was lovely, but I'll never remember all their names! I was helping with the kids Sunday School where they were learning about Elisha and making gift bags for their mums. Each mum got a tea bag, latte sachet, a small packet of biscuits, a chocolate heart and coin and a hot chocolate sachet, the idea being the kids could then make them a nice drink during the day.
    I then went to Phil and Shelia's for lunch with all of the students who go to the church. There were loads of them! The food was amazing and I had lots of cauliflower and broccoli cheese!! Yummy! (I know you don't think that sounds nice, dad, but it was.)
    In the evening I went to a joint Swansea HOPE service, where there were people from lots of different churches all over Swansea. It was a great meeting and it was lovely finding out about lots of different projects that Christians in Swansea are doing. It was refreshing to see people from different churches really working together, putting the community first and making a difference.
    As it was Mother's Day yesterday I phoned home and spoke to my family, which was lovely! I miss them all and look forward to seeing them in 3 weeks. I can't believe I've been here a week already!
    Happy Mother's Day mum! I love you so much, and will give you a massive hug when I see you!

'Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard... If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.' ~ Isiah ch 58 v 7&8 and 10&11 (NKJV)

Wales ~ Day 5

I had a great time this morning at 'Little Wonders' which is a mums and toddlers group. The church was full of mums, kids and toys which was good to see and it was nice to meet more new people.
Then this afternoon I went to a Christian Union with Phil and it was encouraging to see students and teachers attending.
Tonight we had a youth club with kids of secondary school age and it was very loud! There were loads of kids there, sometimes they have around 60 attend!
I've been thinking back to last night and the verse that keeps coming to mind is:
'And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.' ~ Philippians 2 v 8 (NKJV)
What a wonderful saviour is mine!! Thank you Jesus!!

I had a good time this afternoon going with Steve do help with Bible Explorer. In one of the classes we were doing the book of Judges and covering the story of Deborah and Steve wouldn't tell the children my name until after the story!
Just got back from a performance of 'Three Witnesses' by a group called Saltmine. It was fantastic!! It was entertaining, thought-provoking and wonderfully delivered. You can see what they do at: http://www.saltminetrust.org.uk/

'For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.' Luke 19 v 10 (NKJV)

Wales ~ Day 4

Well, yesterday was the busiest day so far. After arriving on Monday I had Tuesday off to just relax and get my bearings a bit before Wednesday. Then yesterday I was helping at a playgroup of about 11 children which was really good fun, especially as they put me in charge of the play-dough table!
Then in the afternoon I was at an after school club helping the children to decorate and make little boxes to put some chocolates in for Mother's Day. I used to have to make the same cubes in maths classes at school! We had about 26 children there, which was really good to see.
I was then quickly taken to a different church where there was another club with about 16 children and we played some games and watched some bible stories on the projector and then I was asked to do the quiz, on my first day!
After all that, I still wasn't done. Several of us had tea at the church before we were joined by others from the church for a prayer meeting, which was a real encouragement, praying for lots of different people and activities both here in Wales and farther afield too.
It was a fantastic first day, can't wait to get going again today.

'I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.' ~ Psalm 18 v 1&2 (NKJV)