Obviously, BELIEF was the key concept when I taught this story to the kids, and since many of them had heard the story before, I had to take dramatic measures to make the story come alive. I wrapped myself up in my big fuzzy white bathrobe, threw a shawl over my head, and told the kids about the amazing miracle that had happened to my family who lives in Capernaum and how we met Yeshua. The kids–who are sometimes bouncing off the walls, picking their noses, or trying to snitch candy–listened with rapt attention as I “galloped” on my imaginary horse for three hours between Capernaum and Cana (where Yeshua was at the time). The conversation derailed slightly when the kids realized I’d never seen a cell phone before and tried to show me theirs, but we got back on track quickly when I knelt before Yeshua, begging Him, “Come save my son!” The kids and I deliberated at length about if I should BELIEVE Yeshua, and why. All on their own, the kids brought up all the points I was going to make sure they thought of–Yeshua is God’s Son. Yeshua keeps His promises. Yeshua can do anything He wants. Yeshua is good.

We talked about problems the kids have these days: betrayal by “BFF’s” (“Best Friend Forever”), dry skin, homework. “What can we do with these problems?” I asked. The response was unanimous–”Ask Jesus for help!” But what does that do? “You keep praying and praying and praying, and He always does what’s best!” the kids explained. To drive home the point about BELIEVING God’s goodness to us, I asked for a volunteer, and then began bragging about my extraordinary powers of egg juggling. However, in the process of demonstrating these powers, I dropped an egg, which broke all over my coworkers’ floor. (The kids yelled, “Oooooooooh! You’re gonna get it!” Fortunately, my gracious coworkers had already given me permission to do this.) “All you have to do,” I continued, “is stand there while someone throws an egg at you and I catch it! I promise–oops! [I dropped another egg on the floor] not to let the egg make a mess on your clothes.” My volunteer took a step back, but bravely waited–until I put a blindfold over my eyes. “I promise not to let any egg make a mess on your clothes. Do you BELIEVE me?” He didn’t answer. As I stumbled over to stand between my volunteer and Jong Dae Choi (his father, who was going to throw the egg), I heard the other kids yelling, “I want to throw it!” They must have figured they had a defenseless target, especially when I ended up facing the wrong direction, away from Jong Dae. After that was all sorted out, I proclaimed myself ready–Jong Dae cocked back his arm–I jumped up and down, clawing the air and shrieking–he threw the egg–it bounced off my volunteer’s chest and rolled along the floor. HARD BOILED!!! After the kids had stopped arguing about who got to eat the hard boiled egg, I turned to my volunteer. “Thank you for BELIEVING me even when it didn’t look like I could keep my promise,” I told him.

As hilariously fun as all this was, it made me stop and think–how often do I as an adult believe God and stand still, waiting for Him to intervene, even when it looks like I’m going to get plastered by raw, even rotten, egg situations?  Maybe the kids weren’t the only ones who needed that lesson in belief.

IMPOSSIBILITY IS THE FERTILE GROUND FOR MIRACLES.

During that Thursday club, we asked the kids about some of their problems. We tried to get a three-year-old little boy  to stop burrowing under the couch cushions, rubbing his socks under peoples’ noses, and jumping on peoples’ laps. We tried to teach the Bible verse despite the constant interruptions of kids who wanted to be in the spotlight. I tried to tell the kids the missionary kid story (about a Moroccan, Muslim boy named Hamed who runs away from home and eventually meets Jesus), but I included too much review from the previous chapters, which frustrated the kids. Somewhere in the middle of the mayhem, I looked up at the ceiling and wondered, “God, You used 12 mottley disciples to change the world. If impossibility is Your fertile ground for miracles, can You use me to change these kids’ worlds?” We taught the kids the Bible story of turning water to wine. At the end of the story, we brought out a pitcher which had, unknown to the kids, grape Kool-Aid powder in the bottom. As a kid poured water into the pitcher–voila!–”wine!” Their eyes bugged out; they really grasped the wonder of an impossibility becoming a miracle (until they figured out our secret at the end of the club). The kids insisted on tasting the “wine,” and were intrigued by the flavor. “It almost tastes like grape, but it’s really sour… kinda yucky.” “Why would anyone ever drink this stuff?” “Nasty!”

I may be inept, but I know when there’s something that wrong. “Lemme taste it, guys,” I said, taking the glass.

“It’s nasty–don’t drink it,” the boy next to me whispered warningly.

“I know–that’s why I have to try it,” I muttered, and took a sip. *blech* We forgot to add sugar! “So that’s what wine tastes like,” one of the kids mused.

Despite the sugarless setback (which the kids temporarily blamed on the “wine”), the kids got the point! “My old BFF [best friend forever] just picked a new best friend, and now she’s mean to me in recess,” one girl mentioned. “I have way too much homework,” someone else contributed. We asked the kids how they could take these seeming impossibilities to Jesus, encouraging the kids to expect Him to respond. Sometimes His miracles are as obvious as turning water into wine. Other times, He helps us cope with the situation–or uses natural methods to resolve it. Either way, our impossibilities are the fertile ground for God’s miracles.

Pastor Mike and Theresa, thank you for your prayer on Saturday, it is a blessing to have this wonderful support system, I thank God for you everyday. You all have made this journey positively joyous, and I can’t express how grateful I am to have the Lord place me with my Birth family who Prays with and for us constantly, my Crossroads family, and my CEF family. After we spoke, we did have a situation that required God’s grace.

Please pray for Jordyn. Late Saturday evening she was having trouble breathing and I had to take her to the emergency room. It was a scary time for both of us as the hospital was 18 miles away and it was dark and raining. The Lord gave us the strength to make it and get the care she needed. We do not know what brought it on. The Doctor diagnosed her as having musclespasm as her lungs swelled making it almost impossible to breathe. They had her on a breathing machine and it opened her passages within 10 minutes. The Doctor also gave her an inhaler, and antibiotics for the inflamation or infection that resulted from this incident. We are to follow up with her primary care doctor for further evaluation. Since we will be down here for three months, we found a Pediatrician in the area. The Doctor indicated that this may be a temporary illnes and the prescriptions may clear up what ever caused the inflamation, or if there are reoccurences, it may be that she has asthma. Perhaps climate, perhaps something she ate, perhaps environmental changes with our new living quarters…it is unknown but she is feeling better.

On Sunday, Praise God, we were able to attend Church and give thanks for his grace and mercy. Everyone down here is reaching out and praying for us and we are grateful. Jordyn is getting more and more comfortable with school and making new acquaintances. We had a wonderful surprise today, Ken and Sharon came down and stopped in for lunch, it was beautiful to see loving faces from home. We are so blessed and so excited at this opportunity to grow in Christ. We are learning so much and looking forward to sharing all that we learn with all who will hear.

Today in class, we had 6 children come in for the Teaching Little Children class, and they took part in a full GNC lesson for ages 2-8, this was much different from the GNC we normally teach, the language was totally different, but the message was the same. This class involved more activities due to the attention span for this age group. It was awesome, and challenging. All that you do for older children had to be changed so that the younger group received and understood the message. WOW!!!!!!!

Attached are some fun photos Jordyn on her first day of school waiting for the bus to go to her new/temporary school Warrior Ridge Elementary, she misses her Teacher and friends. Also, see two photos of the children and the Instructors. See the children as they lay on cots experiencing what it would feel like to be like the lame man, Lazarous. How about that for teaching.

We Love You all and Miss You,

Angela and Jordyn
636-297-6673

P.S. Theresa, here are our five verses for the week.

Matthew 18:6, Matthew 18:14, John 3:15, Acts 16:31, 2 Peter 3:18, 1 Cor 15:3 and 4, Romans 3:23, John 3:16, Eph 2:8. Wow, just sending these verses to you gets me all excited remembering what they mean.

It’s the weekend and guess what, I have lots of homework. Today in class we went over how to deliver the wordless book to preschoolers. If you think it should be easier than delivering to the older children, I’m here to tell you, it isn’t. It takes a lot of thought and preparation, you have to speak in a language that they understand, which also involves so many other factors to create a package so that when the invitation is given they know what has been presented to them. What an awesome experience. One that I look forward to sharing with our younger children.

I am also excited to share that on Wednesday, I will be teaming up with other CMI Instructors and students, for the GNC at Warrior Ridge Elementary School here in Warrenton, Missouri. So to my team of Leaders back in Illinois, I won’t be out of practice.

Love ya and I’ll check in soon.

I am looking forward to all the TCE classes, 5-Day Clubs, GNCs, workshops, etc…with ya’ll !!!!! God bless everyone!!!and GO TEAM!!!!! YEAH!!!!

Blessings in the Lord,

Kara Lancaster

This week at Good News Club, we had 15 students as we began our 5-week lesson about Patriarch’s. Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when called…obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” That is the memory verse we taught this week. The teaching goal is “tust God to keep His promises.” We know that he will because His word says so, go ahead and read it for yourself. Try Romans 8:28, and should you need anymore assistance, please call on me I welcome the opportunity to share God’s wonderful message. We encouraged the children to stay in God’s word everyday and speak to him everyday, that is how you form an intimate relationship with Him. It is great to see that the children were receiving the message and understanding it. As we asked our review questions, they were able to answer correctly. Here is one of the questions. “What does it mean to trust God’s promises? They answered “depend on God to do what he says.”

It just brought joy to the Leader’s hearts. God is working and each day, we can see His loving grace pouring down on us.

Thank each of you for your prayers and for partnering with me. Your Love gifts provided me an opportunity to attend the Children’s Ministry Institute in Warrenton, MO. January 20, will be the first day of a three month series of courses. I will keep you posted on this spectacular Biblical growth opportunity.

Ok my friends, I’m going to lay down and have pleasant dreams about our Savior, and the wonderful life he allows for. Please continue to pray for the children that as we continue to teach them, they begin to look even futher into God’s word so that they may be more Christ like.

Love ya, and as always check back for more updates.

Angela

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you!

These thanks come from the depths of my heart. I want to say Thank you for your PRAYERS, thank you for your SUPPORT, thank you for your FAITH, thank you for your WORK, and thank you for your LOVE.

God’s word says “Love each other as I have loved you”.
May our love continue to flourish in 2010.

PRAISE REPORT!! I’ve been asked to take on the responsibility of Youth Director at my church “Crossroads Church of Hillside”, of which I humbly accepted. To be considered for such an important duty is an honor. It is a blessing to have God work through me in such a way that my Pastor, his Wife the Deacons and other Church Members have witnessed the growth and have faith that I can be a valuable part of the Church team. It is incredible to be used in this way.

May God continue to richly bless and keep you as he is doing in me. He is an awesome God!

Closing Thought: Matthew 18:6
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

This is one example of how God feels about his children, and why we are to let them come to him and teach them the way to go.

Love Angela