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 Posted 7/21/2009 4:20:37 PM |
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| We just completed day 2 of Bible Bayou with the plagues. It was fun...the kids got into it. I am worried about our next couple of days in terms of the heavy subject matter. How do I answer questions that might come up such as...How could God allow the first born sons die? Why did they have to kill the lamb? Thanks!!!!!
mklat
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| Posted 7/21/2009 7:21:57 PM |
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My husband says to read both days Bible Bayou. It explains the perfect lamb in one of them. It had to be a perfect lamb because it was referring to Jesus who was perfect and had to die to take away all our sins.
Your other question. God had sent nine plaques on Egypt and still their leader had not given in. He had such a harden heart. When pharaoh would not let God's people go, he sent death to the first born sons. I was in when the lesson was presented and my husband asked each boy in the room if he had an older brother. Only one did. All the others were first born sons. He quietly told them you would be dead. But God loved His people so much that he told them what to do to save their lives.( blood of a perfect lamb on the doors) He is still telling us today what we need to do.
Hope this gives you some ideas to think about.
Kathy
Riverside Kathy
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| Posted 7/21/2009 11:27:03 PM |
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Thank you! Yes, it does help. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I guess it all boils down to the fact that God gives us choices. We have to decide what is good and bad.
mklat
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| Posted 7/22/2009 2:09:05 AM |
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I have to say that when we got to Day 3, it almost felt like an about-face, in that we went from having "fun" summoning Pharaoh & then chasing him out of the room, to the somberness of the killing of the perfect lamb for the Passover as well as the killing of the 1st born sons. On one of the rotations there was a little boy about 8 yrs old who actually put the pieces together about Jesus being just like the Passover Lamb who was also killed but for our sins. I told him that he was correct, but that we'd be going more into detail about that later, so that's why they all needed to come back tomorrow to learn more about that. It was a very VERY somber & moving day for all of us involved on Day 3. The CD soundtrack also helped alot in setting the mood. In fact, from the 1st rotation in, the mood was such that you could almost hear a pin drop, & it almost moved me to tears as well.
On Day 4 when it came time for the bread/crackers & juice, of all the kids, my 6 yr old son, was sooo moved by the story, that he just sat there starring at the cup of juice, not wanting to drink it. After trying to encourage him to go ahead & do so, I then realized he was having a "moment" so I asked him if he was sad, to which he responded by climbing up into my lap & burying his face into my neck & began to sob saying how much he loved Jesus for dieing for us (he also bawled at the birth of baby Jesus in The Nativity Story movie!). It was so tender it made me start to well up with tears as well, so I quickly had one of my assistants to finish the lesson. There were a few children out of each of the 4 rotations that really "got it" & as a result wanted to ask Jesus to come live in their hearts too. I was ecstatic. (On a side note, I just wish there was some sort of follow-up/follow-through we could have given at that point, sort of like what they do after a crusade when people go forward, but for children. Don't know if that's possible or not...just a thought.)
Anyhow, for us, it was a POWERFUL two days of bible story lessons, & well worth approaching this heavy subject matter. I would DEFINITELY go into it all prayed up & ask the Holy Spirit to lead you with all of His wisdom & discernment whatever questions come your way. We have not because we ask not. I would also be sensitive to those who might encounter such a "moment" like my 6 yr old son had. I know it's easy to want to "hurry it up" because the next rotation is coming, but if you can spare one of your helper assistants, even one of the Crew Leaders, to take that child aside so as not to diminish what's going inside their little hearts. That IS after all, what VBS is ALL about is it not? To make Jesus known to these children unto salvation. Sometimes we get so caught up in all the fun & busyness of VBS, that we forget our main goal in all of this: the good news of the gospel which leads to salvation. I know I can be guilty of being a "Martha" (workers are needed, too, especially in VBS!!), but sometimes I ALSO need to be a "Mary" being sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in these little ones lives.
Sorry to digress there....I just wanted to share some personal observations here. Hopefully, they've benefited at least one person!
Marian W.
Light&LifeChristianFellowship-Downey
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| Posted 7/22/2009 8:22:08 AM |
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We can't be afraid to tell the parts of scripture that are scary or make us sad--they are part of God's word, too. I know we want to keep VBS fun and light-hearted, but the fact is that kids can handle some heavy things, especially when they also learn there are people at church who can love then and show them God's unending love. Kids are already thinking about heavy things anyway (see the post above about the kid who 'got it' that Jesus was our lamb). If we don't bring heavy topics up in church, even when they are little, they will soon begin to think that church--and by extension, God--is too shallow and irrelevant for the heavy things of life. Maybe that's why we lose so many teens and young adults...
So tell it. Tell the whole story. Love them through it. And point to God's love.
Good luck!
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| Posted 7/22/2009 8:38:18 AM |
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| Thank you all for your responses. They are really helpful. It is not that I don't want to share this part of the bible with the kids. It was more that I wasn't sure how to transition from a spirited day to a somber day and how to answer some of the questions that the kids might have. I fully believe we need to tell the whole story. Thank you!!!!!
mklat
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| Posted 7/22/2009 9:20:08 AM |
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Talk about heavy, we had a child go hysterical over pharoah and changing the water into "blood" (red koolaide) and now we can't get him to go into Bible Bayou because pharoah might be in there. On top of that it was my son who played pharoah and now whenever the little one sees my son he gets scared. Pray that we can help this child over come this fear, it breaks my son's heart to know that a child is scared of him. He just came back from camp where he made the decision to go into mission work. Other than this one incident we have had a great time with a tremendous response from kids and parents alike. Can't wait for tonight when we talk about Jesus and how much he loves us.  OPBC
OPBC
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| Posted 7/22/2009 9:54:08 AM |
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| My Preschool leader was very concerned that in the materials, the preschoolers were only to be told that putting the blood on the door was "something they had to do before they left." She went ahead and told them the "whole story" about WHY the blood had to be put there. She reported no problems, given that they were pretending to be on the side of God's people, who would be safe. I told her she made the right decision, and that I would have done the same thing. If you're going to tell the story, TELL IT! The only consideration to make is in how you tell it, and what you dwell on and what you don't. In this case, how would you hope to have them make the connection between Passover and Jesus, if they don't have all the facts? The conviction of the Holy Spirit that precedes salvation isn't pleasant, and often produces tears in young and old alike. But oh, the joy that comes when you know that Jesus paid it all!
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| Posted 7/22/2009 6:01:54 PM |
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| The kids did rather well on this today My son switch to preschool mode when they came in and had the streamers . My son told them that it was to pretend to be the blood over the door way. he drop some while talking to them. A preschool commented that he drop blood on the floor. That he should pick it up . It was so cute they had the teachers going it was so cool. The longest trip they have ever been on preschooler commented a trip to walmart. they hung the streamers it was so neat and it was a serious time for them and done carefully it was so cute. The older ones did great too God bless Doreen
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