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SSTN  # 80 -- July 26, 2002


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


1) Appreciation or Camp Gift
2) Discipline and making it a loving place   
3) B-I-B-L-E Poster?   

--> Armor of God Game

4) Pig prints outs?
5) Church Pal Program   
6) Nativity scene   
7) Do's and Don'ts?
8) Children/Youth and Their "Clique" Groups
9) Clique Groups and "leadership"
10) Church Pals: "P"- Mail
11) ShipShapes
12) God made me special idea


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1) Appreciation or Camp Gift

I made some little bags and then in a little baggie I put 3 part Epsom
salt 2 part baking soda and 1 part table salt.  I put the mixture in the
baggie and then slipped the baggie in the material bag and tied a ribbon
around it and put this poem on it.

A "Refreshing" Preservation

When Christian life gets challenging
and the road too extensive to bear,
here's a little something
that's been prepared for you,
to wash away your troubles
and refresh you for another day.
In Him,
I give this to you!

(Add contents of the bag to your bath water!)

Daphne Jech - djech@samson.com.

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2) Discipline and making it a loving place

I have read the responses regarding the challenge of discipline in the
Sunday School classroom and want to offer something from my own
experience.

I had just signed on to be a Sunday School teacher and attended a kickoff
meeting. At the end of the training about the materials, the logistics,
safety issues, etc, our assistant pastor, a parent of 3 grown sons,
offered the following guidance (paraphrased):

"One of my sons had a learning disability and so his life from Monday to
Friday was filled with failures and stress. No matter what, I would ask
you to do everything possible to make sure that all of our children see
their time here at church as a warm, loving, accepting place, even if they
are acting out, disrupting the class or anything else. Please do whatever
you can to make sure that they don't dread coming here the way that many
dread going to school. "

I heard it but since I was a new teacher, I didn't think alot about it at
the time. Then we got to know our class and we had 1 child who always
seemed to be disrupting the group. He was part of a wonderfully warm and
loving family and yet something drove him to act up. It got so bad that
when I saw this child come into the class, my heart sank a bit. That's
when I remembered what the associate pastor said. I prayed hard and God
answered. He told me to stay close to this child, give extra attention,
care and love. I sat next to him and spoke quietly to him to keep him
focused. I learned what a creative, caring person he is and he grew to be
a very special child of my heart.

That was 4 years ago and since then, every year, I have had 1 or 2 similar
situations. In praying for extra love to give to these children, I have
grown to appreciate them and love them so much and to see their special
gifts. And in showing my other children how we handle ALL kids with love
and respect, we are teaching them about God's unconditional love and how
to act in the world.

The other point I'd want to make is that sometimes we as teachers have a
vision of how we hope to teach. That first class I taught was so easy,
because they listened to our story, they drew pictures when we asked them
to, etc. My last few classes have been very different and have taught me
alot as a teacher. They have been very physical, active, loud, etc. so I
have learned different ways to teach the lesson. I start with the Bible
story when I have more of their attention and then use other activities to
reinforce the concept as well as deal with their needs, including physical
activities (races, games, more crafts, etc.). And most importantly, I am
always guided to make sure that they see church as a warm and loving place
to be.
Hope it helps.
Marie

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3) B-I-B-L-E Poster?

Hi, my name is Sandra. I am teaching my sunday school
class the books of the BIBLE, and I wanted to make a
poster using the letters B-I-B-L-E. Do you have any
suggestions for it?

--from SSTN: Hmmm...this just came to me. I know there will be more! ;o))
- Sarah.

Believe in God
Invite Jesus in
Be a friend to others
Let others see Jesus in you
Expecting His return!

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Armor of God Game

Kids scramble to be the first to build a full suit of armor using peel 'n'
play stickers, and soak up the lessons taught in Ephesians 6 while they
play!  In the Games section of the Bookstore at:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html 


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4) Pig prints outs?

hello, thankyou so much for sending me your sites. they are wonderful.
I was wondering if you could help me. I am looking for pig printouts that
are printable to color. could you help me.

Amy

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5) Church Pal Program   

Doreen Pound of Burnside Presbyterian wanted to know how other churches
handled "Church Pals" program.  My son attended my childhood church for
VBS, and the church paired him up with a "grandmother" for a whole year.
Although it isn't our regular church and he was only six, he truly looked
forward to his monthly mail and was just as pleased to respond.  This
year, the program's participants have switched names, but we still
correspond with our old friend.  I feel attached to this church that cares
so much for my son even though we've settled into a new town and
congregation.

Vicki Logan

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6) Nativity scene   

>Our church is looking for a pattern to make plywood figures for an
>outdoor nativity scene.  We would appreciate receiving any ideas or

I just saw 2 patterns for nativity scenes in the Mary Maxim catalogue. 
I hope this helps you and your church.    Karla

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7) Do's and Don'ts?

Greetings to All The Staff of Christian Crafters. Thank you to every
person who had contributed in this network in one way or other. I have
gained many ideas and guidance through this network. I have been so
blessed receiving all the information pertaining to children's ministry
through this network. I am glad that through this network we can be a
blessing to others.Could you please give me some suggestions on what can
be introduced to the children on the Do's and Dont's. What are the most
important do's and dont's that need to be introduced to the children so
that they will have the right foundation from the very beginning. How can
it be introduced? Could it be through visual aides or is there any other
methods that are used to introduce it. Please share your insights on this
as we will launch the children's ministry in our church on August 4th
2002. Kindly remember me and all the teachers who have volunteered to
serve in this ministry. We want to build God's Kingdom the way that He had
inspired us to do it.Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement and
support. We will remember all of you in our prayers. God Bless
Sister Sheela Simon

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8)  Children/Youth and Their "Click" Groups

My reply to this is simple.  The Assistant Pastor or any other person
condoning such behavior should be fired.  When Christ ministered, He
didn't go to the wealthy.  He went to the beggars, the lame, the poor and so on.
Maybe you should remind the A.P. of the Golden Rule in the Bible.  Or does
he overlook that verse on purpose.

My daughter was also treated horrible by other children.  Not because she
is poor or not well dressed, but because she was a year younger.  Silly
isn't it.  Things got so bad that on some Sundays she would cry and beg
not to go to church.  These other kids behavior was becoming a stumbling
block for my daughter.  (The Bible also warns about being a stumbling
block for others.) Luckly for other reasons, these "better" children left
the church.  Things have been fine ever since.  However, if they had not
of left, my family would have.  My advice to you is to weigh things out
carefully.  If the people in the church feel it is alright to treat others
in this manner, I would leave the church and find another when you and
your daughter feel comfortable in your worship.  It sounds to me that
church has become more of a Social Club for these people than a house to
worship our Lord and King. Don't allow anyone to be a stumbling block for
your daughter.  Your decision on whether to stay or not, will have a huge
impact on your daughter one way or the other.  Just remember, there are
alot of good churches out there who would be happy to have your family
join their family.  I will pray for your family and this situation with
your church.
Crystie

--from SSTN: AMEN!

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9) Clique Groups and "leadership"

In the latest issue of Christian Crafters, a woman wanted to know how to
reach children about ignoring and belittling other children, based on
wether the child being picked on had money, status, etc.  A lot of other
parishioners are leaving their church because of this and the only
response to this problem was a "children will be children" attitude.

I too had this type of problem, except that the person I had to deal with
was an adult.  She would make snide two sided  comments and hurtful words,
all disguised in such a way that if I said anything, I was the one who was
misunderstanding her and she would look like the victim.  I put up with
this nonsense until church became a chore to go to.  Eventually I left
that church and now attend a new church, where I and my children are
accepted, supported and most of all, wanted.

I hate to say this, but maybe if more people left the church she was
attending (including her), positions would change.  When you look at an
empty church, you start looking at ways to change your church, in a
hurray.  I know now that it was the best move for my family and that those
who remained, those who thought she was the greatest thing since sliced
wonder bread, now see her for all she's worth.  I was asked to return, and
thankfully, said no.

Also, if a problem is not addressed by the church leadership, what does it
say about the leadership?  Are they in this for the money (she said that
alot of the "click" kids are from well to do families), afraid to confront
the more wealthy families, maybe in fear that they will lose those
parishioners?  Is it better to lose a few wealthy families or alot of not
so fortunate families?  I think that the associate pastor, who from my
perspective is supposed to pastor ALL families, not just the rich, showed
his true colors.  Has he forgotten that Jesus didn't hang out with the
well to do, and that where more is given, more is expected?  Looks to me
that way.

Good luck and God bless!
Debbie/Bowdoin, ME


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10) Church Pals: "P"- Mail

I wanted to respond to the teacher who wrote about her Church Pal program.
We did something similar in our church which was a big hit as well.  We
asked for adult volunteers who would like to be paired with a child.  Then
we gave them a time in Sunday school to meet each other and to visit for a
few minutes.  The adult then asked how they could begin to pray for their
prayer pal, which we nicknamed "P-Pals".  We designated one of our
bulletin
boards to a P-pal post office where the adults would leave P-mail on
Sundays for their P-pals.  They would write the kids encouraging notes of
how God led them to pray that week... they would write scripture verses...
and sometimes a small piece of candy would find its way into the mailbox!
The kids could not wait to get to church and check to see if they had
mail.
We also took a picture of each child and made a magnet out of it for the
adult p-pal to post on their refrigerator to remind them to be praying
throughout the week.

In one family the grandparents asked to be matched with their little
granddaughters.  It was such a precious time for them as later that year
the grandfather suddenly died.  They had those precious p-mails to
treasure
forever! Good luck and God bless!  Melinda/Arlington, TX


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"Get em' in the LOOP!" 

L-eading kids to Christ,
O-ffering advice
O-pen discussion forum
P-roviding free resources

Invite your friends, pastors, and coworkers
to join our discussion in SSTN.

http://www.christiancrafters.com/page3.html 

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11) ShipShapes

>we plan to use an old Scripture Union resource
>called Ship Shapes.  This is no longer listed on the SU website and we

Molly,
I have a copy of Ship Shapes. If you let me have a mailing address, I can
photocopy any relevant bits for you. There's a video that goes with it,
too. It's being sold at half-price in their current catalogue - £6.99.

Best Wishes,
Mary

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12) God made me special idea

I recently did a lesson on being made in God's image and how each one of
us special because we were all made in God's image.  I took Polaroid
pictures of each child and then they decorated popsicle stick frames with
paint, glitter, etc. and put the picture inside.

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