Summer is such a great time to be outdoors and what better reason to be outdoors than
to have a Backyard Bible Club? That is exactly what one team from Gateway did this week!
on Sunday a group went out into the neighboorhood and passed out flyers meeting
many neighbors of our church along the way. The children that have come out have been
so happy to be here. The kids have played games,learned about God's love and had a great
time. They are really enjoying Mr. Chris and Mr. Bruno leading games especially the team
skiing event! The watermelon and snacks are also a hit!
If you have a child in 1st or 3rd grade, bring them out for the fun!
Click on the photo to the left or the link below to view more photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50854335@N00/sets/72157621134698336/
Check back later for more photos!
Birthday Party for Jesus
On Wednesday, December 17th, AWANA had a birthday party for Jesus! They had opening ceremony, sang carols, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoyed cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday. Each club went back to learn verses one more time and earn bucks before Store Night! Store Night was a lot of fun and several of the children bought gifts for their family for Christmas. One little girl who doesn't attend church regularly has been coming to AWANA faithfully as a neighbor brings her. She used what little AWANA bucks she had to buy presents for her brother, sister, mom and dad, but bought nothing for herself. She was so happy to have all those little surprises in her bag to be able to present to her family at Christmas. She was truly living out the meaning of Christmas. When her AWANA leader asked her if she saw anything she wanted for herself, she exclaimed "anything princess!" The little girl got something for herself Wednesday night as another clubber gave up her AWANA bucks in order to buy her something. Children with such a pure heart bring glory to the Lord. May Jesus receive all the glory and honor this Christmas!
5-Day Club in Dalraida Area
Several people in the Dalraida area got together last week to have a 5-day club to reach out to neighborhood kids who may not know Christ. On Saturday, we formed teams and passed out flyers in the neighborhood to invite children to 5-day club. Each week, several members of Gateway volunteered their time and talents to help with the 5-day club. Parents carpooled kids, picked up kids and brought them to club, baked goodies, served snacks, and had a great time with the kids helping them learn Bible verses and God's word. The cooperation of everyone was a blessing to see how the Lord used each person to reach the children. The youth missionaries from Child Evangelism Fellowship in Montgomery, AL came out each day of the week to teach the Bible stories, mission stories, songs and games.
A spectacular miracle happened on Friday night. When asking young Jada how she enjoyed the club, she said "I expected to learn about God and what he made. I thought club was good. I came to learn about God so that I can accept Jesus as my Saviour. The leaders were nice and club was fun. I enjoyed the games and stories." After talking with Jada, one of the leaders discovered that she had not asked Jesus as her Saviour but that she wanted to do so. She understood what sin is and who Christ is and accepted Christ as her Saviour on the last night of club. Praise God for our new sister in Christ!!!!
AWANA Awards Ceremony
The Awana Awards Ceremony
was a great celebration as many, many kids
came out to receive the awards that they had earned from their leaders. This was potentially the largest club that we have ever had. The
night started with a video recap of the 2007-2008 Awana year including photos
of pies thrown at fearless Sparky leader, Greg Locklier and many photos of kids
thought the club year.
“We had so many Cubbies we didn’t know what to do!” Just kidding. The Cubby leaders knew exactly what to do. They ministered to our little ones in a Big Impact kind of way. We had two groups of Awana Cubbies this year come up with their parents and receive their awards. Way to go Cubbies.
The Sparks that “light the world” came out to
receive various awards presented, such as, the “Man vs Wild”, “Survivor” and “Shining Star” awards. It is no wonder that their leaders had such a great time with
them this year! Good job Sparkies!
many verses this year. Their
leaders had many wonderful things to say including the great effort that went
into learning their sections. Each one of these boys and girls was a winner and
should be very proud. Truly, they are hiding god’s word in their heart as “A
Workman that Need not be Ashamed.”
However, the real heroes are
the leaders and directors in each club at the direction of their experienced commander,
Bryan Dekryuffe. Thank you to all the leaders and the workers in Awana along
with Brian. Your efforts have made a lasting impact!! Great year! Stay tuned
for scenes from the Awana Grand Prix and Church Picnic on Sunday. If you were
touched by Awana in some way this year, give a shout out by posting a comment
below! More photos online here!
Church-wide Easter Egg Hunt
Easter Egg Hunt: An Egg-cellent Event
The
Children’s Ministry Team did an “Egg-cellent” job putting together this year’s
Easter Egg Hunt for the Gateway family and neighborhood. On Sunday, March 16,
we had a Giant
Inflatable Jonah Whale, Spiderman Inflatable, egg-hunting and
many visitors who came to enjoy food and fellowship. All
age groups had an opportunity to hunt for eggs and everyone got plenty. The Jonah
Whale inflatable was a huge hit with everyone. There
was a constant line to get in! Big thanks to all the volunteers who
helped put this event together, you did a great job.
The kids had an awesome
time! Thank
you to all who provided candy for the eggs, assisted with manning the
inflatables, cooking and hospitality. If you were able to make it to the event,
why not post a comment below about your experience?
Children & Families Visit Father Walters
Make a Joyful Noise
This past Sunday we visited the children at Father Walters Home. This is always such a blessing for us. The children sang a collection of songs for the kids. Their faces lit up; they really seemed to enjoy the music. After the singing the children and parents were able to share God’s love through conversation and hugs, lots of hugs! Each time we go we are so blessed to spend time with the kids and see them enjoying the simple things in life. We were also able to donate two very full boxes of children’s books to the home. Thank you all for your donations. We hope to go back again soon!
W.O.W comes to an end
Clubhouse Gateway's Summer W.O.W. was a great success.
Last night we ended our children's summer program with a pool party. This year was a huge success thanks to the volunteers who worked hard every week to make the lessons and games exciting for the kids. Every week was a new adventure as the kids learned about missionaries. The kids enjoyed all the game times which included; slip ' n slides, shaving cream wars, slime and pie wars, capture the flag and much more.
During the month of July there will be no children's activities at the church but we will pick back up with AWANA on August 8. Hope to see you then!
We had a blast!!! Thanks everyone.
AWANA Grand Prix
Start Your Engines...
The crowd was going wild. OK well not wild but they sure were excited. And who wouldn’ be at a Grand Prix. Many cars were entered and many races were had. Each kid did a great job building, shaping and decorating their cars. And despite the outcome of the race everyone is a winner in our book.
The Grand Prix wrapped up the years activities for AWANA. Thanks to all the workers who made this year possible. See you again this fall!
Children's Choir - Easter Sunday
“Let the little children come to me …
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
What a blessing we received during Easter worship when the Children’s Choir sang. Their song was a great reminder to us all “Hey! Jesus loves me!” It sounds so simple coming out of the mouths of children doesn’t it? Yet from our day to day grind we sometimes forget the simplest things such as YES! Jesus does love ME. “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) May we all see God through eyes like a child. God bless!
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