March 2021
God works in wonderful ways
29/03/21 09:57
Vinicio called me out of the blue. We hadn't talked for months. He wanted help with the church, but the pandemia had put us on hold. He called the very day we were going to Riobamba. Since Latacunga is the halfway point, we met for lunch. As a result of that meeting, he asked us to lead the worship service on Sunday (when we returned from Riobamba). After the service we met with the church leaders. They really need a lot of help with organizing the church. We hope to continue to meet, one way or another. God continues to work in His way.
Meeting the challenge
22/03/21 16:16
It's one challenge to teach kids, but teaching over ZOOM adds another dimension. One of Faby's nieces is a preschool teacher. She showed me a website with some very useful tools: www.wordwall.net The teacher programs the content and the programs create various activities. On ZOOM we have two options to use the tools. I spent the first 15 minutes having the kids draw connecting lines on the screen. They have no problem with this technology! And the oldest is ten years old! Actually, in the photo above, the goal is to move the colored boxes into the matching white boxes. Turns out, on ZOOM, you can give the kids remote control of your computer. So they can move the boxes with their mouses. (We have to figure out with Salomon how to do this, because he's using a tablet. The mouse has buttons, but the tablet doesn't. Another challenge.) The kids are learning, and so is the teacher.
Always a challenge
15/03/21 20:39
This week we decided to visit our Sunday school kids instead of meeting on ZOOM. Of course, not all the kids could come, since half live in another city, but two families met for the church service. Ironically, even though we were physically together, we didn't have physical space to meet. The worship service, with a total of five adults (including Faby) met in the only room they use. So our car doubled as a classroom. The first half of the class we held in the back seat. Not the ideal environment, but we made it work. I spent most of the time trying to get them to understand the concept of "descendants." Then they switched to the back of the car to color their paperwork of 16 descendants. I'm not sure I taught them a whole lot about Abraham and his descendants, but I'm learning. My big success was not to give up or lose my cool when I couldn't control the class. Just keep talking, answer their offbeat questions, spend some time talking about what they're interested in, and then move back to the subject. I'm meeting the challenge of how to teach kids, and especially on ZOOM.
The Next Generation
08/03/21 20:34
So my virtual Sunday school class continues. Salomon (Anderson), the ten year old, sets it up and recruits other kids. In the photo they are showing their drawings in the little book we have made together about God's promises to Abraham.
I have often spoken to pastors about the importance of teaching children, our next generation. Now I'm practicing it and gaining experience. These will be, Lord willing, our future leaders in the churches.
Kids on Zoom
01/03/21 16:44
Since the church moved back to Quito, Salomon has been begging to continue the Sunday school class. I took on the challenge to teach kids when the church met at our home, but doing it over Zoom is a different story. Since Salomon was insisting, I gave it a try. To my surprise, Salomon set up the meeting and invited four other kids to participate! We reviewed the previous class lesson: God is love; God is just; and God is good. And then made a small book from a sheet of paper to begin our second lesson of God's promises to Abraham: children, land, and blessing.