AWA August 2010

Just a reminder that if you click on any image in this email it will take you to a webpage or email link.

Worship is the most important thing you can ever train your child to do . . . Worship is the only thing we get to do forever. -Robbie Castleman in Parenting in the Pew Hi !*FIRSTNAME*! Please check out the two events coming up - Pray Day and Celebration. We'd love to see you there.

Starship

I love going to children's church at the Starship Hospital, but last week would have to be the the best ever. I told the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue to four older children, none of whom had heard the story before or knew much about the Bible. It was wonderful seeing the amazement on their faces as the story developed and then the wonderful interaction we had at the end as we did the activity.    The other highlight was that the embargo on volunteers has been lifted which means we can start growing the team once again.

Bibles

Small group of campers with a leader gathered around fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, me talking with a camp dad (also a supporter of mine) and lots of newspaper – these are just some of the wonderful memories of Camp Newspaper.     Even before camp we knew that exciting things were going to happen as a parent requested that we provide her child with a Bible and asked if we could let him bring it home after camp. At the service we attended together as a team on the Sunday before camp the pastor interrupted his own sermon to tell us that we must get some Bibles from the information desk to take to camp.     It was amazing watching leaders walking and talking and having fun with campers as they shared the stories of Jesus and enjoyed doing activities together. Having a leader visit us during the week, having taken time out from a retreat was also an inspiration.     I celebrated my 45th birthday at camp. I was treated like a king by our camp cooks and had camp baked croissants with melted white chocolate as the filling -very yummy!!! Thanks John and Anette.

RJB (Rachel, James, Bob)

It is the end of an era in the office. The last two Action Abroad UK interns have finished working with Scripture Union New Zealand. Last night I said good bye to James. I will miss him as he and I had a “prank each other” agreement, which I lost. But I will miss him most for his energy and passion for young people and the Kingdom.     Rachel, who occupied the desk behind me, will be leaving in 3 weeks time. I will miss her creativity, energetic hand gestures and enjoyment working with kids. She has left a reminder for us in the form of Bob the gold fish.

No, that is not Bob in the middle holding the drink bottle.

Please pray for the SUPAkidz camps' planning and preparation as we are running two camps in October (Auckland and Invercargill) and two in January (Auckland and Wellington). Please pray for me, and the team I am part of, as we prepare each week and teach our Bible in Schools classes each Friday morning at Glendowie Primary. Please pray for me as I prepare for numerous activities over the next six weeks. Thursday 12 August Starship Hospital Children's Church. I will be telling the story of Saul's conversion on the Damascus Road in Acts 9. Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August First Aid course with staff and volunteers Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 August Children and Families departmental staff conference at Laidlaw College Thursday 19 August National Field Staff training day in Auckland. Friday 20 to Sunday 22 August Scripture Union Annual General Meeting Friday 27 August Auckland Staff Day Sunday 29 August All Age service at St James Presbyterian, Pukekohe Monday 30 August Bible in Schools training for new teachers in the use of story telling and drama Sunday 5 September All Age Bible fun activities with Glendowie Presbyterian Church Saturday 11 September Hamilton > > >

Rocks

This picture below was taken on the rocks at Leigh (1 hour north of Auckland). It was lovely to have a family bach to go to for three days during the school holidays. We spent a morning on the rocks climbing, falling, throwing rocks into the sea and just enjoying the fresh sea air and beautiful views. We also played lots of games, ate ice cream and Thomas and Chris used the local skateboard park to up skill their skateboard tricks.

The Boys

Rolls My mum makes the best bread rolls in the whole world. They are best when they have just come out of the oven. She also uses our bread maker to make the base for pizzas. We don't buy pizzas any more: we have home made pizzas and they are way more yummy than bought ones. James 11 Table Dad has been helping my uncle to do some building in his house. I really wanted to help. So when a friend came over for a play day we built a table using the scraps of wood. The painters painting our neighbour's house gave us some sandpaper and we sanded the table to finish it. We then had lunch at the table in the driveway. Chris 8 Reading I love reading. I can read almost any book. I don't always get the words in the right order but I am learning to sound out the words. Although Mum keeps telling me that there are some words that cannot be sounded out. I now know more than 30 words. Thomas 5

Home

While I was at camp the flu went through the boys in varying degrees. Poor James spent two days in bed fighting it off. So it was great to have time away at Leigh as a family for three days after camp. Gill is currently in the middle of a month of teaching five days a week. This has meant some juggling, which Gill does much better than I do. The extra income will be much appreciated.     I have been doing some building work at my brother-in-law's house. It has been good getting my hands dirty but have been reminded of a few muscles I had forgotten I had. I have also installed a new back door in our house. The old one was literally falling off the hinges. The new one catches us off guard each morning as the old door was solid wood and the new one is frosted glass.