02 September 2012

God's Promises- 2012 VBS Crafts

I haven't updated on our church kids ministry's VBS crafts ever since the first week, mainly because each subsequent week flew by, while I couldn't keep up with documenting either the process or the products. (Our VBS took place over the course of 5 consecutive Sundays of the summer). As is the case with any arts and crafts for a large group, preparation was the most challenging. But this year, we held a couple "Crafts Prep Parties" where summer teachers got together to prepare for 100 sets of crafts materials for each Sunday, and while doing so, got to know one another better as well through great conversations.

God is good, because on a personal level, He taught me once again the beauty of more people coming together, delegating, cooperating, sharing, teaching one another and encouraging. Such things are not possible alone. It's clearly understood in the head that it's never one person's ministry work, but it's easy for it to become so with any ministry work I think. But with Jesus as the head and in the lead, when more hands and feet come together as a community to do any one thing, the blessings multiply tangibly and visibly, and we get to do life together even in that seemingly little type of experience. So I praise God for teaching and showing that He reveals Himself (yes through the individuals, but yes also) through togetherness and community of any type, even at a crafts prep party. I also praise God because He is the God who provides for our needs. He leads the hearts, brings together humble hands and feet that seek to serve God's children, and in doing so serve Jesus, and it all can start with cutting out 160 figures or 200 felt strips. And those "simple" cutting, glue-gunning, and folding, all work together toward message-driven crafts that sow God's truths into the hearts of these children.

Our kids ministry followed the program of Standard Publishing's 2012 VBS, "Adventures on Promise Island- where kids discover God's lifesaving love!"
Each week, we learned of a promise from God:

1. "I am with you"
2. "I care about you"
3. "I give you what you need"
4. "I will save you"
5. "I will answer you"

These promises that kids were learning actually spoke volumes to me and reminded me of His truths in times of doubts throughout this summer. For kids and adults alike, for new-believers and old believers alike, these promises of God are the enduring truths that we can renew our minds with, and replace the lies that plague our hearts with. Thanks to God, for His promises.

I have to say that the Standard Publishing's Crafts Guide was fantastic. There were many options to choose from for each week, and each one a thoughtfully-designed craft for kids. Most important aspect was that they were message-inspired and message-driven, not merely nice activities for the hands to produce things take-home worthy. They actually helped learning of the Biblical lessons in the making process, and the final products became reminders for them to remember the promises of God. I loved how each week, a handful options were service-driven, where kids made practical-use crafts as donations for those around them with certain needs, or as encouragement gifts. In the Guide, I followed some crafts line by line, and others I altered or spun off from, as seemed fit for our groups. All the inspirations and Biblical connections in these crafts came from the Standard Publishing's Guide. : ]

I don't have photos of all the crafts yet, but here's the first round to get the update post started. : ]
Please let me know if you might come across these and have any questions as you plan to do them with your kids!

God's Promise: I care about you

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7



The Bible story was from John 11:1-3, 17-44, in which Jesus cares about his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Even though he had the authority and the power to raise Lazarus from death right then and there (which he eventually does, and the delay was so that God's glory would be revealed in this way), Jesus was aware that it wasn't the time yet, and overcome with sadness at Lazarus' death as well as how much pain his sisters and other friends were in mourning, Jesus also wept. This is tremendous, I think, to know that God deeply cares about us and connects with us. And then, the sadness was not the end; there's God's glory being revealed when Lazarus is raised from dead. 
Based on this lesson, our oldest age group (2nd-4th grades), made the above vases. The left one is what we made; the right one is just a spin-off. Like the way Lazarus' dead body was wrapped in linen inside the tomb, we wrapped empty Gatorade bottles with masking tapes. Using markers and paper flowers, we decorated them, put a tag with God's promise, "I care about you" on one side, and the corresponding Bible verse (1 Peter 5:7) on the other side. To remember that the sadness and death was not the end, and that the glory of God and restoration followed, we made tissue paper flowers to put in the vases. The Guide had an amazing pointer- what living thing can we put inside the vase? The vase itself reminds us of Lazarus story, and the flowers coming out of the vase reminds us of its significance-- the glory of God, and how His cares for all of us, and how we can hope and trust in Him because of that through any troubling times.

We made this particular week's crafts service-oriented, extending the message of God's care for us towards those around us as well. So for every group, each kid made two sets: one to keep, one to give. The oldest group made the above vases; the middle group (K-1st Grade) made "healing balms" with petroleum jelly scented with flavorings and then cased in heart-shape tin cans; the youngest group (pre-k 3-4 year olds) decorated "caring tissue boxes." In all the crafts, we focused on God's care for us through happy times and sad times, and on how He heals and restores us. 


God's Promise: I give you what you need

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:19


This "beach mat"was made with our youngest group (Pre-k 3-4 year olds), based on the Bible story from Mark 2:1-21, in which Jesus heals a paralytic man brought by his four friends. God as our Father and Provider, gives us what we need. For this paralytic man, his need was the ability to walk, and this need could be met because of God's provision of four great friends in the man's life as well. We talked about how the man would've left his first-ever, or first-in-a-LONG-time foot prints when Jesus healed him and he was finally able to get up, take up his mat and walk. 
Preparation included cutting out the rectangle mats from cardboard boxes (grocery store egg boxes to the rescue! ; ] ), making fringes on the sides, glueing on print-outs of Biblical "friend" figures (we got ours from the amazing kids ministry resource, www.daniellesplace.com), cutting out the footprints (we used smiley stickers for toes), and writing the message "Jesus gives (you) what you need. Phil 4:19" across the bottom. 
During the actual craft time, kids reviewed the story, colored the friends, put up the footprints, and decorated the fringes.  


For the same promise of that week, the older groups (kindergarten~4th grade) made pencil roll mats, reminding us of how Jesus healed the paralytic man, and he was able to roll up his mat and go. We made incisions in advance on 9"x12" felt sheets as instructed in the Guide, and kids weaved in 1"x12" cut-out felt strips to complete pencil roll mats. The ends of strips were secured with glue guns. Kids wrote the message on the bottom with Sharpies, and were each given 4~6 new color pencils to place in their mats and put to use in their upcoming school year. The roll mats were tightly tied with fun ribbons so that nothing falls out. (The extra grey strips on top and bottom came as an after-thought; I found that placing these helped fill in the space at the ends when the mat is rolled up with pencils inside, and help further prevent the contents from falling out. And the light shade strips, when using a darker shade background sheet, would help make the message more legible.)


God's Promise: I will save you

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16




The Gospel message came from John 19~20, and I loved the inspiration from the Guide that Jesus is our "Life Saver," and loved seeing lifesaver shapes and even Lifesaver candies being incorporated. So cute!
This one was made with the younger groups (pre-k~1st grade). We pre-cut out a blank person figure for each child. We also prepared O-shaped templates for the lifesavers from manila folders, so that kids can trace them on their choice of decorative paper and cut out to be their "Jesus Lifesaver." To make the process more dramatic, we had previously scattered the blank person figures on the floor on a sheet of table cloth as though these figures were "drowning," and after explaining the Gospel story, asked kids to come up and each pick up a figure, which they would decorate to represent themselves, and to place them on their lifesavers. In this way, we demonstrated that Jesus saves them. The background lifesaver with red marks, is the back of a paper plate, and kids wrote the message around the rim: "Jesus is my Life Saver - John 3:16."

The oldest group made "Believe" signs to hang on the wall. On rectangle cork boards, they sketched the word "Believe," and pinned golden thumbtacks to spell out the word. The pinning act connected them to Jesus being nailed on the cross, and also to the doubting Thomas who said he cannot believe in the resurrected Jesus unless he sees where the nails pieced him and the spear wounded his side. How the golden thumbtacks subtly glistened against the tan cork board, spelling out the words "Believe," seemed beautiful. We also touched on Jesus' message following Thomas' belief in the risen Jesus only after seeing with his own eyes, that even more blessed are those who don't see and yet believe.


God's Promise: I will answer you

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything in accordance to his will, he hears us." - 1 John 5:14

For this final week's promise, we made a lei with all five promises on it, like a souvenir from the "Promise Island" to take home and remind them of God's character as reflected in His promises, so that they would always remember whom they are praying to when they pray. The Bible story came from Acts 16, where Paul and Silas were in prison, but God hears their prayer and praises to Him, and answers them reveals His glory. 

31 July 2012

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego & Jesus. Crafts Part II

1. SMAJ Painting (Pre-K)

The VBS began at our church's children's ministry last Sunday! This year, we're following Standard Publishing's "Adventures on Promise Island." Each week, kids discover and learn a promise of God, and the first week's was: "I am with you." The Bible story came from the Book of Daniel, and showed how the mighty, loving God was with Daniel's three friends when they got thrown into a furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship the golden statue that he had built. 
About a month ago, I did the same following craft (taken from Standard Publishing's crafts guide) with a different church group, and the post on it can be found here

A brief description of the craft: Each kid gets a blank cardstock print-out page with the three friends, whom they first color with crayons. In advance, the page has a fourth figure (Jesus) already filled in with white crayon. Next they fill in the whole page with watercolors to represent the fire of the furnace, but the areas with crayons already on them would resist the watercolors. So Jesus' figure would eventually appear as they fill in around it, and the three friends will also not be touched by the watercolors to pictorially confirm that they were not harmed by the fire, even a bit.

This time, instead of the white crayons, Contact paper was used to pre-cut out Jesus' figure and stick it on the blank page. The kids did notice that something was there, because it glistened more than the crayon mark would have, and also because they had already learned the story and expected a fourth figure. But it looked very neat and was not problematic. The cutting-out and sticking-on process was more preparation, but I loved the crisp figure that remained when we peeled away the Contact paper at the end. Previously, I noticed that the watercolor still seeped into the crayon areas and stained them more than we would've liked. This time, kids seemed to enjoy peeling away the Contact paper to reveal Jesus also, and the result clearly depicted the message that Jesus was inside the furnace with the three friends.

12"x18" construction papers were used as folders for the paintings; we pasted them inside with glue dots when they were dry. On the front cover, we placed the following print-out to remind them of the message of the craft.

This craft was done with Pre-K children, 3~4 year olds.




2. SMAJ Furnace Candle Light (K-3rd Grade)

As a reminder for the kids of what happened in the furnace, we made furnace candle lights. I used my own sample too in my room at night and happily fell asleep being reminded of God's promise, so I'm very excited about this craft. We used battery-operated tea lights and plastic jars from OrientalTrading.com (love their business and resources!!). Each kid received a parchment paper that was pre-cut to fit inside the jar, and some yellow and orange tissue paper pieces to make a collage on the parchment paper to imitate the flames inside the furnace. They also received a black paper that was pre-folded into fours and with a figure drawn, and they cut out the four connected people from it. (As long as the "people" paper is opaque, it creates a nice silhouhette when the light gets turned on in the dark, so it doesn't have to be black color, but I liked how the black paper made the figures peek through  even when the surrounding was bright. Lighter shade paper wouldn't have shown through.) 
They assembled all the components inside the jar. Because the plastic jar had a domed bottom and the tea light shifted around, we secured it with a ring of twisted tissue paper around it. For the lid, they received a label sticker with "God's Promise" written on it, and their part was to write in the promise of God that they had just learned: "I am with you."
When everyone finished, we all switched on the tea lights in our jars and turned off the classroom light to test our crafts. We were all delighted to see them shine in the darkness. It was comforting to be reminded of God's presence with us. : ]









Praises and thanks to God, for He is with us! : ]

28 June 2012

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego & Jesus

Kids' Works
"When you''re afraid, God is with you"

Painting of Daniel's three friends- Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego- AND Jesus unharmed in the blazing furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar 

Crayons & watercolors for the painting
Foam "cylinder seal" stamp and ink for the frame

The painting's idea and design from Standard Publishing's 2012 VBS
*When you're afraid, God is with you. With God, all things are possible. 

Foam "cylinder seals" purchased from Group Publishing's 2012 VBS
*Experiencing a form of 'signature' back in Babylonian times


(Photo Credit: Nayeon Shanna Koo)

---

Stamp-Framed

19 June 2012

10 Commandments



These 10 Commandments posters were made for our church's junior high ministry. Our jr. high pastor provided the visual concepts for the commandments, and my job was to illustrate them. As is true that the best way to really learn something is to prepare to teach it, I'm really glad and thankful that because of this opportunity, I myself got to spend more time with the Commandments and consequently encounter God's love in a deeper way. 

My conclusion upon completing the project is that God is GOOD, as always. Oftentimes on the surface level, the commandments automatically become turn-offs to many people because they are misunderstood as a didactic list of "Do's" and Do not's" that are meant to oppress your free spirit and make your life boring. But as one is willing to spend a bit more real time to understand the context, how these came to be, and the character of the loving God who provided these for us (not against us), one only comes to realize that they are actually a compilation of "love-calls" from God, like a love-letter from the most loving parent to the beloved child.

Although we were all created by God and made to live in the joy of Him, because we live in this finite and fallen world as humans, we constantly meet with influences that try to drive us away from God. Everything BUT God always tries to take that rightful, ultimate place of God in our lives. But God Himself patiently, caringly, lovingly STILL wouldn't let go of us even as we aimlessly drift away from God, from one sin to another; He gave us some guidelines that would help us to remain in Him better, so that we may truly enjoy our loving relationship with the Father, and also with other people/ our neighbors, just as God has called us to live with one another in peace. Remaining in Him is important, because only in Him do we find the true freedom from every kind of oppression, and are fully satisfied in being just who we are as His children.

The enemy of God, the ruler of this world, has the sole mission to deceive and destroy us, God's wonderfully- and fearfully-made children. We've already been created by God according to His image,  to commune with Him, worship Him and experience the joy of Him. The only thing that the enemy can do and wants to do is to pervert and destroy the very things that have been wonderfully and fearfully made, and he is on a fierce mission to do just that. 
But God's mission is to give us life not destruction, through His Son Jesus Christ, who died AND rose again, and therefore has conquered death and the enemy ONCE AND FOR ALL. This victory means that if we believe in Jesus, we also partake in His defeat of death and resurrection to new life, so that we also have new life eternally with God, have freedom (not oppression), and live under the Most High God's CRAZY love for us...

So with an ever-growing appreciation for each of these "love-calls" from God, I finally completed them. It took a while to complete for various reasons, including my timidity, but even throughout the delay, I experienced His mercy and patience with me. He also enabled me to go deeper into some of the commandments during this time, which resulted in much better understanding, appreciation and clearer depiction of His loving message for us in each commandment. With all that said, I'm definitely not a great illustrator or a great understander of the things of God, but I do at least hope that just as the Commandments have brought greater wisdom and blessing into my life, that they would touch and greatly bless the students and other people as well, so that we all may exalt God for all the perfect goodness that He is, and remain in Him better as we continue our lives here on earth.

Ten Commandments 


1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.



2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.



 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.


(A personal revelation that I wanted to share... This Commandment is not only and merely forbidding you from cursing/ swearing/ using "God" angrily and frivolously, etc... God's name embodies His holy character as the Greatest, Almighty, Awesome GOD. Just as we wouldn't handle something great without care, we should handle God's name with a great care all the more when He is the Lord of lords, the Name above all names. It's about respecting His name (and I'm preaching this to myself too as I write this, because too many time I frivolously blurt out His name in ways that have nothing to do with faith or giving Him praise). It's also not about using His name to validate our claims in front of others. It's also not letting our tongues roll recklessly and ruthlessly against God and others, especially when we identify ourselves as Christians, the supposed followers of Christ and children of God.) The main point is that, we should respect God's name. Even the Lord's Prayer begins as following: "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name...)


4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.



5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.


(Treating them like royalty, with respect)


6. You shall not murder.



 7. You shall not commit adultery.



 8. You shall not steal.



 9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.


(Enlarge to see people hiding under and spreading false rumors. keke.)


10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.


(A highlight on the "1" to draw our attention back to the first Commandment; when we focus on God and His unique work in us, then I think we can better avoid the temptation of coveting.)

26 May 2012

Butter Toffee Time

The taste and the smell of cooked sugar are really growing on me... It no longer stays simply sweet, but some of the sweetness gets replaced by pleasant smokiness and earthy bitterness that yield a much deeper flavor.  It's almost like a beautiful, "mahogany" state of sugar. : ]  The science of cooking sugar to different temperatures to achieve its various forms is quite fascinating also.  For toffee, the sugar-butter mixture gets cooked to 293 degrees F (145 C).  Then, you whisk in baking soda (for aerating) and some flavoring. Then, you pour out the mixture over some chopped nuts of your choice, all on a non-stick baking mat. Let it cool and harden. Next is the fun part of cracking it into pieces, and the toffee is ready to serve as is, to enrobe in chocolate, or to add into another delectable concoction. : ]






Butter Toffee with Almonds

3 sticks  unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup  granulated sugar
3 TBSP  dark corn syrup*
1/2 tsp  baking soda
pinch of salt
2 TBSP  rum
Chopped almonds
&

1. Line a sheet pan with silicon mat, and spread the almonds evenly. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter, and then add the sugar and corn syrup.
* I only had light corn syrup, so I used 3 parts light corn syrup (2 1/2 TBSP) and about 1 part molasses (1/2~1 TBSP). I had pomegranate molasses, but it didn't make any noticeable flavor statement, which was good in this case. Adding molasses mimics the acidic component in dark corn syrup, and the acid is needed to activate the baking soda so that it foams and aerates the mixture.
3. Cook the mixture to 293 degrees F (145 C/ or dark amber in color) while whisking continuously to prevent burning.
4. Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in the baking soda, salt and rum.
5. Immediately pour the cooked-sugar mixture (caramel) over the almonds onto the silicon mat. 
6. Let cool and harden.
7. Break into desired pieces.


Almond Toffee Cookies





Almond Toffee Cookie Dough

1 stick & 3 TBSP  unsalted butter
1/2 cup  granulated sugar
1/2 cup  light brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp  vanilla extract
2  eggs
2 1/4 cup  all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp & 1/8 tsp  baking soda
1/8 tsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp  salt
7 oz (more/less)  Butter Toffee with Almonds, pounded into little pieces

1. In the mixer, cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the vanilla and the eggs, slowly one at a time, until well incorporated.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the mixture.
4. Add in the toffee, and mix everything until just combined.
5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before use.
* When baking, use non-stick silicon mats or non-stick spray on parchment because the toffee melts in the oven, and becomes sticky and hard to get off the sheet pan/ regular parchment.
* These cookies spread out a lot in the oven. Ensure ample spacing between doughs.
* Bake until golden brown and enjoy. : ]


Apple Toffee Bars






So apple and toffee turned out to be a GREAT flavor combination, and the texture contrast between a crisp apple slice and a soft, chewy cookie layer made it such a fun bite. Ahhhh love seeing things go well together! I just baked the cookie dough flat and cut into bite-size rectangles, and for the apple slices, brushed them with fresh lemon juice to prevent oxidation.

Yayyy for toffeeeeeee!! : ]