Youth Rally with Ken Rudolph and the Andersons

Ken Rudolph has been serving as a pastor, youth pastor and conference speaker for over thirty years.  We had the privilege of having Mr. Rudolph and his lovely wife, Jinner, for a conference with our high school.  He spoke at a daily chapel service beginning on Wed., and it culminated with an area wide youth rally Friday night, where the youth from all 8 ABWE churches were invited to come and bring their friends as well.  It was followed by church wide service on Saturday, where the 8 churches were invited to come together for a service, which included a time of music worship and a time of prayer for each of the churches' specific needs.  Mr. Rudolph was the guest speaker for that, too.

Joining the Rudolphs were Jordan and Jessa Anderson, sharing their musical talents as they led in worship.  Jordan is a former student of our administrator, Cal Voelker, when he served at a Christian school in Iowa.  The delightful husband and wife team of Jordan and Jessa Anderson are both dedicated singer/songwriters, each having put out their own solo work.  Check out their music on iTunes or google them to see if they will be coming to a town near you!

Some of the youth helped lead in worship 

Some of the songs were familiar songs but sung in Portuguese!

 

Sorry, this picture is really dark, but it is Jordan and Jessa sharing in song before Mr. Rudolph spoke.

 

Ken, Jinner and myself - Mr. Rudolph is a gifted comedic communicator with wonderful anecdotes clearly conveying the truth of the Bible, and yes, he is fully aware that he resembles Mr. Bean.

OK, now for the "serious" picture. :-) 
They were a delight to get to know and such an encouragement to talk to!

Learning About God's Grace

We studied about how God's grace greatly affected the lives of Matthew, tax collector turned apostle; John Newton, a man known for his criminal past and harsh personality until God's grace changed his life, and in recognition of what God had done in him, he penned the most well-known hymn, "Amazing Grace."

God's grace truly is amazing, and He is so good to show it to us everyday in each of our lives!

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Mrs. Voelker, who can sign in English and in Portuguese, taught us "God is So Good."

 

 

We also worked on an art project entitled,

"God's Grace Changes Me"

Noah, Estefania, Ellen and Abby hard at work on their project!

Joao and Keegan also working hard on their project!

 

Raphael and Ellen meticulously coloring their butterflies!

We discussed how God designed butterfly's with symmetric markings.

 

 

Miss Peters and Joao working on cutting out the butterfly.

Putting all the pieces together!

We are so proud of our finished product!

 

At the top of the paper, each person drew a self-portrait. 

Underneath the picture is the following quote:

Just as God changes a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly,

so He is still in the process of changing me!

 

 

God's grace is so good, so amazing!  Where would I be without it?

Sunday Reflections

It has been a good week!  We are growing together as a class with learning adventures inside the classroom and out!  There is the typical reading, writing and 'rithmetic, of course, as well as, the study of Jesus life and work, specifically focusing this week on the call of the disciples, which resulted in a fun edible project and theme related singing.  Outside on the playground multiple discoveries of the wonders of nature were made, including ... a snake.  I was rather surprised when the kids heard there was a snake, they all went running down to see it...while Miss Peters took great efforts to remain calm and keep them away from the snake.  Thankfully, Principal Voelker appeared by divine appointment, and I informed him of the unwanted visitor.  Being an Iowa farm boy with 5 brothers, he calmly walked down, picked up a rock to hold its head to the ground while he picked up the tail then used his foot to ground its brains into the concrete.  Totally grossed me out, but it was a great visual demonstration of what Jesus will do one day to Satan's head!!

What lessons will this week hold???

Gone Fishin'

This week we have been studying about Jesus calling His disciples, so today we made fishing poles out of pretzels, sour strawberry straws and gummy worms.  We also sang a few rousing rounds "I Will Make You Fisher's of Men" adding speed with each round.  A good time was had by all fishermen!