Kids in Church - April 24

Here is a great article about Kids in Church.
www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-family-together-in-gods-presence
Some philosophical and practical things related to kids in church.

This Sunday Fred Whitman, our missionary in Italy, will be preaching.  I emailed him about having the kids in the service.  Here is the email he sent to me.

I am looking forward to being with you at Toledo. I would LOVE the kids to be there when I share.  I will be bringing my "funnel horn" and it would give me a great time to play it and make a great application that they will never forget.  Thanks for giving me that opportunity!   

By the way, I was 5 when God called me to Himself in salvation and 12 when the Lord called me to missionary service! God bless. 

Yours for Christ in Italy, 

Fred Whitman

Here are some ideas to make your day a missions minded day.

1. Get a good night of rest.  Go to bed early.
2. Plan to come to the 9:00 AM hour and 10:30 AM.  Remember 1st - 3rd graders are in church.
3. For dinner ...
• Pray for the Whitman's and any specific prayer requests mentioned in the service.
• Have an Italian meal.  Spaghetti or pizza or some other family favorite.
• Share your testimony of salvation with kids.  REMEMBER your testimony is about what God has done not what you did.
4. After dinner ideas...
• Lupo delle ore
• This game requires a minimum of 3 players, although groups of 7 players are ideal. One player is the "lupo" ("wolf"), and stands with his back to the others, who form a line at a designated distance from him. They players call out "Lupo che ore sono?" ("Wolf, what time is it?"), and the wolf answers with a number. The players can then take that many steps toward him, and ask again. If, instead of a number, the wolf responds with "Ho fame!" ("I'm hungry!"), he can turn around and try to tag as many of the children as he can before they make it safely back to the starting line.
• Check online for other game ideas.
• Find a map of Italy online and do some different activities.  Some examples include drawing what the country looks like and identifying places on the map.
5. Bedtime
• Go to http://www.operationworld.org/ital and pray for the people of Italy.
• Pray for the Whitmans.

REMINDER:  Fred has a special presentation Sunday night but there is no child care during this.  It will be streamed back to the nurseries.