Teaching Kids about God

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God! Deuteronomy 32:1-3

Moses sang this song to Israel before they moved into the promised land.

What a wonderful image of teaching: refreshing rain.  As I work to prepare materials and then use them to teach the children at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Lima, I pray that these young ones will absorb the lessons about God and grow in understanding. Having looked at materials over the past year, I have decided to try out Godly Play as a curriculum. Over the summer in the States, I visited churches that used Godly Play, interviewed rectors and trainers and observed a class in session. Next summer I hope to attend a training. Having experimented with it here in Lima, I will know how to use the training more effectively. I have also found helpful Godly Play blogs and websites in other parts of the world including England, Spain and Finland.

Godly Play book and the foam material corospum that I used

Finding materials down here has been an interesting challenge. Using the three dimensional manipulatives is vital to the philosophy of Godly Play, and I have just begun to assemble my own “kits” for use with each lesson. Some things I have made and others I have commissioned from local artisans. It is beginning to get a bit expensive for me, so I am wondering how to solicit help with this project. At this point, I also cannot set up a proper classroom space due to space problems and multi-use of the facilities. So, like a traveling teacher, I cart my supplies in with me each Sunday. Space, materials and helpers are challenges I currently face. None of these is insurmountable!

Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good.

How are the children responding? Our first session was right after Christmas when I led the lesson on the Holy Family. Having found a set of creche figures, I told the story of Jesus’ birth using the Italianate figures we had found in a local shop. I had tried to darken their lily white skin to make them look a bit more authentic and native, but the coffee, tea and shoe polish did not work very well, so I left it. The six children I had that first Sunday sat and listened to the story and then talked about the wondering questions: Who was their favorite, who could be left out etc. Mary and Jesus were the most popular figures, and they thought we could probably leave out the cow.

The next Sunday was a lesson on baptism because it was the Sunday commemorating Jesus’ baptism. Fortunately there was also a baptism in church that day, so the follow up was perfect. After everyone practiced baptising the baby doll in class in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we headed into the sanctuary where they practically hung on the font watching the bishop baptism a baby boy.

This past Sunday’s  Godly Play lesson was on Genesis 1′s  creation story, and it evoked some good responses to the wondering questions. One boy preferred the Sabbath day when he could rest. Others wanted to be in the day where the land was separated from the water, and green plants began to grow. Most preferred Day Six when living creatures were created, creeping things and beasts of the earth, and when God created man–In the image of God he created him; male and female he created him.

Alejandro and his father Hector are delightful to work with on these projects.

Next week I will tell the story of Noah using the ark and animals made by a local artisan Hector Altamirano and his son Alejandro. Ian and I had seen this duo at the local Mercado Ecological and commissioned them to create the ark and animals from some photos I had of Godly Play materials. We knew it was a slight risk and hoped our down payment would not be lost; we were thrilled with the result when we came by two Saturdays later and saw our Ark and Noah standing out on the table. Their next commission is Jonah and the Whale!

Ian helping me stain the Ark and the animals and people

This week’s supply challenge is finding clean sand to create a Desert Box for Old Testament stories. Ian and I are going to a friend’s beach house this week, so we will see if the sand to the south of here is cleaner than what we find at the Lima shore. Perhaps I could gather it and then bake it in the oven to kill any bugs or bacteria. Stores do not sell play sand. I have even thought of kitty litter as a possibility!

Using stain and a toothbrush to darken the wood

For Lent and Easter, I need to find an artist to paint the pictures of Jesus used in the lessons. I have a seminarian in mind who teaches art, and I will be seeing him next week at a youth camp. This will be a good collaboration.

My  next post will have pictures of the kids in the classroom. Although I take my camera each week, I have not had a moment to snap pictures. Next week, I will recruit a helper to capture the scene and the faces.

Here is my hope for this project: Children will love learning about God and their joy will spill over into their families and the church community. Now that will be a refreshing rain in this desert land!

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