The Morgan-Gurrs

Hungarton’s “Aspire” camp was great – the leaders worked hard and served well, the campers listened, joined in and had a huge amount of fun (along with the leaders!). This week the site is occupied by the youngsters of St.Luke’s Church, Thurnby.

This week also sees the start Children Worldwide’s “One Way” camps both in the UK and in Latvia. The UK camp is the last of 3 camps at Dalesdown, and this one is the children’s camp. Please pray for Sarah Covington and her excellent team of leaders, and for Jon Bonner who is the speaker for the week.

The Latvian One Way camps are “English Speaking” camps, where the campers can learn basic English, as well as hear about the Gospel. Please pray for Kristaps as he directs these camps, and for Graham Reed who is the pastor for both the camps – plus the mixed Latvian and English team.

The Camp at Dalesdown is in need of prayer – one of the leaders was taken to hospital last night with an Asthma attack (now back on site, but not well) and another leader, a policeman, was called back into work because of the riots, so they are two male leaders down. We are thankful that a visiting friend of CW was able to stay and fill in last night!

The next Hungarton camp (Activate) begins on Sunday, and we are putting the finishing touches to some rather inventive styles of story telling. We need to do some off site videoing for the first story….. Which will involve much wig wearing, strange accents and pretending to be on the news….. (We do have fun in our job!)

Please keep praying!

It’s that time of year and camps are in full swing all over the place.

Although we are physically involved in the Hungarton camps in Leicestershire, as general directors we are the ones ultimately responsible for other Children Worldwide camps, both here and in Latvia.

The camps at Hungarton are going really well. This week we have a mix of kids from both church and non church families – some with no knowledge or understanding of the things of God. This has made putting things together quite a challenge – especially for Steve, who is co-leading the worship.

Although Kay is in charge of all things technical for the week, her expertise in other areas is being well used!

We have a great team of leaders, but please pray for the tent leaders specifically, especially in the tent quiet times as they try to lead the kids in looking at Isaiah 53 in the mornings. Some of the kids are finding the questions the passage raises great and a challenge, but others are answering the obvious questions, but are not easily able to apply the truth to their own lives. (The answer is always Jesus, but that’s where it ends!)

Please pray that the kids with church backgrounds would not only hear and understand, but that the “penny would drop” from head to heart.

And pray that those who have no church background would be able to understand what is being taught, and be able to apply it to their own lives.

In the morning meetings, Tim Dixon is teaching about Joseph’s life…..his story telling is quite colourful, lively and totally engaging! But he isn’t holding anything back and is challenging the kids about the way they live their lives – this morning especially!

In the evenings we are looking at stories where people encountered Jesus in unusual ways – yesterday was Jesus clearing the temple. The whole idea about a gentle Jesus losing His temper caused some lively debate for some of the tents in quiet times! Tonight is the thieves on the cross.

Although we do have specific roles here, it is more in a support role – which we love, and Kay is really appreciating just being in the background and helping where there is a need, or if a leader needs specific help with how to engage the children with quiet times.

Our next camp, “Activate”, back here in Hungarton is in 2 weeks and we are adding the final touches to the teaching on Paul’s final Journey. (“Taking God’s glory with us where ever we go”) But more on that in another post!!

Kay has recently opened up a discussion on twitter about the sort of songs children’s leaders choose to use in kids work.

As an introduction to what we are saying, we should tell you that Steve writes excellent songs, full of teaching/information that are usable with both church and non church kids (Mainly for 5 – 7 year olds and all age worship, but some for older kids too).

He recently received his royalty update and found that for use in church, his best selling song was one he wrote as what he calls a “throw away fun song” – no teaching, no theology – just a list of actions, with the only religious words being “…as we praise the Lord”.

We believe kids are capable of so much more, and the songs we choose for them to learn and sing should reflect this – many children love some of the adult praise songs and understand what they mean, so why not use good, solid teaching songs written for the age and stage of the children we work with?

Over the years we have heard other song writers say the same thing, as some kids albums seem to be happy to settle for songs that fit into the “I can shake this or that to make God smile” culture.

We understand the issues kids workers want to avoid, namely, making non Christian kids sing words they don’t believe – but is there an argument to be made that God understands this? He’s not going to strike them with lightening because they don’t believe the songs they are singing – after all, many adults do it every Sunday in our churches!

In a world where many adult Christians learn most of their theology from songs – it is true to say that many kids and teens do the same.

On a similar theme – how similar or different should our music with kids be? Should we be emulating music that often comes from an angst ridden gang culture, or should we be different?

Some good writers to look out for (Apart from Steve!): Trevor Ranger – new album out and brilliant! Dave Godfrey, Doug Horley and of course, the lovely Ishmael!

You could never call our work boring! The variety of what we do is vast – ranging from writing material, to teaching about puppets to foundation classes in schools, from taking all age services to talking to a local ladies meeting!
The last month has seen us doing a huge range of things.
The teaching theme for “Activate” (Formally “Hungarton week 1″!) is now settled, inspired in part by Krish Kandiah’s book ‘Route 66′. There’s still a way to go in planning the presentation, but we’re quite excited about it!
This week is a week of meetings – Kay was in London Yesterday for a ‘Churches for All’ partners meeting, and today is a Children Worldwide management meeting in Birmingham. On Thursday we’re going to see a prospective member in Cambridge!
Keep following the twitter updates.

I was talking to the parent of a child who is diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum a few weeks ago. I asked her what her hopes and dreams were for him. One of the things she highlighted was “being given the opportunity to serve”. This particular little boy is very intelligent, has an amazing understanding of theology, and can explain it. And in a way that probably only he and God can understand, he has a real faith.

It does seem that in our churches, children are rarely given the opportunity to serve their church families – but for those who have a disability or additional need, the chance to serve is even rarer.

The mum I was talking to said that she would love to see her little boy’s Sunday teachers give him the opportunity to give out the biscuits, pour the squash, put away the chairs. Yes, he would need a little help, but it would do his self esteem a lot of good.

Another parent I spoke to was the mum of a teenager, also diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum. She thought a little differently. He was struggling to maintain his faith journey. He had a good understanding of his Bible, but needed fellowship. It was a much longer conversation, but it ended up with me suggesting he would be able to not only attend a bible study designed for those with his special needs, but he was more than capable of leading it himself. This idea was obviously a step too far for his mum. But why?

Who decides who can serve in our church families? I myself have a disability, and will rarely say how things are for me. This is because I know there will be someone who will wrongly assume that I am unable to continue my ministry because of it. This is obviously NOT the case. The only thing that sometimes stands in my way are issues of physical access.

Churches are doing better when it comes to ramps, accessible toilets, and lifts. But another ‘step’ to accessibility could be giving both children and grown ups who have disabilities or additional needs the chance to serve. Yes it’s scary, but it will also be a blessing.

We had our Family Foundation Trust board meeting on Monday night. Part of the agenda was to look at how Children Worldwide were doing. We raised the following question/comments: We carefully look at the cost of everything, we budget to the last penny and make sure we are being wise with the incredibly small resources we have.
But… Is there a time were the financial bottom line stands in the way of faith? Do we sometimes not step out with fresh ideas, vision and passion because of this so called “bottom line”?
Yes – it is wise to count the cost, but equally, we are often called to step out in faith.
We wonder how many Godly ideas fall flat at the first hurdle, called “the budget” because it’s too scary to step out in faith and trust God for what is needed.
What do you think?

It seems that when we are busy, the first thing to go is updating the blog! So, Kay is looking at ways to make updating a little easier when we’re on the move – just to make sure everyone is kept up to date with all the latest news and thoughts.
We’ve been busy with assemblies, meetings, consultancy, training etc, etc. But – we did manage to fit in a quick break in Hastings, where Kay managed to ignore her phone for a whole week! Steve on the other hand….. didn’t!
We are thankful for the quiet patience of house sitters (even though they did set the house alarm off last time – oops) making sure our house is kept safe during our many absences!
We do manage to keep the diary reasonably up to date, only the occasional last minute booking is missed off.

The book of memories given to Kay about Whizz Kids had many memories, but the latest, and by far the longest entry sums up Whizz Kids amazingly well. Here is an edited version for you to enjoy. (Those of you who have been a Whizz Kids leader will understand all too well!)

From Phil Munt:
I could go on and on………. 
In short, cut me open you will read Whizz Kids running through me like writing through a stick of rock. Whizz Kids has been one of the single greatest influences on me ever. I miss it.
 
Whizz Kids is the reason they all go (to Spring Harvest) in the end, and this chapter now follows a typical day.
A Spring Harvest morning is a morning you experience outside Spring Harvest – in which the weather is reminiscent of one experienced at the event it self. But this covers almost all weather except maybe decent snow. To step from your chalet on the first morning (day two) the first few seconds are formed by the weather. The harsh coldness but bright sunshine or the bitter wind mixed with heavy rain, all team members have been affected by the weather in some way. The feelings of excitement as you make your way to breakfast with old close friends or mixing the new team members and the warmth of the dinning hall. The jokes, the aspirations, fears and encouragement. The feeling of entering the venue, not for the first time, but for the first time as if in battle. The look on new peoples faces as the older experienced ones rush around putting the room together. The instant remembrance of the older team members as years of experience not called on for year jumps into action. All runs smoothly through team devotional time and team morning brief. Then there is that period of about forty minutes were if possible some will go to the big top and some will stay behind. The conversations and above all the feelings of excitement and anticipation about the start. Then you find you have been up since six thirty and it is now nine thirty, you wonder what you have done in those three hours. What you have done is contributed to the immense running of this team. Those last few minutes as you wait you see some run because they have forgotten something or that last minute drink or toilet break. In just a few minutes the room will be full and then you can not just sit back. The ten second count down, the moment you have waited for a year or since you applied. Those wonderful feelings as you know you can not and will never have the power to hold back time. The new team members faces which convey nerves but wonder at it all. And ONE!! OPEN THE DOORS! That is it; the next three hours and twenty minutes will be non-stop. The craft area sorting dozens of pieces of paper, shapes and straws. The admin people sorting the late registrations. The mouse corner awaiting it first ‘patients’. The floaters directing, running, carrying and being helpful. The clowns on ready for those signs to go up signifying who wants the toilet. Special needs helpers already getting busy with children. The security team controlling the doors and keeping the flow going. Then the core team controlling the whole event from the front.
     Then you find you are counting down ten seconds to one o’clock. In between you have sung, laughed, played games, got covered in glue, gone outside to play games, taken children to the toilet many times, run from end to end of the venue with items for teams, controlled the flow of children across a road, stopped people entering the venue, controlled people outside whilst controlling the children, played instruments, lead a band, helped an injured a child, been kept busy with a special needs child, clean up craft and controlled the team you have. You have just done day one at Whizz Kids. You have four more mornings and a fire drill to go. You are tired, but happy. You are in the best team. You are special. You are valued. You are important. You are able to Go For It! You are a Whizz Kids leader.

If you could ask God any question – what would it be? These are just a few of the questions the Whizz Kids asked at Spring Harvest. Whizz Kids are aged five to seven.

Some are funny, some profound, some sad.

How did you become King of Kings?

How did you make the lions roar?

Why did you make white and black people?

Why did you make the school?

Why did you make tarantulas?

What does Heaven look like?

God – Will You do your magic?

Why Is Afghanistan bad?

Why do mums get pregnant?

How Much power have you got?

When did Jesus know He had powers?

How does the world work?

Why are babies born with no hair?

When was God born?

How did you make rabbits?

Why did you die on the cross?

How does love come back?

Why are trees green and brown?

How many specks of dust are there?

Why did you make us?

Why does my papa have a bad brain?

Why are churches brown?

We’re back from three Spring Harvest weeks in Minehead, tired, but happy.

On weeks one and two, Kay was the special needs consultant – a very varied role in many ways! The highlight was to see youngsters with special needs sharing their testimonies of how God is working in their lives. Something that helped Kay to see why she does what she does. Steve was part of the team too – helping out where Kay couldn’t manage omni presence.

On Week three, we were running Whizz Kids, where we registered a lot more children than we were expecting. After some hasty re-planning, (running from from plan A all the way to plan G through out the week) the kids had a great time learning about God and having fun at the same time.

It was a huge challenge coping with the influx of children, but we had a superb team, and the wonderful, supportive help of the admin office on site.

It would be possible to write and write stuff about Spring Harvest, but we won’t. Do look back over our tweets and the Spring Harvest tweets, and you will get a flavour of the event.

In Whizz Kids we had an hour devoted to praying – the children spent 10 minutes at various prayer stations. The prayers and questions were amazing, showing a deep understanding, and questioning minds….. far beyond the understanding that many credit them with. We hope to put some photos on here later of some of those questions.

It was our thirteenth year of running Whizz Kids at Spring Harvest, and it will be Kay’s last. We will both still have oversight of Whizz Kids because we are general directors of Children Worldwide, but Kay will no longer do the day to day running of it. Steve will remain as deputy to the new coordinator – Sarah Covington.

The team were so kind in saying thankyou and goodbye to Kay – one of the Children Worldwide members (Thanks Helen!) put together a year book stuffed full of lovely comments and memories from Whizz Kids volunteers past and present – something to treasure!!

Unfortunately, the way our diary is working at the moment, we don’t have time to take much of a break to recover. So please pray for supernatural strength to do what we need to do in the next couple of weeks – you only have to look at our diary page to see what we are talking about! It may look as though we have had a week off, but we have been using that time to write reports and prepare for the week ahead (As well as answer a mountain of emails!)

Meanwhile – Here is a comment left on the blog by a parent:

“Just want to say a huge thank you for the brilliant time my daughter Bella had at WhizzKids. She has loved every day. She will be 8 next year so this was her last time with you guys  Keep up the good work and may God continue to bless children through your ministry. Huge thanks to you and all your team.”