I am so thankful for the ministry of GLS—for what you do and  for putting me in touch with this great arm of RBP.

At Christmastime, our youth pastor from Michigan passed along to us some used Sunday School teacher’s packs that they didn’t need anymore. As Nicola and I were frantically pulling together our kids’ class for this week’s Bible study, we came across some great visuals and activities from one of those packs to help us teach the lesson we had planned. It’s a joy to teach the Bible in English to children who have never heard its stories! Following is an account of what the night was like.

Last night, our Bible study began again after the Christmas break. We had four families: two that have been coming faithfully, one that has come once before, and one that came for the first time. Since some of the children were pretty close to Nicola’s age (12), I decided to help her with the kids’ class. Greg was teaching a panoramic view of the Old Testament to the adults, so we decided to do the same with the kids.

Leah (age 9) helped tremendously by caring for the youngest one so that the five other children could listen to the stories. Teaching a group of children spanning the ages of four to almost 11 has its challenges; but in spite of the distractions, our students peppered us with questions that showed they were really listening . . . and were actually one step ahead of us!

On day 3 of Creation: “Where is the sun?” [Well, that came along on day 4 . . .]

After the story of Creation: “But how do we know what happened before there were any people?”

Seeing Adam and Eve’s picture: “Are they naked?”

Scoffing at Eve eating the fruit: “If I ate an apple, I would wash it first!”

“You mean we all came from Adam and Ella [meaning Eve]? Then why are we Tamil and Chinese and. . . .”

Of Abram’s desire for a son: “Just get a new wife!” [Which, sadly, sort of echoed this boy’s own family situation. . . .]

And then there was the little boy who heard the term “sin” for the first time, and kept using it toward the others: “If you don’t sit down, that will be a sin!”

Ah, kids! They are so alive and ready to learn! What a privilege to be able to scatter the seeds of God’s truth and grace on the fresh soil of their young minds. Our greatest joy came right at the end of class, when we heard one little boy exclaim, “The Bible is pretty cool. The Bible is awesome!”

Thank you for your prayers. We need them! I need the grace to smile when my house is a little more chaotic than I would like, when my selfishness takes over and I want to ration the snacks that I’ve set out, when I’m exhausted but still need the energy to care for my own dear family before dropping into bed. Please continue to uphold us!

Anne O’Boyle
Toronto, Canada