Tonight was my last night at Jigsaw until I return to England in January. Jigsaw is a ministry for younger kids in the Blackley area; some attend church; most don’t. From 6-7, we have Jigsaw 1 with kids aged 6 to 9. For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about different parts of the Christmas story. Tonight the kids got to act out the story of the angels coming to tell the shepherds about Jesus’ birth. When the story was finished, Bev asked the kids what they would do if they heard the news the shepherds got. It was so cool to hear answers like “I would run” and “I would get my friend and run to Bethlehem” or “I would tell my teacher”. One girl said she’d get on the bus so she could get there faster! I pray that Jesus would be real to each of them this Christmas season.
Jigsaw 1 is followed by Jigsaw 2 with the older (10-12 year old) kids. This group is usually quite rowdy and hard to keep under control, but in the last two weeks we’ve been encouraged to see them starting to settle down a bit. Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about peer pressure. Tonight, we talked about how (unlike our “friends” sometimes) God’s love for us is unconditional- that He will always love and accept us as we are. Andrea and I acted out the story of the prodigal son in front of a group of silent (!) kids. They watched and listened attentively even though some of them had seen us perform the same skit during an assembly at their school. When we were finished, the kids continued to sit silently as Ruth talked to them about God’s unconditional love. Then the kids wanted to act out the story of the prodigal son! It was so cool to see their creativity as they performed in groups. Finally, we ended the night with a game of Silent Ball (which involves tossing the ball to each other without talking)… and they were actually silent!
Most encouraging, though, was being able to award the “Star Player” chocolate bar to one of the kids whose behavior had prevented them from ever receiving that award during my three months with Jigsaw!
I am so grateful that God allowed me to finish ministry for this semester on that note.
It’s amazing how God provides. I’m glad that you are able to end your ministry for this semester on a good note.