Easter Happenings 2006
Jesus rose from the dead. The empty tomb is really great news because we have been given a living hope that will never perish, spoil or fade. On April 8th, Child Evangelism Fellowship, in conjunction with local churches, is participating in a great Easter Egg hunt outreach in Cupertino at Memorial Park. In addition to the Egg hunt, there will be face painting, jump house, animal balloons, crafts, and Wordless book sharing. I have been invited to help out. Hundreds of families join in the festivities. This is great fun for the kids and a wonderful way to introduce God’s love and grace, presenting the good news. The following weekend, I have been invited to lead a neighborhood outreach presenting the Easter Story to about ten families who range in faith traditions from Agnostics to Buddhists to Catholics. Then on Sunday morning, I will be joining BayLife Community Church an Evangelical Free Church – Church Plant in Foster City. We will be creatively presenting the Easter story with drama, puppets, music and song.
When I reflect on the Easter message, I am deeply humbled and moved. Who could imagine that God in his holiness would seek to grant us forgiveness? Completely without merit and nothing worthy in myself, Jesus was willing to die in my place to take the punishment of my sin—my rebellion toward Him. Though I did not recognize Him as God and wanted to go my own way, He sought me and called out to me. He invited me to trust His promise and His love as it says in John’s Gospel: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” What an amazing love that is so extravagant and gracious! What an all encompassing love to invite “whoever” to experience forgiveness! What a deep love, that will stop at nothing, so that even a rebel like me can find His grace and eternal life in a loving and personal relationship with Him! Praise God who in Hhis great mercy gives us a living hope, that will never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for those who trust in Jesus. The Easter story is truly remarkable and transformational.
Happy Easter, Happy Jesus’ Resurrection!
Puppets in the Park (PIP)
What a wonderful setting to meet the greatest kids. Puppets in the Park takes place at De Anza Park on Mondays at 4:10 pm. and Las Palmas Park on Tuesdays at 4:15 pm.
All are welcome!
This is a fun time for the family. The puppet show lasts from 3-5 minutes. The cast includes two main puppets. Ben is playful and likes to use gadgets and toys in unusual ways. Akosh is thoughtful and a great friend and cheerleader for Ben. Every so often Dave, who is a little bit whiny and loves video games, joins Ben and Akosh on their adventures. Grandpa also makes appearances and gives wise counsel to the boys. Wrinkles is Brian's dog who is very hungry. And Squak is hoping to pop in sometime soo. We may even get a glimpse of Brian, a sporty but brainy, friend.
They discuss kid things, like making friends, not getting too annoyed with younger siblings, getting lost, having nightmares, staying in because of the rain, and dealing with disappointment as well as many other subjects. Often they are reminded of what their moms and dads having been reading to them from the Bible and how the Bible or Jesus speaks to these various situations.
After the puppet show, kids can view the puppets and try their hand at puppeteering. With some guidance, we create puppets, stick puppets, bag puppets and sock puppets. The children are always creative and are able to express their artistic talents while enjoying the company of their friends in the park.
Everything is free!
After the puppet craft time, some of the kids will go behind the stage to engage the audience with their impromptu puppet scripts. They're so cute! At the same time their imaginations go wild.
We have a brief Bible story from early reader bibles. The story will usually relate to the script and puppet craft.
We end with a silly song, like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Itsy Bitsy Spider or a request from one of the children. Sometimes the children will teach each other a song they love.
PIP brings a smile to my heart every time I'm there. I hope it will bring a smile to your heart, too.
Thank you, Hillside!
Thank you to Hillside EFC for your very gracious support of our ministry to start a new Free Church in Sunnyvale. During February, Hillside hosted 4 informational desserts. The response to our desserts was beyond expectation. 45 people from Hillside came out to our desserts (not including my family). Many volunteered to help in some capacity and some have wanted to help on our core team. Others joined our prayer support and some mentioned helping financially. I can’t say thank you enough for the boost and encouragement Hillside has been for me and for this ministry. It is exciting to consider all the possibilities of having help to launch this new church.
The pastoral staff are always helpful and encouraging. The leadership is gracious and open handed. The congregation is warm and welcoming even to a "church planter." I praise God for Hillside. Thank you for your kindness.
Purpose
I am very new to blogging. Writing letters has never been my forte. But I am excited to communicate the vision of this emerging ministry in my community. Through this blog I want to communicate with the core team and people who are interested to pray. I hope to make many connections with people and describe the events and activities and happenings of this ministry. I have a monthly newsletter called the mustard seed gazzette. So I was thinking about having a weekly update and calling it the cherry blossom journal. Sunnyvale has a cherry orchard and was once home to thriving orchards. Now, the only orchard that I found is by the community center. So for those of you who may be perusing this site, thank you for your time. Big Thank You for your prayers.
