Friday Club Reporting
"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in Heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father in Heaven. For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost." Mt 18:10-11
Tonight was different. Since it was raining outside, there was little trouble at the door and the turnout was expectedly a bit lower, but not as much as I thought. I think there were still at least 30 kids, which is higher than the average in earlier times, when you look at Tricia’s report after the last summer, where she expected 20-25 Kids to come for the new term!
Tonight was different, since there were no chairs for the Story. As usual, it was difficult to prevent the chatter, so we had to keep a close eye on each of them, and then was the constant battle of: keeping them sitting down, in one place, without pushing or fighting.
Carrie explained this night’s topic ("Do not lie", Ex 20:16) by telling the story of Elisha and Gehasi using the overhead projector and for the most part, they were listening quite closely. I couldn’t listen much to it, since I was constantly trying to keep a few kids calm. One or two had to stand separate or had to be moved to a different place. It was a battle between either me becoming a disruption by doing too much or the kids by becoming too noise so that Carrie couldn’t be heard anymore. At one stage, one of the very little ones didn’t stop hitting his neighbour. Unfortunately, I had to go all the way around the whole ground, so I couldn’t catch im in the act, so to speak and when I arrived, it seemed as if he was doing nothing! I wanted him to stand up and move him to a different place, however, he refused to move and thus give up his place in the front row!
Now I was in a kind of limbo - if I left him his will, this would be seen as compromising and the other kids would quickly loose their respect for my "educational measures"! So I tried to pull him away - and then he began to cry! Of course, all the other kids became agitated, wanted to intervene or give advice etc, - in one word - it was a mess, and I had created it! Carrie was unable to carry (sic!) on, and I was sitting there on the floor, trying to calm that bold boy, who suddenly was just a little howler! He didn’t even wanted to go back to his prominent place now!
Somehow, after a while, they all calmed down, including the little boy, so that Carrie could finish her story. Then she tried to explain the crafts, but as ususal, the urge to move around and just start themwithout any instructions was mounting! So eventually they all got their crafts and afterwards, we even could play some games, again in two groups.
Unfortunately, one of the kids was very disruptive for the umpteenth time and had to be sent home - although it already was half past 7, i.e. time to finish up! After showing the kid to the door, it told me it would wait right there for its father. When the club finished finally and all were sent out, he came in and wanted to know what the reason was, so we had to explain it to him.
Reading this makes me realise a little of how difficult and challenging Friday Club can be and yet how important for these kids. God loves ‘em, even the very bold ones!! Thank you Lord and thank you all Friday Club workers.
I hesitate to ask this (as I have not been involved with Friday Club) but….
….I wonder if there is any way of engaging more with Cloughleigh parents? One or two ideas have popped into my head but they are probably hare-brained (!) so I leave the question open for general consideration.
Comment by Maddy P — Thu, 9. April 2009 @ 14:47
Usually, Friday Club has events like Christmas parties or the Coole Park outing, where Parents were invited (not sure about the Coole Park), but certainly, this can be extended. As always, it boils down to the abilities of the Friday Club workers….
Comment by Matthy — Thu, 9. April 2009 @ 14:55
We did have a parent stay 1 week recently as her little boy wouldnt stay without her. It was good that she stayed and also helped with the young ones as they did their craft and games. It is great to have more contact with parents and we would love to see more of it, but it is hard as leaders too to maintain full authority over the running of the club and discipline etc . But God knows all this and if He brings other parents along I am sure He will also show us how to work with that. Please pray for the work and especially for some of the older kids who will soon be too old for club but have been coming on and off for years yet we wonder are they listening or hearing anything. God alone knows.
Comment by Carrie — Thu, 16. April 2009 @ 10:23