Happy New Year 2010!!

Happy New Year to all our wonderful Children's Ministry Volunteers!! You shine Jesus and our children are drawn to Him because of you. Thank you so much and may God bless you this new year with more of His love, joy and peace!

Joyfully with love,

Jackie for the team

Jingle Jam 2009!

Hi Wonderful Friends!

I hope you are having a very merry December so far. :)

Just a note to remind you that Jingle Jam (our Children’s Christmas Program) is this Friday night. Our preschool children will start off the program with those sweet songs they’ve been practicing at Worship Time. If you are able to join us to help herd our little sheep (oops, I mean angels), please arrive at 6:30 p.m. and come to the preschool worship room. After our kids sing, there will be two songs from the elementary choir and a festive, short program. We will follow this with a cookie and hot chocolate reception in the Fellowship Hall. This is a great time to visit with your student’s parents!

If you think you can come, please send me a reply.

Thank you so much for all you do to shine Jesus in this dark world. HE IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Joyfully serving with you,

Jackie Evans

A note from Pastor Dan...

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to briefly talk about the vision God has given me for our ministry (in case you were not able to make it to our meeting the other night). First of all, I would like to congratulate all of you on a job well done! I am very impressed with where our ministry is and the quality job all of you are doing. I would also like to thank you for all of your selfless service, and reassure you that there are eternal ramifications for what we are doing.

This past weekend we had a number of kids come forward to either receive Christ or express a desire to be baptized. This is something to be celebrated! It should also serve as motivation to us as we move forward. If we look out our windows we have a front row seat to a lost world, a lost world that we must work diligently at reaching. With this in mind, we are going to become more outreach focused. That is not to say that we will neglect the children that we have, we will simply become more intentional at going out and bringing them in.

One of the ways we are going to accomplish this is by creating some bus routes. We have a goal of 3 bus routes to begin in January for our Saturday service. I would ask you to pray about what your part may be in that exciting ministry. Another way we are going to try to reach out to the community is by expanding some of our events to make them more outreach oriented. For example, on December 11 we have a Parents Night Out (P.N.O.). In the past the P.N.O. has been limited to the first 60 kids registered and it has been free. We are now going to charge $5 a child and use the budgeted money to sponsor kids from our community who may not have been able to come otherwise. During the night there will also be a gospel presentation and an opportunity for kids to come to Christ.

More long-term plans include; V.B.S., Upward sports (upward.org), and continued building of the bus ministry. Again, I would ask that you all pray about how God may use your gifts in these ministries. I believe the fruit we saw in this past weekend should serve as motivation to us, the world is truly lost and we have a responsibility to reach them for Christ.

In Christ,

Pastor Dan

Bible Story Article & Tips

Top Tips for Bible Story Telling:

---Tell the children that every time they hear you say [a certain name or word], then do a [particular] motion.

---Have children dress up and help you act out the story or retell the story.

---Use a puppet to review the story, asking the puppet questions (give a few funny answers to keep the children interested). Or the puppet can ask the children review questions after the story.

---Sing a special song to start each story time. Teach the children that when they hear the song, they are to gather in a certain area for the story. The best way to do this is to use a familiar tune (like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and come up with simple words about story time.

---Read the children a Bible BIG BOOK (based on the curriculum that week) from the hospitality room.

---Keep the Bible in a special container or treasure chest and bring it out when it is story time.

---Tell the story in character using all the voices.

---Cut out a picture while telling the story. If you are telling about Joseph, you could be cutting out his coat of many colors while storytelling. The kids won't know what it is until you show it to them at the end of the story.

Exciting News!!!

 

Hi FAITHFUL friends!

*I want to share the GREAT news with you all that Dan Krause is our new Children’s Pastor! Thank you, Lord! Dan and his family will be moving up here from Michigan the first part of November. We are hoping to have a dessert social after a Saturday night service in November to welcome their family and hear from Dan about his journey to Faith Christian Community. I’ll definitely keep you posted on that.

*Thank you to all of you that were able to attend the Children’s Ministry lunch and training. It is always great to fellowship with you in a relaxed setting. And your participation and input is so valuable! For those that weren’t able to attend, you were missed much!

*Happy Birthday to all our October volunteers celebrating their special day this month! Check out the blog post below for special birthday recognition. :) And please let me know if you were inadvertently missed.

That’s all for now folks! Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for playing a vital role in children’s ministry here at Faith!

Love with joy,

Jackie Evans

Happy Birthday October "Babies"!

Happy Birthday to all our amazing volunteers who are celebrating a birthday in October! You are a wonderful gift from God to this world and we hope you have an awesome day and a very blessed year! And thank you for shining Jesus in your homes, at church and in your community!

Joyfully,

Jackie for the team

Happy Birthday to:
Noelle T. - 11AM Moose Dream Team
Monica H. - 11AM Super Greeter
Deanna H. - 11AM Super Greeter
Janice G. - 11AM Nursery A Team
Tara W. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team
Leah O. - 9AM Nursery A Team
Diane G. - 6PM Nursery Dream Team
Jennie M.-H. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team
Emma H. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team

The Art of Art Centers

 

 

News You Can Use

Hi Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a blessed week!

Here is some news you can use around the preschool as we start the new ministry year:

*We are having a ministry wide lunch and training on Sunday, September 27th, from 12:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. We are encouraging everyone to attend. It will be a great time to connect and network with other volunteers and share ministry ideas, receive some pertinent training, be inspired by our vision, and anything else God wants to show us. It is great to be a self-sufficient volunteer, but I think it is also very valuable to meet together once or twice a year to encourage and learn from each other. Please let me know if you plan to attend so we can order enough lunch and training materials for everyone.

*Please pray for our elders as they interview a potential candidate for the children’s pastor position. His name is Dan Krause and he will be visiting our church from Michigan this coming weekend. Very exciting!

*Reminders: Please check-in early at the children’s counter to receive your volunteer nametag. Also, please grab your lanyard behind the hospitality room door (on the nursery hall side) and wear it during class. These are used for safety measures as well as name visibility for the parents (which help in making much needed connections between the parents and you, our volunteers.) Also, remember to be in your classrooms by 15 minutes prior to service time. If this has been a problem for you, please consider making a recommitment to do all you can to ensure that you are there at that time. It really is a blessing to the parents, children, staff and you, the volunteer, to be in the classroom early and ready to go. Thanks so much friends!

*I will also be posting notes and great training pages here on the blog every week, so please check in often. There is also monthly birthday recognition on the blog. If you notice that your name is missing, please let me know so we can celebrate you too!

*As a side note: If anyone has Tuesday mornings available and you would like to love on some little ones and earn a little extra money, Susan Marthaller is looking to hire another children’s classroom volunteer for the Moms & More study at church. If you are interested, let me know and I will put you in touch with Susan.

THANK YOU for all you do to shine Jesus into our dark world. His love is the only thing that saves and you are His messengers. What an amazing privilege and awesome calling we have!

Much love with joy,

Jackie

More Than A Time-Filler!

Hi Fabulous Friends,

Here is a great training on Activity Pages. Read through it for some great tips.

Have a blessed day!

Jackie

(click on page to enlarge)

 

 

Welcome to Fall & The Eyes of a Child

Hi Faithful Friends,

Welcome to Fall and the beginning of our new Children's Ministry Year! I am so excited that many of you are returning to serve in the preschool/nursery department here at Faith this month! I am equally as excited to welcome new volunteers who may have recently followed God's leading to join our team or had such a great experience this summer that you are signing on to serve even more throughout the school year. All I can think to say is "Praise the Lord!" for all of you wonderful servants of our glorious King Jesus.

We all know by what we've read in His word that Jesus LOVES children and wants us to love them too. Can you think of a calling that is higher than loving our children to Him? I certainly cannot. And what a blessing that we get to obey Him together, on an awesome team that has the same vision and goal.

Each member of this team is needed and highly valuable. Our check-in volunteers lovingly greet our families and make them feel welcome. Our nursery volunteers love, sing, play and speak love and truth over our youngest treasures. Our preschool volunteers do much the same, adding more Bible truths that will sink into those preschool hearts and grow and grow until they willingly give their precious hearts to Jesus. Our worship leaders have the amazing privilege of leading our children in praising the One who made them, loves them, and saves them.

Again, I believe there is no greater mission field and there is no greater calling. So, welcome and thank you for being a vital part of Children's Ministry here at Faith.

God bless you all!

Jackie Evans
for the team

P.S. Click on the notes below (to enlarge) to read this week's volunteer training. I think you'll find it useful and enjoyable. You can also print it out, if it's easier to read that way.

September Birthday Babies!

Hi Dear Friends,

This month we have several birthday "babies" to celebrate and here they are:

September
Makala P. - 6PM Nursery Dream Team
(Jackie E.) - moi
Gwen G. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team
Michelle R. - 11AM Dream Team
Peggy R. - 11AM Bears Co-teacher
Cathy M. - 11AM Whales Co-teacher
Robyn B. - 11AM Moose Dream Team
Donna O. - 11AM Dream Team
Liz S. - 11AM Puffins Co-teacher

You all are a wonderful display of God's richest blessings. Thank you for living a life of service that glorifies Jesus. I hope you each have a wonderful birthday and a year full of love, joy and peace!

Joyfully,

Jackie for the team!

Summer Birthdays!

Happy Birthday (and belated birthday) to all our summer birthday babies on the Preschool Ministry Team! You are a wonderful blessing to all of us here at Faith! And I pray that you have a wonderful year.

Happy Birthday to:

June:
Susan F. - 9AM Preschool Worship Leader
Jennifer C. - 9AM Bears/Puffins Teacher

July:
Lisa E. - 6PM Preschool Co-teacher
Connie J. - 6PM Preschool Co-teacher
Keaton E. - 6PM & 9AM Dream Team - youth vol.
Rodney B. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team
Rosalyn L. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team
Cindy A. - 11AM Worship Dream Team

August:
Sharon S. - 9AM Bears/Puffins Co-leader
Armin P. (staff extraordinaire)
Marvin B. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team

Much love,

Jackie for the Team

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner!

We had a great time celebrating our wonderful children's volunteers (you!) on May 14th. Here is a little pictorial review of some of the fun moments we shared:

Two awesome nursery volunteers - Rosalee & Lea!
On this night the kids served the adults (and bussed tables). They did great! Thanks so much friends!
The tables were turned and the adults had to do an activity! (Usually they're the ones having the kids do this in class :) I was very happy to see everyone participating - once I bribed them!
Basa rockin' the house! He even got a standing ovation.
Our new preschool logo unveiling. Love it!
Another lovely servant!

 

Gabbing around the table.

 

Our talented chef - Thanks Matt!!

 

Now they're getting into the game! They have to complete the puzzle to win the prize. "Does your puzzle piece fit mine?"

 

Yes, a good time was had by all. And if you didn't make it, you were definitely missed!

Blessings friends. I love and appreciate each one of you!

Jackie for the team

Don't Forget - Volunteer Appreciation Dinner 5-14-09!

Tomorrow is the big day! The day we get to celebration YOU - our awesome volunteers. Hope you are planning to join us at Faith at 6:30 p.m.

I'll see you there!

Jackie and the Team

Happy Birthday April & May Babies!

APRIL:

Karen A. - 6PM Nursery Dream Team
Debbie B. - 11AM Moose Dream Team
Jinger P. - 11AM Dream Team
Karen G.-H. - 11AM Dream Team
Debbie M. - 6PM Whales
Dawn W. - 11AM Bears
Mike B. - 11AM Moose Dream Team
Rosalee O. - 9AM Nursery
Bob A. - 11AM Preschool Worship
Jeff W. - 11AM Nursery Dream Team

MAY:

Emily P. - 9AM Bears, 11AM Mtn Goats/Whales (& Children's Ministry Admin Assistant)
Rachel C. - 11AM Dream Team
Robert M. - 6PM Whales
Mona H. - 11AM Otters Dream Team
Carolyn S. - 11AM Otters Dream Team
Linda S. - Preschool Associate

Happy Birthday to all of you fabulous volunteers! You are a wonderful blessing to the children and families of Faith...and to us! Thank you again for your act of loving service. And may you have an awesome year full of God's richest blessings - His peace, strength, joy and love!

Joyfully serving Jesus with you,

Jackie & The Team

To Our Easter Volunteers...

 

A great big THANK YOU! Because of you we were able to serve 160 children in the preschool department. Each one received the love of Jesus through your act of service. You are my heroes and it is a privilege to minister along side you.

Much love,

Jackie for The Team

Jesus Has Overcome! Happy Easter!

This is beautiful. Listen and be blessed.

Happy Easter to all our wonderful volunteers! By His wounds we are healed. By His resurrection we have victory over sin and death. Worthy is the Lamb!

I love you all! See you special people this weekend.

Jackie & the team

Easter Here We Come!

Hi Fantastic Friends,

I am so excited to minister with you this weekend at our Easter Services!! What an amazing opportunity we have to love and lead our little ones to Jesus and tell them anew of all He has done for us. And what an amazing ministry this is:

Some of us will give a welcoming smile and a kind word to children and families as they check-in, pointing them right to the Savior that loves and welcomes all.

Some will lead children in worshiping the one true King who is worthy of all our praise.

Some will sing over the smallest of our children while rocking them with arms of love that point to the Jesus that loves them personally and wants them to feel safe and secure in His house.

Some will tickle and giggle and sing and play with the toddlers that need to know they can have fun and be accepted for who they are in Jesus’ house.

Some will tell stories, play games, make crafts and serve snacks in such a way that children will be drawn to the love of Jesus that they see in their “teacher’s” lives.

You all are accomplishing major kingdom work as you minister to the hearts of these children. You are nurturing, loving and leading these children from the beginning stages of their lives, setting a foundation of trust and love for God, our Redeemer and our Peace.

My challenge for you this weekend (and always) is to do what is in your power to make this a special time for the children. Have everything prepared (please don’t try to wing it), be on time, be prepared to welcome children 15 minutes prior to service, use children’s names as much as possible while wearing a great big smile, and know that you are loved! {{HUG}}

Classroom volunteers – remember we are using the regular curriculum. Do what you want to make it special, including snack. 15 minutes of worship time in Big Group will be included unless there are too many to have together. (A good problem to have!) Plus we will have the “resurrection eggs” with the explanation sheet that you can do with the kids. Also, we will have a gift bag for each child.

At some point, before or after your service time, please come to the hospitality room for a special snack of Great Harvest cinnamon chip bread for the volunteers (plus fruit).

If you have any questions, please be sure to let me know.

Thank you so much for being Jesus’ hands and heart to this special generation.

Joyfully serving Jesus with you,

Jackie for the team

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY VISION: Working together with parents, we seek to lead children to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

Blessings Around the Preschool...

Some of you may have been in the service a few weeks ago when we celebrated the official adoption (and dedication) of Jessica A. by our dear friend and nursery volunteer, Karen A. Here is a picture from that special night. What a wonderful gift this whole family is to our body here at Faith. Congratulations and much love to you, Karen, Andy and Jessica!!

Blessings,

Jackie for the team

P.S. I'm hoping to get a few more pics from Armin to post with this.

Volunteer Note This Week...

Hi Faithful Friends,

I hope you are having a blessed week so far! And what an interesting one at that with Mt. Redoubt and all.

Here is the low down this week in the Preschool department at Faith:

Easter is almost here. Yay! What a wonderful opportunity to share the best story ever told to even more children than usual. You may have heard by now that we are going to have 4 services again this year with the addition of a 1:00 p.m. service. I am asking that you please consider the following options to help us properly staff each classroom:

*Volunteering to serve at a service if you are normally off this weekend (let me know which one works best for you)
*Volunteering to serve a second service-if you normally serve at one (let me know your service time choice)
*Asking a family member to help in the class you are serving in (I will need their name and their DOB-if applicable)

Please let me know which option is doable for you. And thank you so much for considering this.

FYI for the classroom teachers, we will follow the normal class schedule. If you need me to purchase special treats or craft supplies for your class, please let me know at least 1 week prior. This will be a fun time to do some really special stuff with the kids so be planning now.

Linda S. and I will be gone this coming weekend. We are going to the Northwest Ministry Conference (from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday) in Redmond, WA. I am looking forward to all the great workshops and the new or renewed knowledge I will bring back to our department! Armin P. will be the director on duty for all 3 services and Rosalee O. will be our guest director for the nursery at 11AM. Please arrive on time to make sure that all classrooms are covered and everything runs smoothly. I so appreciate you doing that! And I will miss you! (Please pray that Mt. Redoubt behaves so we can go. Thanks!)

The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner date has changed to Thursday, May 14th. Please be sure and SAVE THE new DATE. We are planning some great fun and fabulous food!

Blog stuff:
*I will now be putting our Dream Team schedules on the sidebar of the blog for easy access. (I will also keep sending email reminders.)
*Don’t forget to send me your prayer requests if you want others to pray.
*There’s a great Tutti Frutti Playdough recipe on the sidebar now.
*And if you have any ideas for the blog, please let me know.

Reminders & Thanks:
*If you haven’t yet completed the new application or watched the child abuse awareness video (instructions found on the sidebar of this blog), please be sure and finish that soon.
*Also, please pick up your copy of the volunteer handbook in the hospitality room and read through it, if you haven’t yet.
*And a huge THANK YOU for doing this and for all those that have completed the above items!

God bless you all for your loving service and for your perseverance! You are my heroes!!

Joyfully,

Jackie

Happy (March) Birthday!

March:
Allison A. - 6PM Nursery Dream Team
Shirley W. - 11AM Moose Dream Team
Seana O. - 9AM Otters

Happy Birthday faithful friends! Thank you for being Jesus' hands and heart to His little ones here at Faith. You are truly a blessing to me and many others. And I hope YOU have a wonderful birthday and an awesome year filled to the brim with blessings of your own.

Much love,

Jackie for the Team

A Few Items of Importance

Hi Faithful Friends,

I hope you are all having a blessed day! I just wanted to check in with you on a couple of items of importance. (Note: Some items won’t apply to everyone.)

1. Just a reminder that it is extremely important to be in your classroom at least 15 minutes prior to class time. This helps so much with families who need to drop off more than one child and get to their class or the service on time.

2. Some of you may have received an email about the Spring curriculum. Just to clarify, the new curriculum starts next Sunday, March 8th. The new books will be in your rooms tomorrow. Thanks for your patience while I sorted that out!

3. I have a running list of who has turned in their updated volunteer applications. If you’re still needing to turn yours in, please do this right away. If you need another one, I can email it to you. And if you have any questions, please let me know. UPDATE – we don’t need your ADL# or SS#. Thanks so much!

4. We haven’t started the in-class security review because I decided to wait until Barb K. is back. This gives us more coverage in case someone needs a director’s help elsewhere so the director doing the review doesn’t get called away. FYI - The review is simply a short time spent in the classroom between a director and classroom volunteers reviewing our safety procedures.

5. The volunteer lanyards are getting done and should be issued soon. Yay! If you have not had your picture taken by Armin, please let me know.

6. Please continue to check in and get your computer name tag. The computer reports are kept and used to make sure that we have acceptable adult to child ratios.

7. I want to let you know that I would love to pray for any need you want to share, whether for you or someone you love! Please email me (or call) and I will pray! Also, if you would like, I can put your prayer request on the blog so whoever can, will pray with us. You can let me know if you do or don’t want it on the blog and if so, if you want it to be anonymous or have your name attached.

Well, I think this is enough for now!

Dear ones, I want you to know that I so appreciate each one of you! And I want to thank you for your outstanding service in the preschool department here at Faith. Each of you is SO important whether you are here every week or on a rotating schedule. I absolutely love serving Jesus with you!!

Joyfully,

Jackie

P.S. If you haven't received an updated Volunteer Handbook, please let me know.

Welcome James!

 

Announcing...James William Krafft! James was born Thursday at 2:46 p.m. He weighed 6 lb. 15 oz. and was 20" long. He is perfect in every way! I got to hold him at the hospital today. What a precious gift from God. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us all with this beautiful gift from your hand. Mama & Papa are proud as can be and doing good and so are big sisters, Maggie and Carlee. Welcome sweet James!

With love & thankfulness,

Jackie

Happy Birthday Friends!!

Happy Birthday (and belated birthday) to our dear children's volunteers who celebrate(d) birthdays in December, January and February. You truly are a blessing to the children, families and staff here at Faith and I soooo appreciate you. Thank you for loving our little ones to Jesus! I hope you have a wonderful year.

Much love,

Jackie

December:
Phil M. - Whales, 9AM
Stephanie C. - Nursery DT, 11AM
Karen Z. - Mtn Goats, 11AM
Carol J. - Nursery DT, 11AM
Laura B. - Nursery DT, 11AM

January:
Gary G. - Nursery DT, 11AM
Anna H. - Puffins, 11AM
Katie E. - Nursery sub

February:
Margaret K. - Greeter/Computer Check-in, 9AM
Patty V. - Nursery DT, 6PM
Briahna Y. - Whales, 6PM
Jordan H. - Nursery DT, 11AM

(DT=Dream Team)

P.S. Please let me know if I missed listing your name. :O)

A Wonderful Resource

Danielle's Place is a wonderful resource for Bible crafts and activities. Our church has paid for a membership so that you can fully utilize all that is offered on this site. Look for this picture on the sidebar (or click here) and plug in the user name "fcckids" and password "wowkids" and you can look around and download what you'd like to use in class to supplement your curriculum.


Have fun!

Blessings,

Jackie

P.S. Thanks Debbie M. for this great suggestion.

Truth produces peace...

 

Here are some of the scriptures God is highlighting for me today. Blessings, Jax

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” - 1Chronicles 29:11

Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:31b, 32

For he himself [Jesus] is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, - Ephesians 2:14