Pastor's Dave's Trip (Update)

It is Tuesday evening here in Belarus.  Weather here has been much milder than I anticipated and residents say this has been a mild winter.  Temps are 34 to 38 degrees outside with light drizzle.  It hasn't been sunny since we've been here.  It has been very windy here.  Belarus is very flat and there is no place to hide from the wind.

On Saturday, we did some sightseeing, shopping, and visited the Minsk circus.  This was the perfect circus, complete with dancing bears, funny clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats, dog and cat tricks, and other fun things. This is a year-round circus with four performances a week and is always packed.  I had a lot of fun watching the kids as they watched the circus.

I was blessed to teach Sunday School to early elementary children.  Crocket is with me on this trip and the kids enjoyed him a lot.  A few magic tricks, a visual prop or two, and an interpreter who was able, not just to interpret what I said, but to do it with the same inflection in my voice, and it was just a great morning.  What fun it was watching the kids the rest of the morning smile at me as we passed.

Last Night - Monday was Awana clubs.  Another pastor who is here teaching Paul's Epistles is a commander at his church's Awana club.  He led games tonight and I did council time.

I've finished four full days of teaching and found out the students thought this was going to be just a sluff class - an easy grade. Sorry!  Children's ministry is too important for me to make this an easy grade!  Today I think they began to see that I take this very seriously and intend not just to equip them to do the work, but to grasp and pass on the passion as well. 

What have we talked about so far?  The importance of children's ministry, cultural relevance in the culture of the child, relationship vs behavior oriented teaching, teaching with goals in mind, and the qualifications of a teacher. Ahead this week are child development, learning styles, and many more things to cover.  Specifically, tomorrow is a big day because I teach for five hours.  All five hours will be focused on child development - not the most exciting day.

God bless,

Pastor Dave