Activity Day Success with Homemade Playdoh: Fun for all Ages as we learn we are New Creations

It's the first Saturday of December 2014 on the American calendar (it's March 2007 on the Ethiopian calendar) and we are bringing it in in Ethiopia with style: food for our bellies, food for our hearts, and tons of fun. Activity Day began with songs of praise followed by an opening prayer where we thanked Jesus for our day and asked Him to help us learn something new. I talked about being new creations out of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and continued through verse 19 on reconciliation. I asked the room full of kids of all ages how we think God makes us new. We received answers that God makes us new by asking Jesus into our hearts, that it's through our faith, and then I asked them to raise their hands to show me if they know in their hearts they are a new creation, not just head knowledge but heart knowledge. (I wanted to know if this truth had sunk deep within them). The entire room did and I talked about a little of God's unconditional love, that even when we pick bad things, we are still made new through His Son. We just have to go to Him and we give Him our old junk and He makes us new.

After hearing from God's Word, we split into two groups. The older children we sent to the school's library for a showing of the movie God's Not Dead. The younger children ages 3-11 stayed with us in the cafeteria for a craft. Our craft (thanks to Brad and Christi Bennik from Canada) was homemade play-doh. We decided the kids could make whatever they wanted to with it and we explained it was not food. The kids were given a choice of yellow or red dye for their small round ball of doh and then after it was thoroughly mixed, we gave them the choice to add glitter to make it shine. They had the choice of purple, blue, or green glitter for their creations. Catch a glimpse at some of their work!

Nearing the end of our craft time, the Lord showed me and told me to share with them that this is how He works. Modeling a play-doh heart, I asked them to take a look at it. (I wish I took a picture). I said, "It's looking a little pre-Jesus, you think? It's cracking and look here, it's broken," as I pulled the two sides apart. I grabbed the red dye. "But this is what happens when we ask Jesus into our hearts," I said, as I poured the red dye from top to bottom over the heart.

I asked them what they thought the red dye stood for after telling them to pretend it is Jesus. A child answered it was His Blood. I said "yes" and I explained this is what happens as He makes us new creations. We are washed of all our junk and then I said "Sometimes life happens and say there's a car accident, or we go to the doctor and we get a diagnosis, and we pick bad things... Sometimes we think it isn't different." I pulled the heart's sides back apart breaking it. I asked if God went anywhere and some looking at the heart, others looking at their own creations, and they said no. The red dye didn't go away just as He does not go away. We are still new and we are still His. God never leaves His children. We just get to keep going to Him, trusting Him and leaning into Him. The kids wrapped up making their new creations and the Benniks led them in a new game: balloon volleyball.

The fun and chaos continued until the movie was over and the food was ready to eat. After everyone was served their food, stomachs were full of injera, Activity Day concluded and the kids were taken back to their homes via the BCI Academy bus. Thanks to all generous donors for making a day like this happen in Ethiopia.