Material Upgrade for the Good Samaritan

When you first start out with Godly Play, you don't always have the funds to buy the proper materials or even the time to make quality ones. Sometimes, you just use what you have. When I first told the Parable of the Good Samaritan almost 5 years ago, I used Playmobil figures, because that was what I had. Then, a couple of years later after I had collected a few nicer materials as funds would allow, I told the story using the wooden People of God figures (used in the Sacred Story genre) and the wooden donkey from the Holy Family story. 

My friend, Storyteller, in Finland has even made figures out of cardboard to preserve the flatness in the parable genre. (The figures in the parables should actually be flat in order to have a storybook feel to them, since they are stories that Jesus told.) And some of my German colleagues have made paper figures and laminated them. 

Now, I've upgraded to some beautiful flat figures made by Johanna from Godly Play Finland. She offers some reasonably priced DIY figures that are easy to paint. I painted mine with watercolor and vinegar to create a stained look. 

Here's a glimpse at my old set-up for the Good Samaritan with the People of God figures.

And here are the new figures in the parable box ready for action!

"The Great Family" Continued: Sarah & Hagar

We went on a retreat with our church this weekend to a lovely spot beside a lake about an hour outside of Berlin in Brandenburg. The weather was perfect for swimming and playing ultimate frisbee. 

Since we started our school year off with "The Great Family", I wanted to continue and tell the kids some other parts of Abraham and Sarah's story. So, I prepared the story of "Sarah and Hagar". In the German version of this Godly Play enrichment story, we use the desert sack. Since our cars were heavily packed for carpooling to the retreat, I knew it was out of the question to try and bring the desert bag and planned to substitute a felt underlay. To my surprise and delight, there was a playground at the retreat center with a sand floor, so we just sat in the sand for our children's service and began the story!

In this picture, you can recognize features of "The Great Family". This is the scene where Abraham and Isaac go off to Mount Moriah and Sarah wonders what will happen.

Here Hagar and Ishmael drink from the well that the angel of the Lord has showed them  just as Hagar had given up all hope.

The story of Sarah and Hagar is a difficult and important one. Based on the account in Genesis 16, Sarah grows impatient with God's promise to make her and Abraham's family as many as the stars in heaven and the sand in the desert. (And honestly, would I have reacted any differently? She was already really old!) She then asks Abraham to take a second wife - her slave, Hagar - with whom he can bear a child that Sarah will presumably adopt. 

Seems like a good plan, but what she doesn't count on is her own jealous emotions and Hagar's new spiteful attitude towards her. After Hagar's son Ishmael is born and God's promise to Sarah is fulfilled in the birth of baby Isaac some time later, the competition doesn't stop. When Sarah sees Ishmael teasing Isaac, she persuades Abraham to send them away. (I know it was a different time and place, but why, Abraham does this, I cannot begin to comprehend.)

Hagar and Ishmael get lost in the desert. They have no more food or water, and she sets Ishmael under a bush and walks a bit further, because she can't bear to see him die. Just as she gives up all hope, God shows her a well of water that saves their lives.

I also added my favorite part of the story, which is where Hagar names God "the One who sees me". She, a slave, is the only woman in the Bible who gives God a name. Such a great example of God's upside-down kingdom.

What I love about this story is God's mercy and forgiveness in it. He blesses both women and makes each of their sons into a great nation, despite their wrongs toward one another. 

In our Wondering, the children thought the most important thing was that Hagar and Ishmael lived. They also spent time thinking about how the two children in the story felt about all of this. Don't all siblings fight and tease one another? Maybe Isaac really missed Ishmael after he was sent away? Maybe Isaac was lonely and didn't have anyone else to play with. 

Our Response Time was then spent digging tunnels and making mountains with all of that wonderful sand.: )

 

"Me + You = We?"

"Me + You = We?"  That's the name of our new after-school club! Starting Monday, for the next three weeks, we'll be exploring diversity and conflict resolution together. How do I feel when I am around people who look or speak differently from me? What if I am in an argument with someone and they don't want to make up with me? What if someone I don't like needs my help? We'll look at these and other questions through the context of the biblical narrative. And in the last week, we'll visit a children's club in another district to know some people in a different part of Berlin. 

While Melinda, my co-teacher, and I developed the concept for this after-school club, the credit for the name goes to the religion teacher at our school. She is a wonderful lady with great ideas. I love the open-endedness of that question! We don't want to give the kids pat answers. We want them to think critically,  explore the possibilities, and see what the Bible says about such situations. 

We all know that in the real world,  "me" + "you" does not always equal "we", even when we really want it to. Something that again reminded me of this and helps me not give easy answers happened a couple of weeks ago. A person that I tried in good will to offer help to lashed out at me, making some pretty heavy accusations, and refused to believe that I was not belittling him. Even after I did everything I could to make peace, the person was and is still angry at me. It was a real challenge for me to go on, forgive  and bless a person that had so misjudged my character! But that's real life, isn't it? I'm actually thankful in retrospect that this happened, so that I think carefully about what I say to the children. 

My hope is that God will meet all of us and show us new things through this club. That's one of the things that I cherish about Godly Play - we adults are co-learners with the children and learn from them as much as they learn from us!

Jerome Berryman on "The Christian Language System"

Here is a recent video from Jerome Berryman, the creator of Godly Play, with some important thoughts on children and why they are important to all of us, whether we have contact with them or not. He goes on to explain a term that we throw around a lot in Godly Play circles, but don't always define: "the Christian language system". Another interesting thing is that you get a tour of a real Godly Play room, which many of us in my part of the world don't see on a regular basis.

I also love how playful he is in this video. Godly Play has taught me more and more about how to be playful and not take life so seriously, and I hope that I am as playful as he is when I am that age!

Jerome Berryman: Learning the Christian Language Through Godly Play from The Episcopal Diocese of Texas on Vimeo.

          

"Play is also connected to the learning of social roles. That's the beginning of ethics, isn't it? It's connected to the learning of ethics, which is what is going on here [in a Godly Play room]It is also connected to the creative process, which is how it [the language] gets incorporated into the child and is  put into action    . . . You get a type of playful orthodoxy."

- Jerome Berryman

Hope you enjoy!

Restoring Damaged Spirituality

Some of you may recall that I read Kathryn Copsey's From the Ground Up: Understanding the Spiritual World of the Child earlier this year. It's proved to be one of those books that has added to my foundational knowledge of children's spirituality. (You can read my earlier posts here and here.) 

I'd like to continue the conversation about what to do when a child's spirituality has been damaged. Spirituality, which we can define as a child's need to connect with something greater than himself, is, as Copsey writes, the springboard to faith. So if we want to see children experience God, we should spend sometime considering how to see damaged spirituality repaired and transformed.  

One of thing things that struck me the most about Copsey's opinions on this subject was that "it takes a healthy village to raise a healthy child". In other words, a child's road to restoration  is the result of a group effort. Hefty and important words for our individual-centered society. I've heard over and over again through the years that one person can make a huge difference in a child's life, and I believe that, but it may well be that transformation occurs most often in the context of community. 

Relationships are key to a child learning to define themselves in new ways. Copsey quotes psychologist Daniel Stern's research that the sense of self develops from birth on through relationships. A baby comes out of the womb and begins to mimic the facial expressions of its parents. It makes sense. We learn who we are through constant engagement with those around us. And as Christians, we grow in who we are through engagement with God and his children. 

The child's setting needs support as well. It doesn't work to just pull the child out of the unhealthy setting. What kind of support might the parents of such a child need and how could the church walk alongside or assist? 

Finally, a healthy community will have these aspects:
- a respectful attitude towards children 
- people that are genuine and honest with the children
- a strong focus on relationships
-  a child centered-attitude in which children are valued, and it is recognized that they hold a special place in God's upside-down kingdom
- a place where people who work with children, both inside and outside the church, are valued
- recognition that adults can learn much from children as well as children learning from adults

Lord, help us to be the healthy communities that hurting children need! 

Summer Snapshots

We had whirlwind summer travelling around the States, but fortunately, there were a few quieter moments here and there to enjoy family, friends and nature. Here are a few snapshots of our time.

Despite the heat in Texas and Georgia, we did manage to get outside quite a bit. Here the kids have just picked ripe cucumbers and tomatoes from a friend's garden and gathered some fresh eggs.

Making friends with Stormy, the herding donkey . . . 

 . . . and milking a goat made the heat way more fun.

Visiting with Aunt Jen, Cousin Kate and Molly the Golden Doodle.

Fortunately, we had a swimming pool almost everywhere we went!

I also had chances to introduce Godly Play to American children who were unfamiliar with it. Below I'm with a fun group of kids in Fort Worth. 

What could be in that gold box?

Why, the parable of the Good Shepherd, of course!

We even managed to quell our homesickness for Germany at Pioneer Town in Fredericksburg, TX.

And here the kids are sitting on the lap of Judge Baylor at our alma mater, Baylor University.

Many blessings to each of you as we head into autumn!

Lego Church

Even though they're made of plastic, I have to think that even Maria Montessori would have approved of Legos. The open-ended concept makes the creative possibilities unlimited. 

Last year, Rosemary Beales, a Godly Play trainer in Virginia posted the question on GP's Facebook page whether anyone had ever offered Legos during the Response Time before. The responses were mixed. Many people had positive experiences, but others also had some weapon-building going on.

In my context, most children start showing less interest in the story materials after the third grade. Whether this is because of their age or the fact that I don't have a Godly Play room with all of the materials, I can't exactly say. But I do know that both boys and girls in the 4th and 5th grades are avidly interested in Legos. I am very much considering adding a Lego station to our next after-school club to help draw in some of the older kids who are not attracted to the story materials and maybe not big on the art materials either.

Recently, my ten-year-old son made this church out of Legos below during his own play time at home. 

My favorite part is the Christ Candle that he made out of pieces from the Lego Knights series.

So, to continue Rosemary's conversation: How do you feel about Legos either in a Godly Play or Montessori setting?