Children’s Ministry Newsletter Partnering with families to nurture children and youth

in life-long discipleship to Jesus Christ

From the Desk of Miriam Little

It has been a long winter, this year but Easter is almost here and so is spring! Easter represents so much for us. May your life be filled with great hope and joy as you celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection this year.

I hope you will join us on Easter morning for the celebration at 8 a.m. See the box below for some of the details for the morning…. the service, breakfast, egg hunt and crafts make for a special church family time. Check this out for ideas to prepare your child for Easter! http://whatsinthebible.com/five-ways-to-prepare-children-for-easter/

Kid’s Care, the Children’s Ministry Mission Project runs until May 4th. Check out

the next page for all the details. Great news is that by April 6th $6310 had been donated!

Coming up after Easter on Sunday, May 4th, we have a Parenting Workshop that

you won’t want to miss. Jan Mutter, a child and family ministry specialist will talk about spiritual disciplines we can practice at home to nurture our children in the

faith. It will be a very practical workshop with tools that you can put into practice right away. This is suitable for parents with young children or teens.

Here are some important updates for you. 1. There will be childcare for Nursery up to Grade 2 on Good Friday from

10:45 to the end of the service in the Preschool room. 2. There will be childcare during the Parenting workshop on Mary 4th from

9:40 to 10:45, in the Preschool room and gym.

The Walk With Us Retreat is a very special weekend in the life of the church. If

you didn’t sign up or can’t make it for the whole retreat, consider coming for the day on Saturday or you could come for Sunday. Perhaps you could take a family day

trip to join in a child friendly worship experience followed by a hay ride, then lunch. The dates: Fri to Sun, May 30-June 1st. Talk to me if you have questions. A program will run at Yorkminster Park for those who can’t come to the retreat.

Summer Kid’s Event this year is from July 21 to 25th. This is a half-day kid’s camp held at the church for children ages Junior Kindergarten to Grade 5. We can take up to forty children. The very fun theme this year is Weird Animals. We are looking for volunteers to help with the camp. Talk to me if you would like to share in this exciting ministry.

Blessings,

Easter Morning!

Sunrise Service:

The Sunrise service is at 8 a.m. in the sanctuary and is a wonderful service of cele-bration. Please plan on joining us on April 20th. As in past years, children are invited to participate in leading the worship at the Sunrise Service. A stick drama, “Was it a Morning Like This?”, will be presented and children and youth will lead the congregation in singing and readings.

Breakfast, Egg Hunt, Crafts! After the 8 a.m. service there will be a breakfast followed by an egg hunt and other activities for kids. This will all take place in the Heritage room.

11:00 service The children will attend with their parents and then leave for age appropriate regular Children’s Programs.

Miriam Little Director of Children’s Ministries 1585 Yonge Street, M4T 1Z9 mlittle@yorkminsterpark.com

416-922-1361

Childcare will be provided

**Good Friday Service at 11:00 a.m.

Child care is provided from 10:45

**Parenting workshop on Spiritual Disciplines on May 4th at 9:45- 10:45 Childcare is provided from 9:40.

What’s coming up?

Sunday, Apr 13 - Palm Sunday

Sunday, Apr 20, 8:00 a.m. - Easter

Sunrise Service, followed by breakfast

and egg hunt ; 11:00 a.m. Service

Sunday, Apr 27, 12:30– 2:00 p.m. –

Children’s Ministries Leader’s meeting

Sunday, May 4, 9:45 a.m. – Parent

seminar – ‘Spiritual Disciplines for

Families’; Kid’s Care Mission Project

deadline

Friday to Sunday, May 30 to June 1

Walk With Us Retreat at Jackson Point

June 15 – Grade 5 graduation.

July 21 to 25—daily 9 a.m. to noon

‘Weird Animals’ Summer Kid’s Event

Summer Kid’s Event

For kids going into JK up to Gr. 5 July 21 to 25 from 9 a.m. to noon

Registration forms available soon. At Weird Animals Kid’s Event, kids discover that Jesus’ love is one-of-a-kind. Weird Animals is a habitat filled with incredible Bible-learning experiences kids see, hear, touch, and even taste! Plus, we’ll help kids discover how to see evidence of God in everyday life.

The Need 1. Lebanon has a registered population of 4.25 million.

2. There are at least 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

3. ‘The UN estimated in March 2014 that 261,524 refugees have settled in northern Lebanon, with another 323,728 in the eastern Bekaa area. Beirut hosts an estimated 248,876 refugees and there are another 116,351 in the country's south.’ (CBC news - http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/syria-dashboard/)

4. The majority are women and children.

Children's Ministries Mission Project—2014

Providing Child-Friendly Safe Spaces for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon

Project starts March 30

And goes to May 4, 2014

How can we help?

You may give a gift of money Children in Sunday School will have a

‘giving’ calendar to collect their gifts toward the project. (Extra calendars are available for pick up in the centre hall.)

Congregation members may give in the specially marked envelopes which are also in the Centre Hall or Narthex or you may designate ‘Kids Care Mission Project’ on your offering envelope.

All gifts should be returned to the

church before or on May 4th

Giving Calendars

are available for pick up in

the Centre Hall

The Response

Our STEP partner, the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development – LSESD Baptist Children and Youth Ministry is helping these Syrian Refugee children by providing safe spaces for them in the form of three-day camps.

Help Provide Child-Friendly Safe

Spaces by giving to the ‘Kids Care’ Mission Project

The children come to camp and leave changed.

“They walk in with their ripped pants, smeared faces, and sagging shoulders from the burdens that they carry, and leave with hopeful eyes and a renewed sense of faith. Children are a gift from God and are supposed to live their early years in innocence, running around carefree without the need or desire to be protected or feel protective. However these children have been stained by traumatic evil that infected their country and in turn infected their lives”. (with excerpts from a report to CBM by BCYM, March 29, 2013)

Rupen Das of LSESD says, “The camps

have worked well to provide a safe

space for children to be children again

and through the art and play, process

their experiences. They also find love

and community in these spaces - some-

thing that they have lost in the process

of becoming refugees.”

Kids Care! Please join the

children of YPBC in showing care

to refugee children!

April 2014

Christmas has the tree, and the

stable, and, of course, the Divine

Infant. These are all physical things

we could touch, and understand.

But Easter is different. In many ways

it’s about celebrating emptiness: a

missing person, unoccupied burial

clothes, and a vacant tomb. When

you think about it, celebrating the

emptiness is very different than cele-

brating the overflowing gifts and

abundance we do at Christmas.

This Easter, don’t hesitate to venture

into the emptiness with your family.

There’s incredible hope there, and it’s

also a place filled with unseen

things—like great opportunities to learn

more about the true nature of Jesus.

“Why do you look for the living among

the dead? He is not here; he has risen!”

(Luke 24:5-6)

As the earth wakes from its winter slum-

ber and Easter’s hope approaches, re-

mind your family that Jesus was awak-

ened as well. Together, focus on that

promise in the emptiness. Plant a tree as

a reminder that new life comes from the

cold ground. Serve others together to

honour Jesus’ ultimate service to us.

God loves your family. And this is the

perfect season of promise to explore that

truth together.

Promise in the Emptiness

POWERSOURCE ASK GOD:

1. To renew your passion for Him.

2. To remind you to continue seek-

ing Him, even during empty and

difficult times.

3. For opportunities to teach your

kids about Jesus’ victory over the

tomb.

creation.

This month here at YPBC *First Look for Preschool and

Kindergarten: Our theme is “Jesus is my good Friend” and the memory verse is: “A friend loves at all times.” Prov 17:17,

NIrV

*252 for Grades 1 to 5: The theme is ‘Humility—putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve’. The memory verse is: “Don’t do anything only to get ahead. Don’t do it be-cause you are proud. Instead, be free of pride. Think of others as better than yourselves.” Phil 2:3,

NIrV

TEACHABLE MOMENTS

Seeds Help your kids experience the rebirth of spring and Jesus’ resurrection. Take your family shopping for seed packets. Have each person select a seed packet that most reminds him or her of Easter. Don’t explain what you’ll do with the packets. Once home, ask: Why did you choose the seed packet you did? What other things remind you of Easter? What’s most important to you about Easter? Say: The new life of Spring is ap-proaching, and we can also focus on Jesus’ new life. As our seeds grow into plants, let’s each take time to reconnect with Jesus and thank him for his promise to us of new life. Together, plant the seeds in pots or in the ground, and pray: God, in this time of renewal, please also renew our hearts. Take root in our lives, just as these seeds take root in the ground. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Easter Traditions

Typical Easter traditions include dyed and hidden eggs, sparkly new outfits, and baskets stuffed with candy. You can add something even more im-portant than baskets, bunnies, and bonnets to your family’s celebrations, though. Here are easy ideas to create new Easter traditions with deep meaning. Choose an idea that works for your family and add it to your fes-tivities. Your kids will be delighted—and so will you!

“You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!

Look, this is where they laid his body.” —Mark 16:6

Egg Candles—These take a little work, but they’re memorable cen-terpieces for your family devotions, mealtimes, and faith conversa-tions. You’ll need:

Raw, washed eggs

An egg-dye kit

Double boiler

Votive candles

Wire-core candle wicks (avail-able at craft stores)

Funnel Break off the top portion of the eggs and clean out the shell. Dye the eggs following the directions on the package. In a double boiler melt the votive candles. Cut the wicks to four inches, flatten one end into the bottom of the egg, and fasten it to the bottom with a drop of wax. Use the funnel to pour the wax into the eggs. Let the wax harden for two hours, and trim the wick to ¼-inch. Enjoy your candles! Empty—Gift-wrap an empty box. Then gather as a family and talk about the importance of Easter, and why it’s a cause for celebra-tion. Sing a couple of Easter songs, such as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and then open the empty box. Pray together, thanking God for the gift of an empty tomb and Jesus’ Resurrection.

Easter Egg Account—Number 12 plastic eggs from 1 to 12. Inside the first 11 eggs, place a slip of paper with Scriptures from Luke 24: 1-12 relating to Jesus’ crucifix-ion. Leave the last egg empty to represent the empty tomb.

Have family members take turns reading and discussing the Scriptures, saving the empty egg for last.

Or, open one egg every day leading up to Easter—like an Easter Advent calendar.

Family Tablecloth—Place a new, white tablecloth on the table for Easter dinner. When the meal is over, have each person choose a permanent marker and sign or draw on the tablecloth. Write the year near the signatures Each year, sign again in a new spot—adding the year each time. You could have kids draw pictures near their names. Years later you’ll have a wonderful memory—maybe one you’ll have the grandkids sign, too.

MOVIES Title: Heaven is for Real Genre: Drama Rating: PG (for thematic elements) Cast: Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Thomas Haden Church Synopsis: When a 4-year-old boy has a near-death experience, he wakes up with vivid accounts of heaven—and knowledge about things he’s never been told. His family grapples with how to handle this information. The movie is based on the real-life experience of Colton Burpo. Our Take: Whatever your take on Col-ton’s experience, this film will create great opportunities to discuss heaven and our place in it.

MEDIA MADNESS

CULTURE & TRENDS

Researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Re-search say most preschoolers can tell the difference between healthy food options and junk food. Unfortu-nately, research also found that kids exposed to more TV commercials don’t listen to their voice of reason and will often choose junk food if it’s available. (counselheal.com)

QUICK STATS

Easter Cavities: Americans spend more than 2 billion dollars annually on Easter candy. (statisticbrain.com) Keeping Tabs: Thirty-eight percent of children under age 2 used a tablet or smartphone before they could speak in full sentences. (masha-ble.com)

Alone and Online: Fifty-three per-cent of kids in the UK often go online without parental supervision. (anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk)

BOOK

Title: Battle Bunny Synopsis: In this picture book by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, a young boy’s Gran Gran gives him a sweet little bunny picture book for his birth-day. He proceeds to draw all over the book—adding his own art, changing the story, and making it just the sort of book a boy would want to read. Our Take: This little book is ridiculous-ly clever. It’s original, slightly subver-sive, and laugh-out-loud funny. It does skew toward boys, but that doesn’t mean girls won’t enjoy it, too. You could use this book to talk about how God has given everyone creativity, and how we can exercise it—in nondestruc-tive ways.

Games, Sites & Apps

Teslagrad This 2D platformer uses magnetism and other electromagnetic powers to solve puz-zles and advance the story, which is told with no text or dia-logue—only through beautiful, hand-drawn visuals. Rating: Pend-ing; Nintendo Wii U

mowillems.com This site is a launching-off point for all the au-thor’s creations, including Pigeon and Gerald & Piggie. The site is full of games, book summaries, and parent guides you can down-load and use with the books.

Chatterpix Kids app This free app lets kids take pictures of animals, people, or whatever strikes their fancy. Kids can add a mouth to the object, record a mes-sage, and their picture will speak. It’s cute and lets kids be creative. Plus, there are no in-app purchases! Available in the App Store.

This page is designed to help educate parents and isn’t meant to endorse any movie, music, or product. Our prayer is that

you’ll make informed decisions about what your children watch, read, listen to, and play.