Welcome 2014!

Hope you've all had a good and restful holiday. We will soon be back at the Baptist Church on Fridays at 3:30, sharing stories and games and music and even cheese sandwiches!!

Spangly Season is Over!

First meeting is schedule for 17th of January.  Remember, if you want Kat to pick up your children from the primary school, please text, phone, or email her in advance so she knows who's coming, and so the ladies at the church know who to make sandwiches for.

Before Friday, however, the RAD Club leaders are meeting at Kat's house at 3:30 on Wednesday, the 15th of January.

Phil's Coming Home for Christmas! Prayers Answered!

Great joy and rejoicing, RAD Clubbers!  Our prayers have been answered!

We have been praying for Phil while he's been in a Russian prison, having been protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic.  We wrote him letters of support for his efforts in preserving our planet and our futures, and ever since, have prayed for him at most of our Friday meetings.

Here is the press release from Greenpeace that I received today, announcing that he and his fellow detainees will be home with their families for Christmas:

Big news! The Arctic 30 have been granted amnesty.

Earlier today the Russian government agreed to amend an amnesty bill to include the Arctic 30, and just now the bill was officially adopted by their parliament. This means legal proceedings against them will be halted and they should be home soon.

I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief, but the Arctic 30 have said they’re not celebrating. They’ve all spent two months in jail for a crime they didn’t commit, and faced criminal charges that were absurd. As Pete Willcox, captain of the Arctic Sunrise, said: “There’s no amnesty for the Arctic.”

By accepting the amnesty they are not admitting guilt, and once they have the necessary exit visas, they should be home with their families. When that will be is still in the hands of the Russian authorities, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Christmas.

It’s been overwhelming watching the huge swell of support for the Arctic 30 over the last three months: 860 protests in 46 countries, and more than 2.6 million people emailing their Russian embassy. You’ve been at the heart of this - signing petitions, attending protests, getting your friends involved - it’s been an incredibly inspiring stand of solidarity.

And I hope it won’t end once they’re home. We must finish what these brave 28 activists and two journalists set out to do, and save the Arctic.

(In the photo below, Phil is on the bottom right with the grey woolly hat)

Christmas Carols

Oh what fun it is to sing and get lots of sweeties and bring joy to people in the streets of Charlbury!

The Walking Bus Gang,
on the way to carol singing from school pick-up.

More than 17 RAD Clubbers trooped around the centre of Charlbury with their torches and their carol sheets, belting out old favourites like "The First Nowell" and "Silent Night".

Most places where we stopped to sing were happy to hear one or two songs, clapping enthusiastically and pressing chocolates or lollipops into our hands, but we really had prepared a repertoire of 5 songs to reflect the theme of the Christmas shepherds.

"Go Tell it on the Mountain"
Singing to the Residents of  Charlbury

The previous week, we learned that shepherds back then were really looked down on. Everyone thought they were dirty and poor and unworthy, so the fact that they were first to hear the angels' tidings and the first visitors to have the privilege to welcome the baby-King, well, that just goes to show how much God values everyone in His eyes.

We're all precious in His sight!

Hopefully as anyone sings the "shepherd" songs (First Nowell, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Go Tell it on the Mountain), they'll remember how special even they are, no matter how unspecial they may feel.

A big thanks to everyone who helped organise it, to those parents who tagged along to help boost the volume, and especially to Rue who plied us with hot chocolate when it was all over.

We wish you a merry Christmas!

When the Light Go Out ... FUN !!!!

Last week, I got a phone call at 3 pm, just as I was walking out the door to pick up all the RAD Club kids from Charlbury school for the "walking bus" down to the Baptist Church.

"The electricity is out," I was informed.  "It's a bit cold and all, but in about half-an-hour, it will also be dark.  What do we do -- cancel?"

Hmmmm ... first thought was to cancel.

Fortunately, I had a second thought.  When RAD Club began in January 2012, I ran it in my home. I still have all the plastic plates, the long tables, the extra folding chairs, and the means for showing Power Point presentations on my large-screen telly, so we just moved RAD back to its original venue.

Just like old times ...

Some slight changes were necessary.  We had to play games outside first, before it got dark. We had our craft of decorating fairy cakes before our tea, because the tea hadn't arrived from the church yet.

Stella brings the sandwiches in from the cold

We had some Christmas carol rehearsal when Sue tinkled the ivories on the piano. And we had a short time with the slide show as we updated what's happening to Phil in Russia (one of the Arctic 30, wrongly imprisoned for protesting against Arctic oil drilling), and prayed for countries in the 10-40 window.

Our topic this week: sharing
(Don't mind if I do ...)

We didn't have our t-shirt time or our sweet shoppe, but hopefully, we'll be back to normal this next week!

(On second thought ... saying that we'll be "back to normal" suggests that we're normal in the first place!)

Communication

To me, it seems like RAD Club involves a lot of communication.

First, there's the fundamental message: living our lives, not just to our utmost, but in comparison to the perfect life of Jesus when he was on earth, and as he still influences and guides us today.  Our small team structure makes it possible to nurture and support thoughtful behaviour, especially as members are encouraged by a great group of young leaders.



Communication ...

Second, there's the behind-the-scenes teamwork:

• the young team leaders who meet for a couple of hours every fortnight to plan their programme, and who have to coordinate their plan for a craft at each session;
  
• the catering team who have to try to judge how many sandwiches, veggies, and crisps they need when they shop earlier in the week, and then arrive at 3pm to start the preparations.
• the games leader (Mariella) who plans games in advance and brings the required materials so we can have a bit of a laugh, some exuberant activity, and maybe a prize-winner or two;
• the worship leader (Sue) who prepares her songs in the weeks beforehand, and has to get the words printed up and sent to Kat in time for creating the slide show for Friday's session;
• the art coordinators (Susan and Clare), who arrive early in order to prepare the craft materials and to support the team leaders as they set out their project for the day.

Communication ...

Third, there's the communication from RAD Club to the parents. That's why we started this blog, so there's always an easy way to find phone numbers and email address, not to mention dates and times, but we also like to drop notes to parents via email and text. We want to keep in touch because we think the club has a lot to offer kids in Charlbury -- not just the spiritual message, but the friendships and teamwork and games and all the fun stuff that is packed into a short 1 1/2 hours.

Communication ...

For all these reasons, we would very much like parents to communicate more often with us as well. 

• We need to know in a timely manner if children are coming or not so that we can cater appropriately (yes, the club is free for RAD Club members, but there are still costs involved which are being shouldered by the Baptist Church, Churches Together in Charlbury, and other private individuals).
• Team leaders need to know which of their team members are coming so that they don't over-prepare crafts. It's very disheartening for them to make five sets of materials, only to have none of their team members turn up.
• We need to know if there are things we can do better, to make the club more enjoyable for the children.  We are very good at implementing suggestions when they're made. (However, please don't tell us that our day and time is inconvenient -- we know that we can get over 30 young people as it's currently scheduled, far more than we could if we tried to meet at any other time).

Communication ...

Finally, we need to remember our communication with God.  We can feel overwhelmed, undervalued, frazzled, hassled, a victim of injustice, little more than a taxi service, and all the other things that go into our modern lifestyles when young children are involved, but God is waiting to hold us in the shadow of his wings and let us feel, even for a moment, how precious we are to the One who formed us as the unique person we are.

Team Leaders Prepare

Thank you to all the Team Leaders who have given up another Wednesday afternoon to prepare for RAD Club. They work hard behind the scenes so we can have fun like this on Fridays:

The Team Leaders' meetings start with tea and biscuits, then look at the next two weeks' sessions.  We read the Bible verses and talk about what they mean for us, and for the team members we lead.

But you said biscuits!  Where are they???

This week, we're going to look at how we need God's heart for loving other people.  Jesus told the story of separating out sheep and goats, and chose the sheep based on how they'd looked after him such as feeding him, clothing him, and befriending him.

The sheep were confused.  They didn't remember doing those things for Jesus.  However, Jesus says to them that they fed and clothed and befriended him if they ever treated anyone else as kindly as that.

Thinking up cool ideas.

How to show this point in a craft? Well, what if Jesus showed up to your door?  Or maybe some celebrity like Robbie Williams or the Queen -- how would you treat them?  You would probably put them in your best chair, with your best snacks, and quickly pop to your nearest loo to make sure it was clean and tidy.

In other words, you would really work hard to make them feel welcome.

Well, Jesus wants us to do that to EVERYONE!

So many of us are feeling lonely or tired or hurting inside; we need to hear the sound of the hearts around us, the sadness and loneliness, and with a heart like God's, give them encouragement and kindness.

They don't even have to deserve it!

Want to know more? The Bible verses for this story can be found in Matthew 25:31-40.