Easter workshops

Every year we have special workshops for our sponsored children in Banja Luka and Celinac to help celebrate Easter. Each year we try to come up with fun ways to remind them of the Easter story and what Jesus did for them. This year I came across what looked like a fun craft, but it was all behind a pay wall. Luckily I managed to make it myself for free!! 

First step is to colour it: 

Then cut it all out and paste it together. 

And here is what it looks like when you spin it: 

It really was a fun activity for everyone!! Happy Easter everyone! Here we are in Celinac saying "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" in the local language. 

Orthodox Easter at Ankica's

 Ankica is one of the mothers in our project. We met her when her daughter, Bojana (right) joined the sponsorship program in 2008, and she has remained a good friend since then! 

Every Orthodox Easter, she invites any of us foreigners who is not with a family to come and enjoy Easter dinner at her house. This year, our new colleagues, Graham and Carolyn (from Virginia in the US) and I were the lucky ones to enjoy her hospitality!

We got to enjoy the Easter traditions of "egg knocking" where you compete to see who has the strongest (boiled) egg. And also lots of lovely food!

(Orthodox) Easter Workshops for kids

 As Orthodox Easter was on the 5th of May, I was able to celebrate one Easter in South Africa and then be here to help with our Easter Programs as well! 

We ran more-or-less the same program 3 times: At the Children's Home and with our sponsored children in Banja Luka and in Čelinac (a town about 20 minutes from Banja Luka).

We had a sort of "Easter Fun Day" with different stalls - crafts, games, "tattooing" with facepaints, photobooth etc and the children could choose what they would do. With our sponsored children we also watched the Easter episode of the "Superbook" series beforehand. And after all that fun, we also handed out "Christmas" packages from Samaritan's Purse! The kids had a ball!

At the Children's Home: 

In Banja Luka:

In Čelinac, where we use the main hall of the high school:

Our main craft was "The Easter Story" (Vaskršnja Priča). I got the idea from a couple of things I saw online... The whole story of Easter is told in 3 words: LOVE (Ljubav), FAITH (Vjera) and PEACE (Mir):

Love was shown on Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross. We are like the two thieves on the crosses beside Jesus, we deserve to die, but Jesus died in our place. We just need to have faith - faith that the stone was rolled away and He was resurrected. And if we have faith in Him then we have His peace!

What have I been up to!?

Here is a little video which shows more of my ministry in Banja Luka, Bosnia Herzegovina and beyond... Enjoy! 

 

Easter Outreaches

 For Easter this year, we had 3 children's outreaches - one in Celinac, one in Banja Luka and one at the Children's Home. We also had a Czech team that held an outreach to students based on Czech Easter traditions. They also helped with the Children's Easter outreach in Banja Luka which was fun!

We used 5 eggs to tell the story of Easter - can you figure out what each of them stand for? I wish I could have got a pic of the expression on the face of the little girl in Celinac who opened up the "empty" egg and was so surprised there was nothing in there... but yes, there is nothing, the tomb is empty: He has risen indeed!! 

The below pic is from Celinac - a town about 1/2 an hour from Banja Luka. We have some sponsored kids there and are able to use the hall of the school there.

Then it was time for the sponsored children from Banja Luka, helped by the Czech team: 

In both places and also at the children's home, we made crosses and Easter eggs:

Just as a reminder of Christ's sacrifice and the new beginning we can have in Him! 

Easter Week 2022

This year, "Western" and "Orthodox" Easters fell one week apart. If you don't know why there are two Easters you can check out this article

On the Saturday of "Western" Easter weekend we went to the town of Celinac, which is about 20 minutes away to put on a couple of workshops there. Some of the children in our sponsorship project are in Celinac, so we first had a longer workshop with just the 20 or so of them which included them playing games and making crafts. Here is Ljilja with them showing the Easter Story: 

They were all then given "shoebox packages" before it was the turn of two organisations we have great cooperation with - one for families with 4 or more children, and the other focussing on helping those who left during the war and have returned. We again started with a song:

And then the Easter story with them as well. They have to put the pictures in order, and then tell what happens in each of them... And then it was time for them to received their shoebox packages too!

On "Western" Easter Sunday we had a meal after church for those who were there. And our friend Dragana (in red in the middle) surprised us by visiting us from Germany! 

On the Monday we had a workshop for our sponsorship children at the church. We started with a song: 

Then also worked through the Easter story: 

Before moving on to two workshops: One group was downstairs with Kate and Haley making objects with "hama" beads: 

While the other was upstairs with me painting flower pots (which we planted seeds in): 

And then they got to switch around so in the end they got to do both activities: 

Before all receiving their shoebox packages: 

Later in the week, we managed to go into the Children's Home and hand out packages. We handed out 105 packages by family units and it was so much fun to see our children again, some after 2 years. One of them said "hey Aunty Belinda, I remember when you were taller than me." Now he is a foot taller than me!. Here is one photo of one of the family units that I can put online as it doesn't identify the children: 

For "Orthodox" Easter, I had an unexpected guest. He is a friend who lives in South Africa, but is originally from the Phillipines.  I did show him some sights: 

And we went out for Banja Luka cevapi: 

He also came just in time to celebrate Orthodox Easter at my friend Ankica's: 

So even if he was here only for 26 hours, I think he enjoyed himself! 

I hope you enjoyed a little look into my Easter week 2022 😀

Easter Workshop

Last weekend, we held a workshop for our sponsorship children to celebrate Orthodox Easter (on May 2nd). We were originally planning to have it at the park, but then the weather was very unpredictable, so we decided to have it indoors at Ihtus. At the LAST minute the weather was good enough for us to be completely covid-safe and have it outside. We had two workshops back-to-back so we didn't have more than the 30 people allowed to gather and everyone had a great time! 

We started by playing some games, and then painted eggs: 

We had two groups - one younger and one older, here are some of the older kids: 

And some of the younger ones with their eggs: 

The youngest particpant in the first group (his mom stayed with him and helped out as well!)

We talked a bit about the Easter Story and they started to colour these in - and took them home to finish off: here is one of the finished projects: 

And then it was time for the main event (in their minds!) the "Easter" (Christmas) Packages. Because of Covid they came too late to give out at Christmas, so we are doing them more now at Easter! 

 And the youngest participant in the second group (who came with her older sisters) - so excited! 

And Alexa, one of our wonderful volunteers, made a lovely video so you can see more of what went on... Enjoy! 

As you can see it was a lovely workshop and the kids enjoyed themselves!!! Thanks to our wonderful volunteers, and to the mothers that also stayed and helped. Despite so many changes in plan along the way, everything worked out so well in the end!

Easter blog (for kids)

This is a special edition Easter blog.You can use it to have some fun Easter activities (and if you want with your children 😁) over Easter - either in April or for the Orthodox one that happens in May. I originally did it for our Central Europe blog on ywamce.com/blog and also because we are working on an Easter event for our children here. I hope you (and/or your kids) enjoy this as much as I did putting it together!

THE EASTER STORY

When we look at the story of Easter in Matthew, there are a few scenes that stand out... Here are 6 of them for you to enjoy (and colour!): 

The first scene happens on Palm Sunday where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. What a strange way to enter if you are a King?! But He did it deliberately. If He came into the city on a horse, it would have been a sign He was coming to overthrow the Roman Government. Coming on a donkey showed that He came in peace. 

What did the people shout out? What does it mean? 
A: They shouted out "Hosana". It literally means "Save us"! Jesus is our King and Saviour!
What did the crowd put on the ground in front of Jesus?
A: Palm branches and their coats! Isn't that wild?! 

Task: Find a branch which can help you remember that Jesus is King! 

Then, on the Thursday night we see that Jesus had a dinner with his 12 disciples. Did you know that this dinner is where we get communion or the Lord's supper from? It was first just a part of an ordinary meal. 

What do we take when we take Communion and why? 
A: The bread which symbolises Christ's body and the wine which is for His blood. Ordinary things which symbolise something extraordinary! 

Task: Every time you have a meal, remember to thank Jesus for it and for His sacrifice for us!

Also on Thursday night, Jesus went with some of his disciples to pray in the garden.

Do you know what Jesus's disciples did while he was praying? 

A: They went to sleep! Even they found it hard to pray without going to sleep... but that doesn't mean we should pray. Jesus taught us how and we need to keep it up! 

Task: Every time you go to bed, remember that Jesus loves you!

On Good Friday, so many things happened... but the main event was that Jesus was crucified on a cross. 

Do you know why He had to die? 
A: To pay for our sins once and for all!! Isn't that amazing? Jesus, the Son of God paying the price so we don't have to! That is God's amazing grace - God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

Task: Every time you feel sad and lonely, remember that Jesus felt sad and lonely on the cross too. He knows what you are going through.

But, the cross was not the end of the story! After Jesus died, He was put in a tomb, and then amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, on Easter Sunday, He rose again!! 

What do we say on Easter Sunday when we greet each other? 
A: He is RISEN! The stone was rolled away and He is no longer in the grave. 

Task: Find a stone to remember that He is RISEN: He is no longer in the grave! 

When He rose again, He showed Himself to many people! He always showed love and grace towards them. 

Who were the first to find Him alive?

A:  Matthew tells us it was Mary Magdelene and "the other Mary". It is so amazing that women would have been the first to be shown God's glorious resurrection! 

Task: Remember to thank Jesus for all that He has done for you

Easter is such a good time of year to remember all that Jesus did for us. These are just some of the highlights out of Matthew. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into six scenes from the Easter story! 

Click HERE for all the pictures for you to colour in one document. (You can also cut them out and try and match them to the right verses and put them in the right order.) 

Here is another great reminder of the whole week in one go: From Sunday to Sunday so much happens! You can click HERE to download this to colour. 

Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen Indeed!!

(and thanks to Children's Ministry Deals for some of these pictures)