Good News Club® programs to start in October

Colleen Sharp

Special to the Village News

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 2:30-3:45 p.m., a new and exciting Good News Club will start at Fallbrook's Live Oak Elementary School in the multi-purpose room. Megan Dixon and her team will lead children ages 5-12 in a Bible lesson, missionary story, memory verse lesson, games and singing.

Signed permission slips are required and they will be handed out a week in advance, or parents can sign up online. Registration will also be available on location at club day. Parents are welcome to attend. There is no cost for this after-school program.

Later in the month, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the Fallbrook Community Center auditorium, the Good News Club team which I lead will begin our third year with students grades 1-6 from La Paloma Elementary. We will begin with a Harvest Party, which will be two hours of games, singing and Bible lessons. About 40 to 50 children are expected.

To prepare for the new year, volunteers have made 135 puppets and added new games and materials. Our New Testament puzzles are handmade and are about 10 years old. New sets are in the making.

The kids love learning the books of the Bible with a song and a "Timed Puzzle Race." At special times, the children each sing behind a decorated umbrella. Some are made by the kids, some by adults.

Often the Bible lessons are demonstrated by the children in costume. It is fun and meaningful. We had to figure out cooler costumes because the kids were so hot in towels for head dresses and sheets for tunics. Adult t-shirts make perfect tunics, and the Dollar Store has thin, great looking scarves for their heads. Wrap a scarf once around the head with some blue tape and the child is ready to be an amazing Bible character. Everyone loves this.

Older kids have found direction for their lives in the Good News Club. They are very competitive in quizzes and games like "Bowling for Bacon," "Smash Out Sin," "Giant Ball Relay" and "Emoji Bombardment." (These games are not mentioned in the Bible if you try to look them up!)

Prayer times are part of our club day, and children can write their prayer requests down. Our team of teachers pray over them each week. During opening time, kids are given the opportunity to share answers to their prayers. It's wonderful to hear how Jesus is ministering to these little ones.

Come and see what is happening at Good News Club. The clubs are all over San Diego and around the world. In 2022, 19,575,136 children were reached worldwide; 79,733 Good News Clubs were held; 6,009,739 children professed faith in Christ, and 439,423 volunteers were trained. We hope you end up being a volunteer.

For more information, visit http://www.cefnorthsandiego.com. The local director, Ferdinand Tobias, can be reached through [email protected].