Mountain Rescue - 5th & 6th April
Day One
The children were welcomed to Base Camp as we prepared to climb a mountain over the two days at holiday club. There were tents, ropes, maps, compasses, walking poles, walking boots and rucksacks galore! As the children settled into their groups and met their group leaders, they busied themselves decorating pig biscuits to enjoy at the refuelling station later in the morning.
The expedition leaders, Lyn and David, brought everyone together for some warm-up exercises before we started the climb. They also introduced the theme of day one – Lost! Lyn had lost some chocolate Easter eggs! Had anybody seen them? Had David eaten them?! We looked at a story from the Bible that Jesus told about a son who became lost (Luke 15:11-20a). He took lots of his father’s money and went far, far away in search of a better life. He ended up friendless and poor. He lost everything and life was not good. If fact, it became so bad that he ate the food of the pigs he was looking after – YUCK! Jesus told this story to help us understand that we are like the lost son…we all sin and turn away from God.
The children thought more about this story in their small groups whilst enjoying their pig biscuits and squash. It was then time for more craft, and the children got crafty as they made base camp models, carefully building campfires and putting tents together. When they had been completed, much fun was had during games time, sliding along the floor in the sleeping bag race and trying to remember all the instructions to the ‘East West’ game – spinning compass, pitch a tent, backpack, light the fire, East, West, North, South …..
The children finished off the morning all together, singing songs – God’s love is like a circle, the memory verse song and of course, the Easter Explorer theme song, which is still a favourite with all the actions! The drama which fitted the theme of ‘Lost!’ by the cadets was a great hit, and some super silly jokes. Oh….and Lyn pied David!
Day Two
The children returned to find that we had climbed so far up the mountain that things were covered in snow! Fortunately, the group tables were clear enough of snow for the children to colour and make a folding story craft. We all came together to hear the theme for today was Found! Although Lyn still hadn’t found her chocolate eggs! Lots of the children were sure David had eaten them! The search for them continued but it was time for our warm-up exercises before singing again and we learnt a new song today – As far as East is in the West.
Good news! Lyn’s lost eggs were found by the children, who then ate them while we caught up with the lost son in the story from yesterday, that Jesus told. He had decided to go home to his father but how would his father react? Would he tell him to go away? Would he be angry? The son knew he had treated his father badly, but he was desperate and very lost. What the son didn’t know is that his father had been looking out for his son every day. He had been waiting for him to come back home. When he saw his son coming, he ran to him and hugged and kissed him. He called for a party to be held to celebrate. This son who had been lost was now found! What a wonderful picture of a loving, forgiving father. God is like that father. He welcomes us back with open arms when we come to him and say sorry. The memory verse we had been learning reminds us of what God is like…
‘The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love’
The children thought about this more in their small groups as they filled in their fun-sheets and enjoyed snacks. The main craft today was very exciting – rescue helicopters. The children were very busy putting them together and then we played a game using helicopters to rescue a casualty by hovering over a card with an injured person on. The cards also had a word from the memory verse on, so the children needed to collect all their team’s cards to make up the memory verse. The next game was called Snowball Aim. The children had great fun throwing ‘snowballs’ into the other team’s area whilst trying to clear their area of them.
The fun filled morning ended with more silly jokes, the cadet’s drama, and some very loud and enthusiastic singing with great actions! What a great time we had!
