Sunday School

Every Sunday a small group of children visits the church we attend here in Tamale. Usually there are about seven children, including Samuel and Micah. It is a challenge to plan an interesting and good lesson with children from very different ages, backgrounds and languages. Apart from Samuel and Micah, none of the children have a Christian background and therefore all the stories and the Gospel itself are new to them.

A few weeks ago I visited the mother of three of the children. They had not come to the Sunday school for a while. In many areas of Tamale there is often some kind of suspicion towards the Church and we suspected this was one of the reasons why the children no longer came. Fortunately the mother was very happy to see us. We explained to her what we do during Sunday school and how the children learn so much. The mother on her part told us how difficult it is for her and her husband to send the children to school. During the rainy season her husband leaves Tamale to farm elsewhere. Because the city of Tamale is growing so fast there is no longer enough land for the farmers locally. After harvesting the crops , her husband comes home. Sometimes she and the children join her husband on the farm if he needs help. During the dry season her husband spends most of his time with his family in Tamale. They just have enough food to eat but they have no money to buy school uniforms and other things the children need to go to school.

Because of the fact that some children do not go to school, they find it difficult to sit still during Sunday school and not to disturb the lesson. Gradually I have found a way to keep everybody in check and to make sure everyone enjoys their time. It is amazing to see how much the children learn during the lessons, especially children who hear the stories from the Bible for the first time. They are often able to re-tell and even dramatise the story. It is wonderful to discover that even though at times I have the feeling that they have not listened at all, God has done His part in touching their hearts.
 

Every Sunday we organise a three hour Sunday School programme. To give the children some extra encouragement to keep on coming we have introduced reading and writing in the mother tongue as part of the Sunday school lesson. Currently they are learning the sounds of Dagbanli and they have started writing exercises. It is wonderful to see how much they enjoy this. They are so eager to learn and would love to go to school just like many other children. As a church we hope to be able to encourage the parents to send their children to school and help where necessary to eventually make this possible.
 

Please pray for these little ones that they will be captured by God’s love. Pray for creativity, patience and wisdom in leading the children. Pray for new enthusiastic leaders who could assist me in teaching the children.