Julefest - A Christmas party

Ja, og så har jeg jo slet ikke fået fortalt om vores dejlige julefest for børneklub-børnene og de lidt større B'Tweens-børn. Maj og jeg havde sat alle sejl til for at få kontakt med nogle af de børn, som vi ikke har set længe.
Og det virkede og blev en rigtig dejlig hyggelig eftermiddag. Der kom 14 børn med højt humør. Vi legede pakkeleg, fik en lille andagt og sluttede af med at spise risengrød. Og så inviterede vi dem til vores nye klub, som starter mandag d. 8. januar. Den er en sammen-smeltning af min børneklub og Majs B'Tweens-klub, og vi glæder os rigtig meget til at have klub sammen, så vi kan hjælpe hinanden og udvikle klubben sammen i stedet for at være alene hver for sig med hver sin klub.

Well, I haven't even told you how our Christmas party for the Good News Club and the B'Tweens club (for older children) went. Maj and I had really wanted to make a grand party for the children in the hope that we would get in contact with some of children that we have lost contact with. And it worked and we had a wonderful afternoon.
Around 14 children came and we had a traditional Danish Christmas gift game, the traditional Danish Christmas rice pudding and a devotion. We also invited them to our new B'Tweens club which will be a uniting of the Good News Club and the B'tweens club due to lack of helpers. We have the first meeting on Monday the 8. of January. We are really excited about this!

All I want for Christmas is... 4

Nå, for at afslutte mit lille juleeventyr, så blev Marcus rigtig glad for sin julegave, som ikke var en levende dinosauer men til gengæld noget, der virkelig passede til ham: Fra os søskende fik han nemlig en dinosauerpark med en bilbane, som kan bygges om og om igen. Han legede og legede med den kun forstyrret af sin søster Miriam, der syntes, at den var så spændende, at hendes nye fe-familie skulle gå rundt i dinosauerlandskabet i stedet for at sidde i det paddehathus, de hørte hjemme i. Sikke en uorden! Nå, men lidt ægte dinosauer fik Marcus dog, da hans mor på et tidspunkt var nødt til at gå igennem hans bane for at komme fra et sted til et andet, og Marcus udbrød: "Mor, du er jo en dinosauer nu."


Well, to end my little Christmas tale I can assure you, that Marcus really liked his Chrismas present which was not a real living dinosauer but something that really fitted what he needed: All of us siblings gave him a dinosauer park with a car road that can be build and rebuild in many different ways. And he really enjoyed it except for the moments when his sister Miriam let her new fairies walk through the park instead of letting them stay in their mushroom house where they belonged. What a disorder! Well, but in a way he also got a real living dinosauer when his mother had to walk through the dinosauer park to get something and Marcus exclaimed, 'But mum, now you are a dinosauer!'

All I want for Christmas is... 3

Så hvad gør en børnemedarbejder med et umuligt julegaveønske?
Prøver at lade barnet indse, hvad der er dets sande behov!
Og derfor slæbte jeg Marcus (og Miriam) med i Fætter BR og lod dem gå omkring og drømme og ønske og få gode idéer. Og det gav potte - såååå nu tror jeg, at jeg ved, hvad Marcus' virkelige julegavebehov er. Håber, at jeg har ret...

So what does a children's worker do with an impossible present wish for Christmas?
Try to help the child realize what his real need is.
And therefore I took Marcus (and Miriam) along to a toy shop and let them wander around finding their dream toys and getting inspiration. And it worked, so now I think I know what Marcus' real Christmas present need is. I hope, I got it right.

Nåååå - Ooohhhh

Nåååå var det slet ikke min dinosauerjagt, du var interesseret i? Vil du meget hellere høre, hvordan det gik i mandags, da børneklubben havde juleafslutning? Hmmmm. Ja, alt godt kommer til den, der venter...

Oooohhhh, so you did not check my blog today to hear about the dinosauer hunt but to check out what happend when we had a Christmas party for my Good News Club this monday?Well, all good comes to those who wait (I know you say this differently in English but I don't remember how...).

All I want for Christmas is... 2

Undskyld at jeg ikke har opdateret bloggen i forhold til min jagt på en levende dinosauer som julegave til min lillebror Marcus på 5 år. Men jeg har haft så travlt med at julehygge med nær og fjern.

Nå, men i min jagt har jeg fået flere gode råd fra min omgangskreds:

En præst fortalte, at han havde set en halvlevende dinosauer hjemme hos et familiemedlem med børn (men hvad mon Etisk råd siger til det?)
En psykoterapeut foreslog at købe en gekko i stedet for (men jeg troede ikke, at den slags fagfolk gik ind for at leve på en løgn?)
En socialrådgiver foreslog at tage Marcus med på museum og se dinoer (men jeg troede ikke, at socialrådgivere gik ind for at flygte fra virkeligheden)
Og Marcus' mor foreslog at vi købte dinosauere, der matchede hans øvrige legetøj (men det havde Marcus allerede på forhånd afvist og sagt: "Du kan jo nok se, at de dinosauere er ALT for små.")

MEN, nu er jeg jo hverken præst, psykoterapeut, socialrådgiver eller mor. Men hvad er jeg så? Jeg er børnemedarbejder. Og hvad gør sådan en? Well, følg med i den spændende fortsatte jagt på en dinosauer til Marcus, når jeg i morgen tager på det årlige julegaveindkøb med hovedparten af mine søskende.

I am so sorry that I have not kept you updated on my hunt for real living dinosauer for my little brother Marcus (5 years old) for Christmas.

But during this hunt I have got several advises from the people around me:

A pastor said that he had seen a half-living dinosauer at some relative's house who had children (but I wonder what the National ethical commitee of Denmark will think if they hear about that).
A psychotherapist suggested that I bought him a gecko instead (I never thought a psychotherapist would suggest that we let him live on a lie.)
A social worker suggested that I took him to a museum to see dinosauers (but I did not think that those people would suggest that we run away from reality).
Marcus' mother suggested that I bought some toys that fit the rest of his toys (but Marcus had already seen that coming and said, 'you understand that those kind of dinosauers are way too small!')

BUT I am neither a pastor, a psychotherapist, a social worker or a mother. But what I am then? I am a children's worker. And what would such a person decide to do? Follow along on this exciting hunt for a dinosauer for Marcus tomorrow as I go on the anual gift shopping with most of my siblings.

All I want for Christmas is...

Her i weekenden passede jeg mine små søskende Miriam og Marcus på 6 og 5 år.
Vi lavede blandt andet en ønskeseddel sammen. Og tjaaa. De unge idag stiller store krav. Marcus ønsker sig en levende dinosaur. Ved ikke helt, hvordan vi klarer den, så følg med her på hjemmesiden i jagten på en levende dinosauer eller måske på en normal virkelighedsopfattelse til min lillebror.

This weekend I was babysitting my small siblings Miriam and Marcus who are 6 and 5 years old. Amongst other things we were making a list of suggestions for Christmas presents. And welll... These young people of today have big demands. Most of all Marcus wants a real living dinosaur (is that how you spell it in English?) I really don't know yet how we will go about this so follow along on this webpage on our hunt for a real living dinosaur or maybe just for a sense of reality for my little brother.

Kristen? - A Christian?

I tirsdags prøvede jeg noget vældig morsomt. I en lille times tid skulle jeg lege "fotomodel". En fotografi-studerende skulle nemlig deltage i et projekt med at lave et billede af et troende menneske. Og kun ved at kigge på billedet skulle man kunne bestemme, hvad slags tro der var tale om. Nu render vi protestantiske kristne jo ikke rundt med så mange turbaner, bedekranse og lignende, der kan identificere os. Men de foldede hænder kan vi have med os alle steder!
Foto: Marie Lau

On tuesday I tried something very fun. For a little while I was pretending to be a model. A student of photography was to make a photo of a believer. And only by looking at the picture should the viewer be able to see what kind of believer was portraited. Now we as prostestant Christians do not have turbans, prayer mats or a lot of other props that identify us. But we can bring the folded hands along everywhere we go.
Photo: Marie Lau

Vandpyt i støvle - Puddle in my boot

I torsdags endte jeg i en meget våd mission...

Her i efteråret har jeg været en del væk fra min børneklub, og derfor trænger den til en saltvandsindsprøjtning. Så nu har jeg hevet mine tre bedste trumfkort frem for at sætte en plan i værk. Mine tre bedste trumfkort er:
1. Julefest med pakkeleg
2. og risengrød
3. Mig!
Ja, og punkt tre er simpelthen ikke for at fremhæve mig selv. MEN: Børneklub er en relationsbaseret tjeneste. Børnene holder af dig som leder på en helt overvældende måde. Triste tanter kan have de mest kedelige børneklubber, men hvis de elsker børnene, så kommer børnene alligevel, for de kommer dybest set ikke for det fancy program (selv om det er fedt at have) men for at møde Guds kærlighed personificeret i os!
Så... Jeg bestemte mig altså for at udnytte dette trumfkort - den personlige relation - ved at lave breve til ca. 28 børn som jeg har haft kontakt med gennem de sidste år i klubben og tage rundt og besøge en del af disse børn personligt med brevene.
Planen var god nok, men jeg havde glemt at checke vejrudsigten. Så.... jo længere mit projekt skred frem, jo mere regnede det. Til sidst var jeg så våd, at jeg ligeså godt kunne blive ved. Ja, til sidst var jeg så våd, at jeg havde vandpyt i min ene støvle. Men det er altsammen (næsten) glemt, når man hører kommentarer fra børnene som: "Jeg kommer ihvertfald til julefesten!, "Hvor er det godt at se dig igen!" Eller Maia, der faldt mig om halsen (i min drivvåde version) og sagde: "Er det egentlig hyggeligt at gå rundt sådan der?"
Så nu glæder jeg mig bare til næste mandag d. 18/12.
Og beder til, at børnene må dukke op igen! Vil du bede med?

On thursday I ended up in a very wet mission...

This autumn I have been away a lot from my Good News Club and therefore I needed to do something special to gather all the children again. Therefore I decided to use my very best three trump cards (do you say that in English?)... which are:
1. A Christmas Party with a special Danish game where everyone gets several gifts
2. Traditional Danish Christmas rice pudding at the party
3. Myself!

Yeahh, and by saying that I am one of my best trump cards I am not trying to promote myself in any way. BUT the Good News Club Ministry is a relational ministry and therefore the children love you! Children even go to very boring meetings if they sense that they are loved and cared about. Because when we boil everything down to the bone they don't go to children meetings because of the fancy programme (although that is nice to have) but because of the love of God shown through us.

So I decided to make letters for about 28 children that I have had contact with the last years and go out and deliver a good portion of them personally.
Well, the plan was good enough but I had forgot to check the weather forecast and the longer I went around with the letters the more it rained. And finally I was so wet that I might as well just continue. Actually I was so wet that I had a puddle in my boot. But that is (almost) forgotten when I think of the children and the comments they gave me such as, 'For sure I am going to that party' or 'How good it is to see you again!' Or Maia who huged the very wet version of me and asked, 'Are you actually having a good time walking around like that?'
So now I am really looking forward to the party next Monday 18/12. And praying that the children will come. Will you pray too?

TTC

Her på billedet ser du Molly, Olga og Store seje Søren, der giver den gas med sang og musik til vores julefester for kirkefremmede børn.

Vi havde en dejlig weekend! Denne største oplevelse for mig var, da vi var ude i et stort boligområde i Helsingør, hvor vi har været 2-3 gange om året i fire år. Efterhånden kender børnene os og glæder sig til vores besøg. De fleste af børnene er muslimske, men de lytter opmærksomt til vores budskab. Ja, flere af dem nærmest slugte det. Og hvor var det dejligt at se disse børn sidde og sige i kor: "Jesus siger: Jeg er verdens lys". Også selv om de troede, at det stod i "JOHANSENSevangeliet kapitel 8, SIDE 12"...

On this picture you see Molly, Olga and Big, cool Søren who is singing and playing at our Christmas Clubs this weekend for unchurched children.

We had a wonderful weekend! The biggest experience for me was to be have a Christmas Club in an area of Helsingør where we have been 2-3 times per year for four years. Now the children know us and look forward to our visits. Most of the children are muslims but they listen carefully to our message. And how lovely it was to hear them all quote: "Jesus says, 'I am the light of the world'. Even if they thought it was to be found in the 'Gospel of JOHANSEN'. (Johansen is a famous surname in Denmark).

TTC jul - TTC Christmas

Så er det blevet tid til Teens To Childrens juleweekend. Vi skal øve os, og så skal vi ud og holde julefester for kirkefremmede børn. Igår gik jeg rundt og inviterede børn, og det var dejligt at se ind i ansigterne på alle de børn, der blev så glade for at få en invitation. En pige sagde: "Må jeg kopiere den og give den til mine venner?"
Jeg vil sætte stor pris på forbøn for:
- Vores teenagere, som skal lave det meste af børneprogrammet
- Alle de børn, der kan få mulighed for at høre om Gud
- Vores køkkendame
- Maj og jeg (Jeg er blevet forkølet i nat, så jeg er ikke helt på toppen)
- Bed også gerne for vores TTC-afdeling i Jylland, som også skal holde julefester i denne weekend og næste.

It is time for the anual Teens To Children Christmas weekend. We will practise and then we will go out and have some Christmas parties for unchurched children. Yesterday I went out inviting children and it was wonderful to see the faces of the children who got so excited about the invitations. One girl said, 'May I copy it and give it to my friends?'
I would appriciate prayers for:
- Our teenagers who will do most of the children's programme
- All the children who will get this opportunity to learn about God
- Our kitchen staff
- Maj and I (I got a cold last night so I am not too well)
- The Teens To Children-people in Jutland having an outreach this weekend and next