I forgot to post this before, but here is what I thought of Lighthouse this year (also in the St Peter and St Paul Parish Magazine):
Lighthouse is over and I am absolutely shattered and dare I
say it, a little bit bored. I know, I
know it’s only just finished but it was a busy week. What do you expect? Now all I have to do is look for a job and I reeeally don’t want to do that! So to keep myself busy and to keep the spirit
of Lighthouse alive I thought I would share with you some highlights from the
week.
Firstly for those of you that don't know what is (where have you been?!) Lighthouse is a Christian Holiday Camp that runs for one week every summer in Great Missenden for children aged 0-12 years (well that's what my CV says anyway). It happens in tents and many larks are had.
This year I have been running the ‘Ark Tent’ with three
wonderful people, Charlotte, Maddy and Lucy. The Ark tent is of course the best tent and
is full of four and five year olds -
almost 200. Each year there is a theme and this year it was… LIGHT. Alongside the theme there is a drama – one in
the main tent and one in the Ark tent.
In the Ark tent we were going on holiday – such fun! We learnt about God’s guiding light and how
Jesus is the light of the world AND we learnt that teaching all of this to four
and five year olds is rather difficult.
The whole God and Jesus being one in the same and Jesus being the son of
God and the son of Mary and Joseph and oh have I mentioned the whole holy
spirit thing – I think you’ll agree is not the easiest of things to teach small
children.
The week went well though with only a handful of hiccups
(mainly mine, but that’s what eating cold rice does to you) and I think/hope
everyone involved had an enjoyable time.
I have summarised my week below, which I hope will give you an insight
into lighthouse and make you really, really, really, want to help next year.
Monday:
Aim: Creation
story. Let there be light.
Drama: Maddy and
Katherine are deciding where to go on holiday and how to get there.
Best part of the day: Explaining to Maddy that we cannot get to the
seaside on a toddlers trike because we both won’t fit. Maddy replies “Sure we will”, before pulling
me on top of her on the trike. We
laughed. A lot.
Tuesday:
Aim: Moses led
his friends (also known as Israelites) out of Egypt. God was a guiding light.
Drama: Maddy does not listen to a sign from God and
falls in a river.
Best part of the day: Conversation with a five year old –
5 year old: “Are you and Maddy really going on holiday?”
Me: “Yes of course”
5 year old: “So are you going to Butlins then?”
Wednesday:
Aim: Jesus healed
the blind man Bartimaeus (all his friends called him Bart – obviously)
Drama: Maddy gets lost but she trusts that Jesus
will help us find her and keep her safe.
We trusted a stranger named Bob.
Best part of the day: Jumping around on stage like it was my last
day on Earth – probably too much coffee (I blame the Lighthouse Café). We accidentally sent our five year olds onto
the games field half an hour early. This
could be seen as a disaster but it meant I could practice being a shepherd
(with children instead of sheep – but you got that right?).
Thursday:
Aim: Crucifixion
and resurrection of Jesus
Drama: We realise
that Bob has sent us in the wrong direction on purpose. We forgive Bob because
Jesus forgives us.
Best part of the day:
It is traditional on Thursday to tell the children the crucifixion in the
morning and the resurrection in the afternoon. At the end of the crucifixion story I
announced that I was very sad. I did not want Jesus to die. After I said this a boy sat at the front came
up to me and said, “don’t worry, that’s not the end of the story. My dad told me that Jesus rose again. He comes back to life.” How great is it that parents are having these
conversations with the children? (Answer: it’s unbelievably great).
Friday:
Aim: Paul/Saul
spreading the word of God.
Drama: I want to
tell my family about my holiday. We soon
realise that we should be telling people about God/Lighthouse instead.
Best part of the day: The kids being so unhappy to leave
lighthouse. Also the realisation that having
custard poured over you and having a shaving foam pie thrown in your face is a
lot more fun than it sounds.
So there you have it, Lighthouse in a nutshell. It is really, really, really fun and you should definitely sign up to help next year! The link is here: http://www.lighthousemissenden.org.uk. I will love you forever if you come and help next year!
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