Hello Chapel Hill Families!

After two months of practicing “Praise Ye the Lord”, we were due for a little praise party in the children’s wing. This Sunday, CH Kids picked their favorite Sunday School and VBS songs to sing and dance to. I think I may have enjoyed it as much as the kids! We learned about “Breakfast on the Beach” (John 21:1-19), and talked about how we can show our love to Jesus by sharing His love with others. This Sunday, we will start a new unit with the Faith Word, “PROCLAIM”. Our memory verse for the month of May is listed below. This month’s Bible Stories include:

• 5/1/22- “Paul is Changed” (Acts 9:1-20)
• 5/8/22- “Paul Escapes” (Acts 9:21-25) MOTHER’S DAY
• 5/15/22- “Paul & Timothy” (Acts 16:1-5, 2 Timothy 1:5-7)
• 5/22/22- “Paul & Silas in Prison” (Acts 16:16-40) PROMOTION SUNDAY
• 5/29/22- “Shipwrecked” (Acts 27:1-44) MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

On Sunday, May 22nd CH Kids will be promoted to their next grade level in Sunday School. This is especially important for our Rising Kindergarteners and 5th Graders.

If you have an incoming Kindergartener, please e-mail me with your child’s name. Some families choose to give their kids an extra year in pre-k so I manually promote this grade level. Rising Kindergarteners will check-in in the Lower Level Children’s Wing at 9:30. We no longer offer Sunday school for K-12th Grade during the 11:00 service, and encourage families to attend together at that time.

If you have a 5th Grader going into 6th Grade, please drop them off in the children’s wing as normal on the 22nd. Our Youth and Young Adult Director, Heidi K. Greenwood Doell, will be waiting for them in the 4th/5th grade classroom. We will give each of them a moment to share where they are going to Middle School next year, and then we will send them off to the Middle School Youth Room with Heidi by singing “Go With God”.

Heidi will have a very brief Middle School Youth Orientation for Parents immediately following the 9:30 service in Cup of Grace just outside the Middle School Youth Room LL-04 on the 22nd. Please plan to attend for information about Youth Group, Mission Trips, and other Summer opportunities.

We sponsor cousins, Neema & Kikwete, who live in the Angel House Orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. We have pledged to give $90/month in order to provide food, clothing and schooling to these children at Angel House. Each Sunday, kids have the opportunity to bring money to put into our offering for Neema and Kikwete. Would you help us meet our goal by sending your child with $1.00 each week? Our former Director of Children’s Ministries, Raegan Brane, has visited Angel House in the past. You can find out more information about the Grassroots Organization and Angel House by clicking HERE.

REMINDER:

If you have a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader that has a Deep Blue Bible, please help them remember to bring it with them to Sunday school each week! We don’t have many extras of that particular version at the church and they will be looking up and reading scripture every time they come to church from now on.

VBS CHILD REGISTRATION UPDATE: 164/250 REGISTERED

We will be doing “Knights of North Castle” LIVE for VBS 2022 at Chapel Hill. We did this VBS virtually during 2020, but are excited to deck out the church with snow, Christmas trees, and castle décor this Summer. Child attendance will be capped at 250 kids. Child registration opened on Palm Sunday, April 10th and registration will close by Sunday, June 5th (unless we hit our 250 mark sooner) REGISTER YOUR CHILD TODAY!

If you would like to help plan and prep for VBS this year, please contact me. If you would like to volunteer during the week, click here!

Don’t forget to check our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group regularly for the most up to date information. If you haven’t checked your child’s information on the birthday post, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. I have marked it as an announcement so you can easily find it. If you have moved in the last year, please contact the office so that we have your correct address on file so they can receive some birthday mail. The office number is (316) 684-1117.

Blessings to you and your children,

Allison

Celebrate Wonder is a Sunday school curriculum that engages children’s natural sense of curiosity to help them understand God’s love. It creates a safe environment for kids to ask big questions — helping them explore the Bible in ways that feed their imagination and encourages creativity. Through carefully-selected Bible stories, songs, videos, and hands-on activities, Celebrate Wonder gives children the tools to explore their faith while incorporating it into their daily lives.

Each month, our weekly stories will align with a Faith Word. The Faith Word for the month of May is, “PROCLAIM”.

Though born in Tarsus, a major center for Greek education and culture, Paul was a Jew and had studied in Jerusalem with Gamaliel, a leading teacher of the Law of Moses. Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul, was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group of Jewish leaders who believed that the best way to serve God was to strictly obey the Law of Moses.

When we encounter Paul in Acts, he is living out these beliefs. His strong beliefs resulted in his determination to make trouble for the followers of Jesus. As Paul traveled to Damascus to do this, Paul had an encounter that changed his life; he met Jesus. Paul is blinded and has to be led into Damascus by others! As a result of his meeting with the risen Christ, Paul is changed. Paul ultimately shows the same determination in recruiting followers of Jesus as he had previously shown in persecuting those followers.

Paul’s conversion story is an example of God’s ability to use anybody to carry out God’s work. With his history of persecuting Christians, Paul seemed an unlikely candidate to spread God’s word. When Ananias, a follower of Jesus, received instructions to go and talk to Paul, he questioned this direction, saying, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem.” But God had a plan to use Paul to spread the news of Jesus to the Gentiles and the people of Israel. God was able to use Paul’s zeal and determination in a positive way. Prior to his encounter with Jesus, Paul was living out his beliefs; after his encounter, Paul lived out his belief in Jesus and shared the news of Jesus’ love with others.

This month’s unit is about proclaiming the good news of God’s love. To do this, we have to find our voices, and sometimes our voice is a creative medium. This week find some time to do something creative. Let that be a prayer for the power to proclaim God’s love to all.