Hello Chapel Hill Families!

This week CH Kids learned how Jesus welcomed the children and blessed them after the disciples tried to turn them away. We talked about how, even as kids, they have lots to teach others about loving God. Our younger ones got to play “Red Light, Green Light” to remind them how the disciples said STOP and Jesus said COME. Older kids made invitations to God’s kingdom to give to someone they know that needs to feel loved and included.

A new month brings a new Unit Faith Word and Memory Verse. In February, our Faith Word is “KINGDOM” and our Memory Verse is from Mark 10:14 “God’s kingdom belongs to the people like these children”. Our Bible Stories this month include:

• February 5th “Jesus and the Children” (Mark 10:13-16)
• February 12th “The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin” (Luke 15:3-10)
• February 19th “The Forgiving Father” (Luke 15:11-32)
• February 26th “The Widow’s Coins” (Luke 21:1-4)

KDIC & PRESCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Kids Day in Christ and Chapel Hill Preschool opened their enrollment to current families and Chapel Hill members on February 1st. If you have young children interested in attending these programs, please click the links below to get them signed up. These programs fill fast, and will be open to the public on March 1st to fill any remaining spots.

Summer KDIC

KDIC 2023-2024

Preschool 2023-2024

Lunch Bunch 2023-2024 (Extended Preschool Day)

VBS 2023

Save the Date for VBS at Chapel Hill! Volunteer Registration is now OPEN! Child attendance will be limited to 250 children. To ensure your child gets a spot, join our team to receive a link for EARLY child registration. We will open child registration to the public on Palm Sunday, and will close once we fill all our spots.  We filled all 250 spots before Memorial Day last year, so do not delay!

Information for our new families:

• Our volunteers are supposed to arrive by 9:00, but life happens and sometimes they are running late. Please try to drop off kids between 9:15 and 9:30 AM to avoid waiting on them to arrive.
• Please walk your children back to their classrooms at drop off. We want our volunteers to see who goes with which kid to help speed up our pick up time.
• Don’t forget your pick-up ticket. You will show this to get back to the children’s wing and again to their teacher to pick them up.
• Remember that kids are now promoted to their next grade level so check that their name tags show they are in the right group. Please let Ryan know if it is incorrect.

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.

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 February is “KINGDOM”.

These two parables are short and share many similarities in format. Jesus told these parables to teach the lesson that each one of us is valuable to God. In the story of the lost sheep, Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves his flock to search for the one who is lost. Even though the shepherd still had ninety-nine sheep, he did not accept even the loss of one.

In the story of the lost coin, the coin would have been worth about a day’s wages. While this is a significant amount of money, it is not a very large sum of money. The point of the story would have been lost if a great sum of money were involved. Rather, the woman has lost a single coin, a loss that some people would have just accepted. The woman, however, searches her entire house, cleaning every corner, until the coin is discovered.

The stories don’t end with the recovery of the lost items. They end in celebration and rejoicing. The shepherd rejoices over his previously lost sheep. The woman calls her friends and invites them to celebrate with her because she has found what she thought was lost. With the addition of this scene, Jesus poses a question for us. Will we join in the celebration?

Every child will be able to relate to the experience of losing something. Each one of us has experienced that sinking feeling when we discover that something is not right, something is missing. Listen to your children’s stories. Help them to identify with the feelings in the story. Then, help them understand God values them even more than the shepherd valued the sheep or the woman valued the coin. God celebrates with us, and God celebrates each of us.

During the week, look for loose change. See how much you can find or collect. On Sunday, take the change to church and show it to your children. Encourage them to do the same. On the following Sunday, have the children bring their change to church. Collect the change and give it to the church or to an important community organization.