CREATING IN VARIOUS PLACES: CZECH REPUBLIC

 Back in November or December of 2014 I started making all these pretty papers recycling my many scraps.  Just the process alone was such fun, but after awhile I remember thinking, "what am I going to do with all these pretty papers.  I didn't know at the time, but Somebody else did.  Our mission invited us to join  our all-European mission conference in Prague.  Well, given the crafty one that I am, I started thinking about what I could do with the ladies there.  So these big papers became hearts.

 These are some of the embellishments I made for them to decorate with.  Don't worry you crafty ones, I'll do a tutorial on this too.  They happened the same way.  I started making them.  It was so fun and addictive I just kept doing it.  This was all before I knew about the conference.  I love how God works, planning things even before he lets us in on the plan.

 These are a few more with lovely gems and buttons sent by Cindy Williams,  Antioch Baptist Church of Conway, Arkansas and done on craft foam sent by Rebecca Crawford,  First Baptist of Gary, Texas.  What would I do without all these lovely folks who make this mission happen.

And lastly, some more lovelies we will use sent by Stefanie Walsh of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan for decorating the hearts.  There will be children at this meeting too so I'm just supposing they may be doing a few hearts as well.  I love doing crafts with kids and you can see how we go through a lot of materials in a short time.  So grateful to all who help with this.  We shall meet from the 16th to the morning of the 20th.  Pray for our meetings and the travel to and from please.  And I promise to post pictures of some of the finished hearts.  May God lift you up and give you encouragement today as I'm praying for you who read this.

Christmas Service at Bethany Church

Children's choir performing for our Christmas service. Little One's Sunday School class doing verse for our Christmas service. They were so cute.

Jewels for Ukrainians

Many have sent us their old costume jewelry to take apart and use in crafts. Well, not long ago I thought of another use for it. Some things were quite lovely and I thought it a shame to break them up. Therefore, we now do a board of jewelry for the Children's Fair. This fair is held at the end of each Sunday school semester. The children earn points for memorizing verse, good behavior, etc. At the end of the semester we have a big assembly and fair where they are issued play money with which to buy goodies. The kids, especially the older ones, really like the pretties. This photo is Leah, our daughter, manning the "sale" as the kids buy with fun money.