Crafts at the Day Center!

On Monday our time together with the kids from the Day Center started at about 3pm. They would come from school to the center and Nadezhda would have sandwiches made of a piece of French bread, a slice of cheese, and maybe a slice of pork. They would also have tea or juice if it was available. A few months ago the Day Center lost their funding to feed the kids. Pastor Slava had set up an arrangement for the kids to eat a meal at local café that would feed them yesterday’s leftovers. Now, Nadezhda the director goes and buys about 300p of food (about $9) and feed about 18 kids when they came. I’ve been told for some of these at-risk kids, it is their only meal of the day.

After some songs, prayer, and a Bible Study, we would lead them in several crafts that we had planned throughout the week.

Our craft on Monday directly related to the Bible Lesson I taught that day. Since it had been Easter in Russia the day before, I talked about the resurrection of Jesus and the burial cloths… specifically the napkin that was placed over the face of Jesus. According to John 20:7, “…(Peter) saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” In Jewish tradition and in current table manners etiquette, the napkin that is folded means that “I’m coming back”! I talked to the kids about the subtle message regarding the folded napkin and then we decorated cloth napkins as a reminder of the resurrection of Jesus. In the pictures you will notice that many of the napkins show the initials “XB”. In the Russian alphabet, these letters translate to the phrase “Christ has Risen!”

On another day, we had the kids make denim bookmarks. The kids attached foam pieces of cutouts in a western theme to create their own bookmark. The kids seem to really enjoy some of the crafts that we brought. Thanks to Linda Howell for putting this craft and many others together!

One of the more complicated crafts was the foam Log Cabin. This kit had 25-30 small pieces that had to be placed on the project in a certain order. Tina, our volunteer that is living in St. Petersburg for a year from Sweden, is an experienced children’s’ minister. She took them through step by step to construct this cabin. The kids seemed to love the project as they just don’t have crafts like that here. By the end of our time, we had a whole town of log cabins!
Another hit was the friendship bracelets that they tied using the color beads. IN the Bible Story time before that on Friday, I explained the meaning of the beads and then they made their own bracelet as a reminder of their relationship with Christ. The teens seemed to enjoy knowing how to make these and this is something they can make after we leave. We left extra supplies so the kids could make their own. For the smaller kids, we gave the Gospel Bead kits with the leather string as this was easier to construct than the friendship bracelets.

The crafts are great relationship builders. It’s an opportunity to work together, to create something new, learn a new skill, help each other, and have fun together. That feeling of fun will stick with them as they learn more about the Christian faith as they grow older. It doesn’t have to be perfect, they just have to try. It’s like the Christian faith… you don’t have to be perfect or successful… just obedient.