I started out by reviewing "I love you" (lesson from Feb) with them. I was happy that most of them remembered. :) We then reviewed 1-10, which is easy, and then 10-0, which is not so easy. I then counted for them from 1-10 in Korean, German, and Spanish and they repeated after me. It was fun seeing the kids and teachers do the typical Japanese "eh~?!" thing as I mentioned which language we were going to do next. =D I spoke about how there are lots of different languages in the world and asked them to name a few too.
This month's Bible verse was, I thought, from 1 Cor. 3:6 "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow". Bit unusual, right? I didn't find out till my first lesson that the verse written on the monthly letter for the parents was a typo! Oops! Well, I'd already planned my lesson around the "but God has been making it grow" part and the kids had memorized it too 'cause the teachers didn't even find out till later in the month. So I kept with my lesson plan. :)
As I was praying about which book to read to the kids, God lead me to a book that we used to read to Juhee when she was just one. A short, simple book that has one picture on the left and one sentence about that picture on the right, but in FIVE different languages - English, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and Hebrew! Kinda random, right? One of the pictures is of a doll lamb and the words that go with it are "I love you, lamb" so it was good for them to see "I love you" in use. But, most importantly, the last page is a "mirror" that you look into and say "My name is ..." a very useful phrase to know. That last page was my link to the Bible verse...God not only makes everyone grow, He also made everyone. Everyone is special and unique. I asked if any of them were the same. I asked if two people who had the same name were the same. I asked if two people from the same family were the same. I asked if twins who looked the same, were the same. No, no, no, no. I told them that's it's because God thought hard about how to make each and every person on earth and so everyone is special and unique.
I asked them if they knew what "special" (in English) meant. I knew that most of them would have heard the word before because they actually use it a lot in Japanese (just pronounced slightly differently and stretched out to FOUR syllables!). Their answers ranged from anything from cheap to pretty. :) After a few more hints, a kid in each class eventually said the word for special in Japanese - yay! After establishing the meaning of the word, I taught them "I am special" and "You are special".
One funny thing was that I read the first page in all 5 languages and then the rest in just English and Japanese. When reading the first page, I read the first line then told them that that was English. Then I read the second line and told them that that was Spanish. I read the third line and asked them what language I just read in. It was so cute watching their faces think really hard about it when I'd just read them a sentence in Japanese! Was SO cute. The teacher's were smiling too. :)
I am so grateful to God for this lesson. In a country where so many suffer from a lack of self-confidence and lack of hope, but is made to comply and to suffer on one's own due to a culture of self-reliance and not knowing where or to whom to turn to, knowing that one is special, unique, and was purposefully made, is I think really important. In Japan, someone commits suicide every fifteen MINUTES. That's a crazy statistic. It's an unacceptable statistic.
For the kids that have now moved on to Elementary School, my lesson might have been too little too late, but hopefully combined with all of the Bible verses and head knowledge that they've acquired during 3 years at Samuel Yochien, seeds were planted on good soil and it'll stir up something in their hearts someday and will them to find out more about this God that made them special. For the kids that are still there, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be reviewing this lesson now and again! :)
I am special.
You are special.
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well." Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
You and I are special because God made me and you. He sent His son on the cross to die for me and you so that we can be reconciled to him.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV)
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