Magnetic fishing
 Kissing fish
Busy at the craft table
Super scaly fish
More craft work under way.
Pasta Loaves Tasty fish for the necklaces
Cream biscuits, great 'loaves'
Fun in the garden
Our indoor picnic |
| | | Messy Church - 5 May 2013 |
Report by Jim Paterson
A
great gathering of children with their families turned up at St.
Mungo's church hall for the Messy Church on the May Day bank
holiday weekend. This month's theme was 'Jesus feeding the 5000'. This
miracle, when Jesus feeds 5000 is recorded in all four
Gospels, Only the men were counted in this story. When the women
and children were added, the crowd probably numbered 10,000 to 20,000.
 The
crafts as you might guess were heavily based on fish and loaves. Each
craft table had a different activity, making a basket out of a paper
plate, putting handles on it then cutting out loaves from brown paper,
and fish shapes from blue to put in the baskets. The paper postcard was
fun, trying to walk through a piece of A4 paper without tearing it. It
can be done, bu tneeds a steady hand with the scissors. Elaine
Jacobs managed it with style.
Making 5 loaves and two fish into
a necklace used Penne Pasta tubes threaded on a string, with a
wine gum 'fish' on each end. The fish were very tasty but the  pasta did need to be cooked first! I enjoyed making mine but the fish were eaten before the end of the day.
I
was helping out on the 'kissing fish' craft table. This one needed some
reasonable skill with a felt tip pen, and a pair of scissors.
Fortunately for me most of the children managed both and I helped with
the scissors, for those yet to learn how to use them. The art work
on some of the children's creations was quite spectacular.
For those into coloured paper and glue we created paper fish with multicoloured scales made of different tissue papers. No plain old cod and haddock in the sea of Galilee
We also had a 'pond' full of fish and fishing rods with 'magnetic hooks' to catch them with..
No
Messy Church would be complete without getting hands in the paint, and
this month was no exception with a long path of hand prints leading to
the prayer tent where the children could pray for family, friends, and
those that are hungry in our world.
We also had a table
for making cream covered biscuits, and covering them in hundreds and
thousands. This 'special bread' did not last long as most of the
children ate theirs as soon as it was complete. I did too.
A bit of games activity too, chasing paper fish across the floor of the hall, to see who could reach the other side first.
 We
were promised a picnic meal outside in the garden, so off we trooped
out with picnic blankets and mats to sit on. Andrew Dunsire taught us
all to sing 'I don't know what you can do', with the actions. Holly
Taylor joined in with her Ukulele. We followed with "Have you got the
sunshine smile?"
Andrew Don then stepped in to tell us the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, complete with a basket full of fish and loaves.
Jesus'
12 disciples had just returned from a missionary journey he had sent
them on. After they told him all they had done and taught, he took them
with him in a boat on the Sea of Galilee to a remote place, for rest
and prayer. Meantime great crowds of people in the area heard that
Jesus was near, and ran to see him, bringing their sick friends and
relatives. When the boat landed, Jesus saw all the men, women and
children and had compassion on them. He taught them about the Kingdom
of God and healed those who were sick.
 Jesus
asked his disciple Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people
to eat?" Jesus knew what he was going to do, but he asked Philip to
test him. Philip replied that even eight months' wages would not be
enough to give each person even one bite of bread.
Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, had more faith in Jesus. He brought forward a
young boy who had five small loaves of barley bread and two small fish.
Even so, Andrew wondered how that could help. Jesus ordered the crowd
to sit down in groups of fifty. He took the five loaves, looked up to
heaven, gave thanks to God his Father, and passed them to his disciples
to be distributed. He did the same with the two fish.
Everyone,
men, women and children, ate as much as they wanted! Jesus miraculously
multiplied the loaves and fishes so there was more than enough. The
crowd was so overwhelmed by this miracle that they understood Jesus was
the prophet who had been promised.
Everyone ready to tuck in to the 'picnic'
We
then returned to the hall for our own picnic as a shower of rain began
to fall in the garden. With blankets and mats spread across the
hall floor to sit on, everyone helped themselves to sandwiches,
sausages, fruit and soft drinks.
Look out for the next Messy Church in June.
A
great time for families who would not normally come to church but do
want to learn about God and hear about the life and work of Jesus.
For more information on Messy Church contact Katrina McDonald 07872 996906, or Lynne Turnbull 07812 648924.
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