Oklahoma Part 7: Whiz Kids



The story of Joseph

Tuesdays were busy days! A full day of teaching at the hardest school of the week, Bible Club immediately afterwards, then rush back to the training center with just enough time (sometimes) to scarf down dinner, then Camellia and I were off to teach Bible time at Whiz kids. Whiz kids is a Christian tutoring program sponsored by a church. The kids are paired up, one on one, with a tutor. After tutoring they come together for Bible time. That is where Camellia and I come in. Bible time is like large group at a CI or VBS. We taught the kids songs, would maybe play some quick large group games, then give a Bible lesson. Teaching Whiz kids was probably my favorite part of being in Oklahoma City. We didn't have a set curriculum to teach, we could be as creative as we possibly could, and we could talk about God all we wanted! The best conglomeration of requirements you could possibly have to teach under! The part that made it interesting was that, there were only two of us for skits, which meant we had fun including the kids in the lessons too, and also, even though we were roommates, with everything else on our plates, we seldom had time to plan very much before it was time to teach. We learned to be flexible and play off each other very well! During our 5 minute planning sessions over dinner, or, even occasionally in the car on the way to teach, the Lord blessed us with some amazing ideas and inspirations! All the glory goes to Him, it truly was not us! Some of our crazy ideas were; Daniel and the Lion's Den - standing alone, Jesus calming the storm - The peace that Jesus gives, Amy Carmichael - trusting God through seeming unanswered prayer and in difficult situations (that one turned out really well!), the story of Joseph - Being faithful in the little things (That one was fun! We actually took turns narrating and acting all the parts, switching hats to signal a change of character.) Gideon - Trusting God, even when things seem impossible, The story of a Jewish boy and a Roman soldier - Going the extra mile and loving your enemies. All of the lessons were a blast to teach, but my favorite lesson was the story of creation! We used a technique that Camellia used before in a class she taught at home. For each day of creation we had something edible that represented the things that were created on that day. For instance, light and darkness - an Oreo, separating the land and water - blue jello, animals - gummy bears and animal crackers, etc. For each day we had some of the kids try the food we brought to represent that day's creation, then ask, 'Is it good?' They would nod. Then, 'God said it was good too!' To make it a bit more interesting, Camellia and I looked up some facts about what God made on each day. It left us staggered at God's greatness! Here's a bit of what we learned... 

• If you could travel at the speed of light, you could go around the earth 7.5 times in one second. God created light.
• The heart of the blue whale is the size of a Volks Wagon, a man can easily swim through one of its blood vessels
• God made over 20,000 types of fish!
• God gave Fish, native to the Antarctic, antifreeze chemicals in their blood
• A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body. God taught it how to keep it from getting tangled!
• A newborn kangaroo is only 1 inch in length, but when it is grown, it can cover up to 30 feet in a single bound!
• While a baby kangaroo is that small at birth, some newborn giraffes are taller than 6 feet!
• A brown bat can catch 1,200 mosquito sized insects in 1 hour without using its eyes.
• A wood pecker pecks 20 times per second. It has shock absorbers behind its beak, and closes its eyes every time it pecks so it's eyes don't pop out from the sheer force of the pecking.
• God made a lion's roar so powerful, that it can be heard up to 5 miles away!
• How about being frozen solid, thawed, then continued life? God created frogs that have that capability!
• The fastest bird is the Spine-tailed swift, clocked at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour
• The giant squid is the largest creature without a backbone. It weighs up to 2.5 tons and grows up to 55 feet long. Each eye is a foot or more in diameter
• The Pacific Giant Octopus, the largest octopus in the world, grows from the size of pea to a 150 pound behemoth potentially 30 feet across in only two years, its entire life-span
• In contrast, The pygmy shrew - a relative of the mole - is the smallest mammal in North America. It weighs 1/14 ounce - less than a dime!
• There are around 2,600 different species of frogs. They live on every continent except Antarctica

And I haven't even started! What about the wonder of the human body, or even a single cell ?Who says there is no God? Who dares to say we originated from a pile of goo? Sorry, but that idea is just plain dumb!