~September 2020~
WE HAVE SURVIVED!!!! August has been bitter sweet. This month the school age kids have been busy making crafts for the nursing home residents, painting the concrete, playing in the water, and doing service projects. One of those projects was picking up sticks in the neighbor’s yard. Rich and Pam Green truly appreciated it. They rewarded the kids by letting them play in the sprinklers they have set up over their yard. The kids had a blast and enjoyed playing football with Grandpa Rich and learning about the house from Grandma Pam. The kids were also rewarded with a hot dog roast from the sticks they collected. Good food was had by all. But as the saying goes, everything must come to an end, so after 5 long months, the school kids were able to return to the classroom.
The toddlers stayed busy as well with water play, walks in the neighborhood, playing with kittens, and learning many new things. The kids have been learning how everyone is different but how we are the same as well. How God created everyone with different talents, yet we all use those talents to be witnesses for Jesus and spread His love to everyone. We looked at each other’s hands. Some hands were the same size, but each one had their own distinctive markings. They were amazed at the different markings. The older kids noticed this as well. Some of them were just impressed that their hand was bigger than Ms. Sara’s hand.
As you pull into church, take note of the different hand prints. These are the hands of the future, God’s children. Take a look at your own hands, you too are a child of God, uniquely made, but one body in Christ.
We give thanks for everyone who has prayed for us over these past few months. We ask for continued prayers as we transition into school mode and new routines.
In Christ,
Sara Turner, Director
St. Paul’s Child Care Center
Support our Daycare while you shop!!
St. Paul’s Child Care Center is selling gift cards! This is a great way to help the daycare with your normal everyday shopping and gift card giving on birthdays and Christmas!! Earnings from gift cards sold will help our Child Care Center keep rates affordable and provide an emergency fund. At this time, we will only take paper orders paid by check or cash. Order forms are available in the Narthex on Sunday mornings following worship service, or by clicking the link below and turning your completed form in to the church office. Gift cards purchased will be available for pickup by the following Sunday. If you have any questions, please contact Diane Weicken at 573-690-6647. Thank you for your support!!
Child Care Center Q & A…
How many church members have children at our daycare? Currently, we have 12 children that are children of members.
How many non members have children at our daycare? We have 30 children of non members at this time.
Is there a designated time each day that a story from the bible is read? In addition to chapel each Friday, Bible time is each day from 11-11:30. Each week we focus on a different story or theme. We not only read the Bible story, we further ingrain the message with supporting activities. For instance, the children have been learning the story of boy Jesus at the temple. They loved playing, “Let’s Find Jesus!” with a Jesus figurine after answering questions about the Bible story.
Since the daycare opened, how many children has the daycare taken care of? How many are member or non member? 104 families (some families have more than one child), and 23 of those families have at least one parent as a member of our congregation.
How often take the children to visit the nursing homes? When they do go what type of activities do they do there? Once a month to read books, sing, do seasonal activities, crafts, or games.
What are the future goals of the daycare? Continue to offer high quality Christian childcare, as there is a high need of demand for this in our community. Every day families call to be added to our wait list. We also continue to pray for additional space, which would give us the opportunity to serve additional families in the future.
If anyone has questions please feel free to call Marie Wickham or Sara Turner at 573-796-1997. We would love to have visitors set up a time to come see the amazing things happening here every day, or better yet come volunteer to read or play games with the children. We teach the children the love of Jesus every day, and are also a witness to their families. Even if they are affiliated with a church, many of these families do not attend church regularly. For some families past and present, the Child Care Center might be the biggest Christian influence in their life, and perhaps the only positive connection to a church. We hope that we are planting a seed in the hearts of the families and especially the children to develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
Many of the families have shared how grateful they are that their children come home telling Bible stories and singing songs about our Lord. Second-hand information is only a very small window to see the service St. Paul’s Child Care Center offers to our community and to these children’s futures; we hope you can schedule a visit!