Spending an Extreme Sunday

What do those kids do in Extreme, anyway? Is it just a nicely decorated room where the kids can draw with chalk, play fooze ball and lounge on pillows? Or, is it a more mature class setting than Kingdom Kids, because they don’t have to sit behind the kindergarteners?

Well, when this reporter decided to break this story, I slipped in to observe the 11:00 class taught, this week, by Brenda White. She had two other adults helping her, Jared Harp and Kelly Rudd. I assumed they were for mob control. What I found was pretty interesting because the day’s focus, the Bible, was supported by several activities that seemed like regular school work. The spelling section was a game where each child was given a letter and asked to work together to spell out words like wisdom, advice, hope, and insight (a particularly tricky one). After each word, Mrs. White asked them where they would find such things. Typical answers were “parents, a teacher, the Bible.” Here, I could tell Mrs. White must not only know creative approaches to the lesson, but also how to deflect typical 4th and 5th grade boy responses like, “I would ask a baker!”

Next was the math section where they had to find the ratios of boys and girls who brought their Bibles. What they found was 1/3 of the girls and 5/14 of the boys brought theirs. Who won? Another tricky question: The girls. You may want to get out your calculators to verify this.

Next, science! They looked at soil samples and discussed farming techniques while reading the parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-8. And finally art, where they did a 3 dimensional mural of the different types of soil discussed.

So, is all this creativity wasted on these energetic and easily distracted minds? Not at all. Brenda says that many classes have a small group component where the children will sit down and discuss deeper issues. Jessie, one of the students, says, “I am responsible for my relationship with God. I pray and read my Bible.” Another student, Jared, admits, ”I need to work harder to occupy more of my time with church and school and learning more about God.”

What’s more is that the boys are going to have a Friday night social some time this month and the girls need someone to head one for them as well. Think about getting involved because this is a very worthwhile ministry.