Thursday, March 21, 2024

FUNdament = Fun

Mom playing "Blindfold Copy"
 Bethelehem Baptist Church in the Nisporeni region of Moldova has started a parent-child club. Sometimes as many as 19 children come. Sometimes as few as one additional adult. This past week, there was one adult per child - moms, older sisters, and even some dads. 

"The children were connected with the adults," leader Olesea Ciochina said. "It was amazing. They connected every second. They did everything together. They decided the colors together. They decided what to do and how to do it." 

She added, "At the end (of the meeting) the fathers of the children started coming in," Olesea added. "They helped to finish the handwork." The handwork for this lesson was particularly involved, so it was a good thing they did.

Parents play an important role throughout the meetings. Usari Romani is spoken in most homes, and the youngest children have not yet learned Romanian (the national language) or Russian (a common second language). The Bible story is told in Romanian. One parent translates it into Usari to make sure all the children understand it.

"I saw how interested the adults were in the lessons. They also had questions to understand the subject. Afterwards they explained to the children in their language in some details." 


The group also played several Davar: Bridging to Literacy games. One, based on Letter Game B 8 (Letters on a Flag) involved choosing three letters from the alphabet and matching the chosen letter with a word that began with that letter. Afterwards, each mom (or big sister) spontaneously had their children repeat the letters that they had been learning. 


Thursday, March 14, 2024



These three stories are examples of shell books (quality is better in original). 

The illustrations and page set up are the “shell.” 

The shell is designed so that the text can easily be changed to another language. (Again, the quality of the images and the text is better in the original.)

It is simply a matter of “cut-and-paste” to put in Spanish or Slovak or Ukrainian rather than English.

These three books do not require any additional translation. 

The captions come straight from a printed Bible. 

This way we do not need to know the language ourselves to put in the proper text.

We have already used these coloring books in several different languages. 

The story of Dorcas has been printed in Dutch, English, and Sinti Romani. 

The parables of Jesus have been used in Romanian, English, Russian, and Ursari Romani. 

The pages would have to be rearranged to print them in languages that are written right-to-left like Farsi or Hebrew. But it would be possible.

If you are interested in having the “shell” for any of these stories, feel free to contact us. We put these together ourselves. And if you are interested, we can connect you with even more shell Bible stories and coloring booklets.

Happy reading—and coloring!

Mary  & Keith