Saturday is one day that Elyse is really looking forward to. Why? It is the day where she gets to go to Children Church in DUMC, provided that we are in Subang and not TI. I thought of bringing Elyse there since long time ago. But when I found out from Doreen that the Children Church is conducted in the afternoon during Elyse’s nap time, I hesitated. Moreover, the youngest group is 3 years old. So, it didn’t work out initially.
However, since 2 or 3 months ago Elyse started to nap later and later. Finally she settles down at 4pm, or sometimes not at all. Well, maybe it’s time for her to join the Children Church then. After all, she is turning 3 soon!
The first time I intended to bring her to Children Church didn’t work out. I mistaken that the Service started at 3pm and I left the house at 2:30pm. Doreen, who is one of the helpers in the Children Church, clarified to me via a sms that it starts at 2:30pm. I told Elyse (we were already in the car) that we were late and so Mommy would bring her elsewhere (since we both were dressed up, and I didn’t want to disappoint her). We would only be going next week to the Children Church. She was so upset that I could see tears in her eyes.
The following week we made it in time. The hall was packed with children. Each child received a sticker. As for Elyse, she had 2 stickers because this was her first time. Doreen welcomed us when we entered the hall. It’s good to see a familiar face amongst the crowd. We didn’t sit together with her age group though. Just somewhere at a corner, more so like an observer. The worship was led by Aunty Monica. It lasted for half an hour. Elyse was a bit restless towards the end. She doesn’t know any of the songs. She tried to follow the action in the beginning as I encouraged her but soon gave up as it was too fast and complicated for her age. It wasn’t easy for me to follow either.
Then we were told to go to another room for teaching session. There were games, story, drama, memory verse, and finally we were divided into small group. Both of us were a bit disappointed because Elyse was not chosen to participate in any of the activities. Well, it’s impossible to get every child to involve in one way or another because of the size of the group. However, as this was Elyse’s first visit, I hope she would be given special privileges. Half way through the teaching, Elyse wanted to go home but I persuaded her to stay a little longer. I thought to myself: “Oh no, she is not interested. This probably would be the first and last time we come.” But when Elyse was given a nametag to wear during the small group, she was cheered up again! Look how simple a child could be!
On our way back home, surprisingly Elyse told me she wanted to come again. I was happy to hear that.
Our second visit to DUMC Children Church was a few weeks later. Again, Elyse and I sat on one corner during the worship. It was Aunty Monica leading the worship again. Elyse was able to follow some actions but she was absolutely happy when they sang ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ because finally, there’s one song that she knows how to sing!
During the teaching session, Elyse was totally thrilled when she was selected to throw the dice. Then during the drama, all the children were participated including Elyse. At the end, everyone was given a gold coin (chocolate). Elyse was so glad that she was given 2 gold coins (Mommy supposed to get one also). But we left early that day because we needed to fetch Ah Gong who was teaching a Bible class in TMC.
Our third visit was the following week. It was a special week – Parents’ Appreciation Day. I was looking around for Doreen when I suddenly saw her on stage! Apparently she was one of the worship leaders that day. Finally, we joined Elyse’s age group during the worship. Well, I would love her to be part of the worship than just being an observer. After the worship, all the children proceeded to 3 different locations for games and fun. Elyse and I played lots of them, including Fishing game, Bob the Builder, Loop the nail, Board Games, Toilet Paper Toss, Ball In Cup, and Bounce & Score. Although Elyse did not score at any of the games, we enjoyed the fun and for each game we participated, Elyse received a few small gifts – 2 bar of chocolates, a ruler, a few sweets, and a sharpener.
Although the crowd was enormous, we did not need to wait for too long in each station. Thumbs up for the organizer. Overall, we have a wonderful time playing games together. My only regret is Andrew was not with us. No pictures were taken because I was too busy running around with Elyse.
