This past Saturday, the Joyland fourth to sixth graders and their teachers went to visit Emmanuel Convalescent Home. We arrived at the home to a room full of eagerly waiting residents. We began our program with dancing and singing to the Joyland favorite praise songs, “I’m Gonna Walk,” and “Your Love is Deep.” Then the fifth and sixth grade girls performed a skit on betrayal and forgiveness that led into the message by Teacher Maurice. He talked about how it is hard for us to forgive, how we hurt God, how God forgives us through His Son, and how if we believe in Jesus we can live forever with Him in heaven. The kids and teachers then sang “Jesus Loves Me.” Some of the residents sang along and nodded their heads. We closed the official program in prayer. Then the kids gave the residents their individually crafted flowerpots with the verse John 3:16 attached. The residents were very touched and a few started crying and wanted to hold our hands. Although a lot of the kids were nervous talking to someone for the first time, it was encouraging to see them willingly give their gift and try to love another person. Many of the kids came away with the understanding that there are other needy people in the world and realized that although they were younger than the residents they had a very important message for them: the message of God’s love.
Here are a few quotes from the students who went:
“We visited them because we wanted to tell them about God’s word and compassion. I thought it was a great experience. I felt bad for them and happy I went. I realized that they were very lonely and they didn’t get a lot of love. I would want to do this once a month.”
“It was a good experience for me because I learned to love other people. I felt very good. I would want to do it again.”