Salvation has come!!

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Mark 10:14 "Let the little children come to me."

Our 4-year-old Kindergarten class at Wonder Club Early Learning Centers in Lancaster is currently learning about the wordless book. Throughout the year we have also been studying the question “Who is God?"

We have been inviting the children to come up to us during the day if they want to ask Jesus into their hearts. It's been such a blessing when we've had the privilege of praying with our students as they make decisions for the Lord. Each prayer is a time of celebration. Recently, we had four children ask Jesus into their hearts in one day.

Here is another story of God's love at work in the life of one of the students in my class...

As I was beginning my day. One of my little boy students came into class and ran up to me. He told me that last night when his brother was sleeping he asked Jesus into his heart. I said great what did you say? He said, "I prayed, and said 'Jesus come into my heart.'" Wow! Isn’t this exciting? Please pray for these young children as they are babes in Christ.

Karen Smith • Assistant Teacher, Wonderclub Early Learning Centers

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
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For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

Children’s Prayers Reach God’s Ears

This post is part of our current Blog Series - focusing on Addiction! As you read these stories we invite you to share your thoughts, reflections and insights. This series will include stories on addiction, along with 8 articles from our most recent Messenger magazine. Our hope is that as we engage in conversation together, we can gain a deeper understanding in the midst of trials and celebrations of overcoming addiction.

Article 6 (of 8) in the Messenger magazine - Winter 2011 Edition -

By Nikki Norton, Teacher, Wonder Club Early Learning Centers

One morning at Wonder Club as we were taking prayer requests, a student said, “Pray for my sister; she drinks too much beer.” The request reminded me of my own childhood.

My parents were addicted to heroine, cocaine, and alcohol. Because of their drug use, there was domestic violence in our home. My parents even stole money from me and my four brothers. We became homeless when I was 15 years old, and the seven of us lived in one motel room for over two years. Eventually my father lost his job because of drugs, and my two older brothers began using drugs.

Feeling hopeless, I remember sitting on my bed and wishing that someone or something would change my family.

At age 22, I met a group of Christians who shared the love of Christ with me. After a really bad fight with my mom while she was high, I ran to my room, fell on my knees, and cried, “If You are real, if You are who these Christians say You are, then show me.” Later that night I gave my life to Christ.

I changed, but my family did not. I remember coming home from Bible study to find my parents and brothers high. Then, after three years of prayer, my parents, brothers and grandfather gave their lives to the Lord and allowed Him to start restoring all that drugs and alcohol had taken.

Over the years I have come to learn the difference between a wish and a prayer. A wish is like a balloon released in the air; we watch it having no clue where it will land. A prayer has a destination; it goes straight to God’s ear.

This revelation is something that we teach our Wonder Club students regularly. I may not know the specifics of the students’ home lives or which students are growing up with addictions in their home, but God does. He cares for each of the students at Wonder Club and has a plan for them just like He had a plan for me. As we teach our students how to pray, I know He hears the prayers, aimed directly at His ears, of students struggling with addiction in their homes.

We love hearing from you! Post your comments below, or Click Here to visit our Facebook page and join the conversation!

Previous Posts in this Series: Fighting Addiction With the Armor of God Fighting Addiction, and Experiencing God's Love Dying to be FREE She Walked In Caught Between Egypt & the Promised Land Quitting is the easy part! Preventing Teen Drug Use Realizing our addictions (remember... even Jesus was tempted) Now That Was God Access to Health & Hope Healing from Hurts, Hang-ups & Habits A Journey to Christ

Stay tuned for the next post in this series on Addiction!

Words From The Lord

Each summer as I am preparing for the new school year, I spend time asking the Lord for a verse or a passage of Scripture for our staff to use as a theme verse for the new school year. As I was praying this summer, I did not hearing any particular direction. So at staff meeting last week, I gave the teachers the following assignment. “For our devotions on Friday, I would like each of you to come with a verse that you feel God is speaking to you for Wonder Club for this year. It may be for you personally, for your classroom, or for the team as a whole.” In my mind I thought that perhaps God would speak to us by having two or three persons come with the same verse or verses.

As we went around the table and shared our verses and why we had chosen each one, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, God! These are great verses, but what does it mean for us as a team?” As you can guess, no two persons had chosen the same verses. As I shared with the teachers that part of what I was hoping would come from this exercise was a “theme” for the year, Miss Nikki spoke up, “Here is what I heard as we were going around the table.” And just like that, Nikki allowed God to use her to put it all together for us. Out of nine passages of Scripture, Nikki summarized our time with the following thoughts (I have included the references of each thought):

Wait
(Psalm 37:7)
I will cause the growth
(I Cor. 3:5-9)
I will give you a new heart
(Ezekiel 36:25-26)
I will give you a new mind
(Romans 8:5-8)
Forget the things of the past
(Isaiah 43:18-19a)
If you are obedient
(Ephesians 6:1-3)
I will make you an imitator of me
(Ephesians 5:1-2)
I will teach you all things
(Isaiah 50: 4 & 7)
Nothing is impossible with God!
(Luke 1:37)

As a staff we were astounded at the way God had spoken to us as a team through the individual verses and how He had given Nikki the words to put it altogether so concisely. So while we may not have a “theme verse” we do have some precious words that we felt God was giving us through our individual seeking of the Lord for direction. Words that we wanted to share in the hopes so that you too would be encouraged. We are so excited we can’t wait to see what else God is going to do this year!

- Lorraine Brandt, Wonder Club Administrator, Wonder Club Early Learning Centers

Interruptions and God-Moments at Wonder Club

Last week I went into work to get a couple of things done before I "officially" go back to work. Well, I walked in the door and the maintenance man from the church asked me whether a particular shelf unit was Wonder Club's. I immediately recognized the unit, and told him that yes it was ours. He said that the church was cleaning house and accidentally put it in the give-away pile.

So, this was my opportunity to depend upon God... He is the one who let this interaction happen at this moment. Therefore I needed to deal with them before getting to the things I had on my to-do list. I went to the basement to talk with the youth minister about the cabinet. It was neat... she has been around for about a year and I have not had much time to interact with her, and now God ordained the moment.

We talked about the revisions she is doing to their space and how the job is going and also about the cabinet. She didn't know it was ours and apologized and we were able to figure out what stuff belonged to Wonder Club and what stuff belonged to the church.

As I was bringing up our items to our floor, I was glancing through them. Wow! I have seen these letter people (see picture) for a few years now, but for some reason this time it stuck out to me. When I brought everything upstairs, I cleaned the posters and I really liked them! It seems like fun ways to incorporate letters into the classroom. I had left the storage box downstairs and was about to throw it away, but then I remembered that another teacher was looking for a place to store big books and I thought this may just work. That teacher came in later in the day (as I was still going through the letter people items) and I showed her the box. Wow! She said it would work wonderfully!

As I left for the day, I realized that I did not even touch anything that I had planned on doing, but since I depended on God's moments instead of mine, much more happened, and not just for me. Through following God's "interruptions", 1) I was able to build a relationship with one of the ministers of the church, 2) I found a fun way to talk about letters with my students, 3) another teacher was able to be blessed with an item she has been wanting, and 4) Wonder Club ended up cleaning house a little too! God's "interruption" was not an interruption but an opportunity to depend upon Him with the next steps. Thanks, God!!!

Nicole Imhof – Wonder Club Teacher/Site Supervisor

Wonder Club Field Day get's Goliath Again!

If your boss asked you to dress up as one of the baddest dudes in the Bible and told you to go outside and scare a bunch of kids, and oh by the way dodge water balloons while you’re at it, how could you say no? I know I sure couldn’t. So, for the last 2 out of 3 years I’ve gotten to be Goliath at the Wonder Club field day.

When I’m not playing Goliath I’m just Joel the “guy who brings us our snacks,” I have the pleasure of bringing the milk and snacks that God provides to these kids each week. It’s so awesome to hear stories throughout the year of how the kids were praying for a certain cereal or their favorite fruit to come in and then to see how God provides those things. It’s also such a neat thing to see how the kids grow throughout the year, kids who at the beginning of school were so shy turn into water balloon throwing maniacs.

That brings me back to field day, the one day a year I get to make a crazy costume and splatter it with fake blood and swing my sword and shield and dodge water balloons. As I’m doing that I get to see the faces of these kids and see them smile and laugh and forget about any troubles or cares that they have. For a few minutes at field day these kids get to feel like David, they get to experience what its like to conquer a giant and they get to learn the story of how God is always on our side even when the odds are not.

- Joel Henry, Food Services Truck Driver

Prayers from Wonder Club

The faith of the children at Wonder Club often reveal aspects of God to us. Listen to this story that was shared with by one of the teachers at Wonder Club:

Near the end of the school year a student came in and right away showed us his cut on his finger. For most of the day he complained that he could not do an activity because his finger was hurt. Eventually (should have done this much earlier), I offered to pray for him. I prayed that he would still be capable to do activities despite his cut and that God would be with him. After I was done, he asked me to pray for God to heal him. I did then ask for healing. It took a child to remind me of what’s important – healing. How cool that the child grasps healing!

Also, please join us in praying for the precious children over the summer; some as they prepare for starting Kindergarten in the fall, and others as they will move on to first grade!

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

God Moment at The Lydia Center

Psalm 68:19 (New International Version)
“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah”

This beautiful story, experienced at the Lydia Center, is a true demonstration of the freedom, and renewal found in the healing embrace of God. May we be encouraged by the strength and hope that God revealed in this experience!

We went to the river with a bucket of stones. Each stone represented a “failure” that she had been holding on to. She read the list & after each one would throw the stone in the river as in giving it to God. Then after she threw all of her stones she read a letter that was from God to her with truths for each “failure”. It was truly a sacred moment & I can’t tell you how privileged I felt to be a witness of God doing a tremendous healing just with those seemingly small things. She read a scripture from Ephesians 1:4 which talked about how God loved her & “chose her in Christ to be holy without fault in His eyes.” She then played her guitar & sang the song “Lead me to the Cross”. We both just sat there & looked out at the river. It was so heavy with the presence of God that neither of us could or wanted to speak. This was a really a healing time for her since she carried such a weight around with these. God showed her just how big He is & when she has her head up she sees His bigness & not her failures.

Carrie Libonati • Learning Center Instructor

Questions and Realizations Experienced at Wonder Club

Today as I was reading a “Jesus book” to 3-year-old Moses*, he started punching the picture of Jesus. This surprised me, since Moses had just been admiring Jesus and how he had held the children in his arms. I asked him if he was mad at Jesus. He said yes. He said he wanted Jesus to be here. We were looking at the picture of Jesus leaving his friends and going into heaven. Moses then went on to say that he wished “Jesus would come out of the book.” I went on to explain how Jesus can live inside each of us and be with us all the time, even if we can’t see him with our eyes.

Earlier in the day, we had been acting out the story of Noah in the water table. I showed the children a picture of the rainbow and the ark, and told them that God said he’d never cover the whole earth with water again. Moses* kept asking me where God was in the picture, because he wanted to see God.

Pray for Moses and his 4-year-old sister, that Jesus would “come out of the book” for them and that they will know His deep love for them. Pray that they will be able to see the evidence of God all around them.

Thank you, Jesus, for your love for children!
Carmen Garber • Prince Street Teacher

*name has been changed

Miss Nikki Is Missing

When the K-4 children came in from recess, they were greeted by a strange sight. Standing in front of their whiteboard was a woman dressed all in black. “Who’s that?” one of them was heard to say. Another child asked, “Is that Miss Viola Swamp?”

The stranger turned around. “Boys and girls,” she said, “I have heard that the boys and girls in Room 201 have been misbehaving. I am here to change that. I am Miss Viola Swamp, and I mean business! There will be no centers today. We will work, work, work. We have lots of work. Now take your seats.”

You could have heard a pin drop as the children cautiously walked to their tables and sat down. They didn’t know what to think. They knew it was not Miss Nikki in their classroom. Miss Viola Swamp introduced herself and said she was there to see that they did their work. No talking! No laughing! No smiling! And certainly no speaking without raising your hand. Miss Viola meant business. Even when Miss Karen stepped out of the room for a minute and then returned Miss Viola Swamp wiggled her finger at her and said in her sternest voice, “Miss Karen, no more!”

The children quietly did their work. They didn’t know what to think. Except for a few suppressed giggles from the adults in the room, all that could be heard was the scratching of pencils on paper as the children did their work.

You see Miss Nikki had been reading her class the book Miss Nelson Is Missing by James Marshall and a few of the sequels. The class enjoyed the stories so much that Miss Nikki decided to act out the story by pretending to be missing and having her sister-in-law come and visit and play the part of Miss Viola Swamp. Miss Nikki didn’t stay away very long, but the students were very glad to see her return. It was an experience that they won’t soon forget.

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Expressions of God's love at Wonder Club

In the past few weeks, it has been neat to experience the random love of God expressions. While the students were getting in line, it was a bit noisy. Then, out of nowhere, Ian yelled out, “I love God!” Another time while doing a written activity at the table, I was standing behind Kiara. She looked up at me and said, “I love God!” God is really moving in all the students. It is wonderful to hear and see those things happen. Thanks, God!

- Nicole Imhoff • Wonder Club Teacher/Site-Supervisor

And just this morning as I was greeting the arriving students, Alejandro came bouncing up the steps, full of life and energy. I asked him if he had eaten Wheaties to give him so much energy. His reply, “Jesus gives me energy!”

- Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Wonder Club Staff Art & Prayer Session

Each Wednesday the staff of Wonder Club Early Learning Centers meet together to pray. During a prayer session that I was leading this time, I decided to focus on our Core Value of Dependence Upon God.

This core value, “Dependence Upon God,” states that, “We look to God as our source of vision, provision, and transformation.”

So after reading and reflecting on this approach to ministry, we did an activity about what that means to us. We used glue sticks and colored construction paper to make art about it. Below are the pictures of what we created, along with a short statement by each “artist” about their piece. I thought it was neat to see what was created and what God spoke through that.

Nicole Imhof • Teacher/Site Supervisor Wonderclub Early Learning Centers


As we depend on God we need to take what He gives us and what He takes away. God does not just give, give, give, sometimes He takes away too and we need to continue to trust and depend on Him during those times also.





As God spends time with me and I spend time with Him and I experience His love, light and truth, I in turn impart His love, light and truth to the students I teach.






The reason I made this is to remind me of the sun rise and sun sets. When I see them they remind me of God’s love for me and how powerful and in control God is of all things and circumstances.






I made a little mountain out of glue stick. Then I placed brown (typical mountain color) construction paper smoothly on one side of the mountain. The back side of the mountain had unusual mountain colors randomly/roughly placed. Dependence upon God reminds me that the dependence is with all of me… especially in the rough places. That (the back side of the mountain, the “rough” places of me) is where God’s beauty really shines through. Therefore the arrow is pointing to the back side.

The Lord’s voice is mightier than the waves of life. Smoke will come out of his nose if anyone touches His children. The Lord our God is a sun and shield. He gives grace and glory. No good thing would He withhold to them that walk uprightly. Our God is an awesome God.

The Joy of a Secret at Wonder Club

Several weeks ago my mother came to visit WCELC. She was going to be here right after nap time. As I looked around the room, I saw a little boy just not having a good day. So I pulled him aside and asked him if He could keep a secret. He shook his head, And I said remember a secret means you can’t tell anyone. He again shook his head. So I told him, Mrs. Karen’s Mommy is coming to visit. His whole face lit up and he quickly turned around and yelled “Hey everybody Mrs. Karen’s Mommy is coming to see us after nap!”

This Morning that made me think. Why do I at times keep Jesus’ birth and His coming back a secret. Jesus coming back is so much more exciting then my Mother visiting for a little time. Soon WE will be with Him and see Him face to face. WOW!!!!!

Karen Smith • Assistant Teacher, Wonder Club Early Learning Centers

Lesson Learned!

One of the teachers was explaining to the children that getting a “yellow card” (part of the classroom discipline system) is a consequence for disobeying. A child responded, “Like Adam and Eve?” “Yes,” the teacher replied, “and what was their consequence?” Another child said, “They had to leave the garden.”
In another classroom the children were learning that everybody makes choices. They can choose to be obedient to God and their teachers and their lives will be good. Or they can make a bad choice and then there will be a consequence. One day one of the children was acting up and his brother came to the teacher and said, “Mike is not making a good choice.”

It is nice to know that our Bible stories and lessons are sinking in and exciting to hear the words of truth from God’s word come back through the mouths of these precious children!

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Children Seeking Truth

In one of the Pre-K classes of Wonder Club, the children were learning about the days of creation and the teacher was telling the class that on the seventh day God rested. One child got a very puzzled and concerned look on his face and wanted to know why God got arrested. “No, God didn’t get arrested; he rested.” A little extra clarification was needed for understanding.

3 John 1:4
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Isn't it humbling to hear the words of these children as they learn new truths about their Heavenly Father? Perhaps the true message from this story isn't simply that God has a sense of humor, but also that He wants us to follow the example of these precious little ones and keep seeking His truth and wisdom daily as we walk with Him.

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

A Gift of tickets to The Fulton

Last week, Wonder Club Early Learning Centers were given 25 tickets through PNC Bank and the Fulton Theater to see a performance of “Annie” at the Fulton Theater. These tickets were made available to the parents of Wonder Club students so that they would be able to attend the show together as a family.

One Mom told us this story: She was looking online for tickets to Annie for a special Christmas present for herself and her daughter and her sister and niece. After browsing the website and seeing the cost, she knew this was unaffordable and called her sister to say she would not be able to do this. The next morning when she brought her daughter to school at Wonder Club Early Learning Centers, she was given the flyer stating that these tickets were available on a first come, first serve basis. She was ecstatic that she was now able to do this with her daughter, sister, and niece!

Praise God for the provision of these tickets! May God's extravagant love reveal opportunities to give generously just as PNC and The Fulton did for the families of Wonder Club Early Learning Centers!

If you are interested in more details for the Annie show, check out the website at:
http://www.thefulton.org/annie/

Prayer Is the Key

The little phrase, “prayer is the key” is one we hear often. In working with children I am reminded again and again how true that little phrase is. I get excited about the stories that the teachers share during our prayer times regarding the impact that prayer has and is having on our students. We recently held our first parent teacher conferences of the year. These conferences usually either begin or end with prayer. Often during the conference we ask the parents how we can pray for them. While sharing these requests, parents help us see a clearer picture of the child and his needs. Not only can we pray more effectively for the children and their families but we are given insight into why they react in different ways as well.

One parent mentioned how her son is now praying at night. “God is great. God is good. He takes care of me everyday.” She also shared that they were talking about the child’s grandfather who is in heaven where God is. The son added that God is everywhere and not just in heaven. In another instance we had just prayed during our morning staff prayer time for two little boys in one of the classes who were not getting along. As they came in to school one of the boys said, “Jose is my friend…you’re my friend, right Jose?” and gave him a hug.

One of the teachers shared how impressed she was with the way in which her coworker prayed with the children. “She will pray with them when they are having a hard time coming into class in the morning, when a child is hurt, when there is a conflict between two children, when a child is having a hard time with discipline consequences, and on Fridays she will pray for the requests that are mentioned by the children during Bible time.”
The children are learning to pray and it’s exciting to hear from parents that the children are praying at home!

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Wonder Club - Learning and Laughter!

Here’s a fun glimpse of the learning fun that takes place in the classrooms of Wonder Club Early Learning Centers:

In one of the Pre K classes of Wonder Club, the children were learning about the days of creation and the teacher was telling the class that on the seventh day God rested. One child got a very puzzled and concerned look on his face and wanted to know why God got arrested. “No, God didn’t get arrested; he rested.” A little extra clarification was needed for understanding.

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Books donated through a Birthday!

Two weeks ago, I got a phone call from a person I talked to several weeks ago. In the busy-ness of the beginning of school, I forgot about this conversation until she called me again. She had called to inquire as to whether we could use books for our kids. Her 9-year-old daughter was having a birthday party and instead of buying gifts for her, she wanted to invite her guests to buy books for the Wonder Club children.

This mother called to tell me that through the Birthday party they had collected 69 books, using the list on our website (http://waterstreetministries.org/MakeADifference/WishLists/WonderClubWishList.aspx). Together, the Mother and daughter came to drop off the gifts last week. I had the opportunity to chat with the child and her mother. One of the questions that we asked was, “why did you want to do this instead of receiving gifts for yourself?” The child’s response was that she and her family like to read and have lots of books and she knows that many of our children do not have books of their own to read!” Already at age 9 this young girl is learning the blessing of giving.

Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

BoxTops to support Wonder Club ELC

As we are at the beginning of a new school year, I want to remind all of you that we would love to have your help in collecting Box Tops for Education (found on most General Mills products and its subsidiary companies) and Campbell’s Labels. All you need to do is clip the little Box Tops coupons or the Campbell’s proof and send them to:
Wonder Club Early Learning Centers
PO Box 7267
Lancaster, PA 17604

The complete listing of products can be found at www.Boxtops4education.com and www.labelsforeducation.com

You can also support Wonder Club by participating in the Giant A+ rewards program. We appreciate the many of you who took the time last year to register your bonus card and designate Wonder Club to receive these funds. However, you must re-register your card each year. If you are a Giant shopper and have a bonus card, please take a few moments to log on to http://www.giantaplus.com/ and register your bonus card using the designation number 02287. That is all you need to do; after you designate our school every shopping trip to Giant using your bonus card earns cash for our school!

Or for more details on supporting Wonder Club visit our wish list at: http://waterstreetministries.org/MakeADifference/WishLists/WonderClubWishList.aspx

Thanks!
Lorraine Brandt • Wonder Club Administrator

Wonder Club - Experiencing God's Love

I’ve experienced God’s love for me through several interactions during this past work week.

First, I entered the one preschool classroom where I was working, and several children raced to give me hugs. No, they were not using “walking feet,” but I chose not to address that. Later, as we were dropping the students off at their homes, the one student started walking towards her house, and then turned around and ran back to give me a hug.

I also have experienced God’s love for me through the care of my co-workers .They ask me how I’m doing (and really want to know!) and include my name in their prayers. It’s been a blessing to not only share God’s love with others, but to feel like I’m receiving more than I give.

- Carmen Garber, Wonder Club Teacher