God at work

In Bible class, we have been learning about Paul and his ministries. We have also been looking at some of the ways that God had been preparing Paul even as a child. Some of the ways were that Paul had had a personal tutor, so he was very smart, and he had studied to be a pharisee, so he knew the scripture. He was also a tent maker, so when he was on his missionary journeys, he could make a tent for himself or make a tent to sell.

God has also been at work within me. He uses me to show His love to others. There are also ways that God has been preparing me, probably in ways I don’t realize, like maybe he put me in a Christian school and a Christian family to help me with what He has planned for me.

Bible PBL ~ present day persecution

Over the last couple weeks, we were doing a project in bible to teach others and learn ourselves about present day Christian persecution. Our group did Iraq, the #8 most persecuted country. In doing this project, me and my group learned a lot about Christian persecution in Iraq and the history of Christian persecution. For the project, we all set up something to show what we learned to teach it to the other middle schoolers. Below, there is a video of a presentation that we had out playing, and we also had a kahoot out, so they could “test” themselves to see what they remembered.

 

Spageti tower project

For science class, we made spageti, marshmallow and tape towers. It had to hold an egg 40 cm high and hold it there for 10 seconds of an “earthquake”. Our first tower failed and broke before we even put the egg on it, so we made a new tower using a different design. Once we were done, it was only 21 cm tall, but it was stable and held the egg for the 10 seconds.(pic of fist tower above)

Theme writing

David Buursma

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8B

11 September 2017

 

Lost in love

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

-1 John 4:10-11

 

I’ve always wondered what theme we would choose when we became the eighth graders. I think that when it came to choosing the theme for this year, God really spoke to us and showed us what he wanted it to be. We can show our theme, Lost in Love, to others in our school and to people in the world.

 

I can show this theme many ways at school. One way I can show love at school is to be inclusive. If I’m inclusive, I show that I care about the other people and that they matter to me. Another way I can show love at school is by interacting with the younger kids. Now that we are the oldest of the school, the younger kids look up to us, and even just saying “hi” to them in the hallway is showing that, just because I’m older than them, it doesn’t mean we can’t talk with each other. Another way we can show this theme at school is by helping each other out. Whenever someone is struggling with something, if we help them, were showing them that we care about them.

 

As Christians, we can also show this theme to the world. One way we can show love to the world is just by doing small things like holding the door for someone. It may be a small gesture, but we can show God’s love by doing stuff like that without even knowing it or intentionally doing it. We can also show our theme to the world by being self aware. For example, if were in a crowd that’s trying to get somewhere, we’re not showing love if we’re just plowing through the crowd and yelling “get out of the way”. Instead, if I would stay calm in a situation like that and be self aware, it would be showing that I’m not selfish and only care about myself. We can also show love by giving to the people in need and the people who can’t take care of themselves. There are a lot of people in the world, and even around us, that might be homeless or usually hungry. If we give them food and money, we show them that we care about them.

Proyecto final-apartheid

¿Qué aprendiste?

El apartheid estaba en Sudáfrica del año 1948 hasta el año 1991. En el apartheid, los blancos tenían todo el poder gubernamental y económico, y fue muy segregado en ese tiempo. En el apartheid, no dejaron los negros votar, porque si votaron, ellos tendrían el poder gubernamental porque ellos son una gran mayoría de la población Sudafricana. Hoy en día, todavía hay muchos blancos quienes tiene mucho dinero y negros quien no tiene por el efecto por el apartheid, pero ahora las personas ahí tienen los mismos derechos.

 

¿Quiénes somos?

Todos somos diferente, y creo que no debemos hacer cambios a como tratamos otros simplemente porque ven diferente que ti. Todos nosotros somos creado en la imagen de Dios, y no es aceptable que podemos tratar alguien diferente porque son diferentes que nosotros, cómo creer que todos que vea como yo deben tener todo el poder y dinero. No está solamente en Sudáfrica, y hasta hoy hay un poco de segregación donde vivimos que no es correcto.

 

¿Quién es Él?

El apartheid es un ejemplo de lo que Dios no quiere que nosotros hacemos. Debemos tratar de no hacer cosas como segregación porque no es justo y no es lo que Dios quiere en el mundo. Él quiere un mundo donde todos tienen las mismas oportunidades, no importa si eres rico ni pobre, ni cómo eres. No está sólo allí donde puedes ver segregación, pero si ves alrededor de ti, vas a encontrar segregación. Usualmente, no pensamos que donde vivimos es segregado, pero si es, como todos los ricos viven junto, y los pobres viven junto, no es mezclado.

 

¿Quién soy yo?

Yo creo que es muy triste que alguien haría algo como apartheid. Creo que debemos tratar muy duro para hacer que todos en el mundo tienen las mismas oportunidades y derechos, no más o menos derechos dependiendo de qué raza eres. Me ha abierto los ojos este tema sobre cómo personas pueden tratar otras solamente porque vean diferente de sí mismo. Creo que es muy triste que alguien haría algo como esto, aunque todos somos creado en la imagen de Dios, y que todos somos humanos e imperfecto. Me ha cambiado mucho ver como personas pueden hacer algo como el apartheid y ser tan segregado.

 

Llamada a la acción

Yo creo que debemos parar segregación completamente, no solo en algunas áreas del mundo. Segregación todavía está en Sudáfrica, sólo no tanto como en el apartheid. Hoy en día, todavía hay muchas familias negras impactadas por el apartheid de no tener mucho dinero. También familias blancas en Sudáfrica son impactados de tener más dinero porque sus padres fueron ricos porque el apartheid. Yo creo que mi parte de parar segregación está donde vivo, de ayudar a parar segregación completamente aquí en Michigan, para ser un ejemplo a otros.

El Union Africana

Primero, los países juntan a otras para escribir un resolución, y después, damos a señor Lowe para que lea todos los resoluciónes a todos. Después de esto, más grupos juntan para hacer un gran grupo y escribir un resolución junto. Cuando terminábamos, damos a señor Lowe. El llame un grupo para que leen y responden a las preguntas que los otros países tienen, y después votan, y si tiene la mayoría diciendo “si”, el resolución pasa, pero si es una empate o la mayoría dicen “no”, el resolución no pasa. El hace esto con todos los resoluciónes que los países habían escrito.

Es muy dificil pasar un resolución porque cada país quiere algo diferente, y necesitan compromisar para tener algo que todos los países quieren.

 

informe de posición

Senegal propugna que la Unión Africana debe avanzar su democracia a través de tener elecciones más iguales.

 

Una cosa importante en una democracia es igualdad de todas las personas. En una democracia, mucho está basado en el poder de la gente. En una buena democracia, todas las personas tienen el mismo derecho, si están en el gobierno o no. También es bueno si todos pueden participar en el gobierno, y que pueden votar. También una buena democracia tiene buen funcionamiento de gobierno y cultura política.

 

El país de Senegal es una democracia imperfecta. Es número 74, con un promedio de 6.21 de 10 puntos. Tiene 7.92 para procesos electorales y pluralismo y 7.06 para libertades civiles. Tiene 5.36 para funcionamiento de gobierno, 6.25 para cultural política y 4.44 para participación política. Tiene un promedio tan bajo porque tiene un 4.44 para participación política.

 

Aunque Senegal es una democracia imperfecta, puede ser aun más democrático. Tiene un promedio de 6.21 de 10 puntos, y quieren avanzar más. Deben poner su atención en cultura política, cuál es 4.44. A Través de hacer esto, van a tener una mejor democracia en general, cual es lo que quieren hacer. También, si puede avanzar toda su democracia hasta un 8 o más promedio, estarían en la categoría de democracias completos.

Africa Intro

There’s a lot I don’t and didn’t know about Africa, I learned how if you live in upper Africa, your expected life spand is about 10 years longer than if you live in mid Africa. I also leaned about how manny languages people speak in each country in Africa, like how in Nigeria, there are more than 200 languages spoken. I learned how each country in Africa is completely different, and the people in each one is way different than the others. One thing I want to learn is how manny different languages is spoken in all of Africa.

The Eagle Huntress

When we were watching The Eagle Huntress, the part that stood out to me the most was the way they hunted, and that they lived that way, in the middle of nowhere and trained eagles to hunt. I thought that it was really cool the way that they lived, and how they survive. I think that it was cool how they competed against other eagle hunters and their connection with the eagles.

MountainFilm Festival

My favorite film was To Scale: The Solar System. To Scale: The solar System was a film where a bunch of guys went out to the desert to make a scale of the solar system, and they had to have a 7 mile radius to be able to do it, and even then, they didn’t have enough space to do pluto. I think that it is important because it shows us how big our solar system is, and how small we are compared to everything eles. It was really cool, because it was so much space in between each planet, and even then, they were so small, for example the earth was a little marble. I think that that should be a lesson to us, and should show us how small we are compared to everything eles in the universe.

camp reflection day

Psalms 139:13-14 stood out to me. I feel like it really reflects how God made me and how he loves me, and that I am a creation of God. It reminds me how he made me in his image, and how he took the time to knit me together. I feel it’s important because it tells how God loves us and that we are a creation of God.

At the beginning of the school year, we made some goals as a grade. One was to be a class that includes, not exclude, another was to be a class that loves, and that has fun in the company of each other. I think I’m doing good on the goals, and that I have improved since the beginning of the school year.

Cataluña

video del presentación

Hola personas de mi pueblo, estoy aquí hoy para darte mi opinión de que debe hacer Cataluña. Creo que Cataluña no debe ser independiente. Yo creo que, si separan, tendrán un tiempo difícil, y perderían mucho dinero tratando de ser independiente.

Cataluña es muy pequeña para ser un país, entonces sería difícil para ellos. Si harían un país, tendrán muchos dificultades. Ellos son pequeños, con solo 7.519 millones de personas, y entonces va a ser difícil ganar suficiente dinero.  Cataluña no es muy grande, con solo 12,397 mi2, en contra del todo de España con 195,364 mi2. Yo creo que no hay mucho de un futuro para un país este pequeño.

Si Cataluña haría su propio país, ellos tendrán que mantener su propio gobierno y ejército que va a tomar mucho trabajo y dinero. En 2013, los Estados Unidos gastaron más que $600 billones para su ejército. No estoy diciendo que Cataluña va a necesitar un ejército tan grande como el de los Estados Unidos, pero si va a costarles un montón para tener un ejército. Hay unos 1,400,000 personas en el ejército estadounidense, y para tener un buen ejército, van a necesitar un gran porcentaje de su población en el ejército. Si ellos harían su propio país, tomará mucha gente, y mucho trabajo.

 

Si Cataluña separa de España, pierdan mucho dinero, y no tendrá la ayuda del resto de España. Si ellos separan, el equipo de fútbol de Barcelona no va a ganar tanto dinero si no están parte de España. Si ellos separan, no van a recibir los recursos del resto de España, y no van a tener su ayuda.

Yo creo que no es una buena idea para Cataluña separar y hacer su propio país. Cataluña es muy pequeña, y si separan, tendrán que hacer sí mismo ejército y gobierno, y esto toma mucho dinero de un país, especialmente un país tán pequeño. También no tendrán España dando dinero a ellos y soportándolo. Aunque algunas creen que van a tener más importancia en el mundo, y dicen que deben separar porque Cataluña es muy diferente del resto de España, yo creo que será muy difícil para Cataluña si no tiene la ayuda de toda España.

Bible themes

Theme 1: Covenant

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There are two types of covenants: conditional & unconditional. Conditional is an agreement that says that if you do this, I will do this. An unconditional covenant is an agreement that says that a person will do something no matter what. I chose this visual because it is one of the covenants from the bible that stands out to me. The covenant at mount sinai, a conditional covenant, stood out to me because I feel it is an important part of the bible. There are a lot of covenants in the bible, and I think they are very important. I feel like the covenant that has to do with me the most is that God said that no mater what we do, he’ll never love us more, and will never love us less.

Theme 2: Slavery & Salvation

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All throughout the bible, there has been struggles, like when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but God is present in the struggles, and he always helps us through the struggle. There are a lot of examples of people struggling in the bible, like Moses, Noah, Ruth, Saul, Adam, and most of the people in the bible, but God helped them. I chose a big knot as my visual to represent the struggles that we have, like a giant knot in our life line that is difficult, but God helps us and saves us. Another reason I chose a knot as my visual is because sometimes we find knots, or stuff that’s hard to untie, but God helps us through our struggles, and saves us. One time, when God saved me when I was struggling is when my great grandmother died, but God helped me get through it. I’m glad that God helps me in times of struggles, and happy that he has helped me, and a lot of people before me.

Theme 3: Promised Land

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When Israel was sent to the promised land, they needed to trust God to help them on the way. They had to trust God with a lot of things, like for food, how God gave them manna, crossing the Jordan, which he stopped the flow, and a lot of other thing on the way. I chose the word “trust” as my visual, because I think it plays an important part in the promised land. I chose it because, on many occasions, they had to trust God, and when they didn’t, he punished them. My connection to that is that I feel like I need to trust him more with my life. I feel that I need to let go, and let God guide me through my life as he planes, and that I need to trust him.

Theme 4: Slide to Destruction

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Before the Israelites were exiled to Babylon, they were in a cycle. First, Israel worships idols, like baal, they’re selfish, and do stuff like taking advantage of the poor, then God sends a prophet and they turn back to God, and the cycle starts all over again. I chose money as my visual because I feel like greed played a big part in Israel getting exiled, and we still have that problem. I think that they turned away from God because they wanted to be rich, and have a lot of stuff. I see that a lot in our society, how people are being very selfish and are always doing things to get more stuff, even if it is taking advantage of people. If you look at the world, there is a lot of brokenness, and there is a lot of selfishness, and people aren’t doing things to help each other, they are only doing stuff for themselves.

Theme 5: A Savior

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In all of the old testament, there is the covenant of God’s grace, forgiveness and love. Jesus is the person who fulfilled the covenant, by coming down and dying on the cross, and by doing so, saving us and forgiving our sins. I chose the cross as a visual because it reminds me of how Jesus died, and that he came down to earth to rescue us. It also reminds me the way how he died; not just being executed, or hanged, but he died the most painful death, which was meant for people who did the worst crimes. There are a lot of people who haven’t heard of the good news of God’s grace and forgiveness. Jesus’ sacrifice was was the ultimate sacrifice, when he didn’t sin, but he died because people didn’t think he was the messiah, so they killed him, and I think that everyone should know about God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus.

Theme 6: Names

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In the bible times, names were very important: they weren’t only names to call someone by, it described who the person was. Every name has has a meaning, but in the bible times, your name would be the meaning, so it would be like your name being “grateful”, which would describe who you are. I chose this as my visual because they are all bible names, which all have meanings that describe who they are. I also chose this as my visual because it puts a lot of the most known bible names up there, like David, which means “beloved”, Adam, which means “man” and Elijah, which means “Jehovah is God”. There are a lot of bible names and meanings, like Yahweh means “relational God”, which describes how he interacts with his people. God is many things, he’s loving, graceful, caring, powerful, kind, and a lot of other things, and I think that that’s why he has many names, like Yahweh, Jehovah, Christ, and a lot of other names.

Theme 7: Sinai Law

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At mount Sinai, Israel and God made a covenant, saying that God will be with them and help them as long as they follow the ten commandments. Right when Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai, he sees the golden calf, and throws the two covenant rocks down on the ground, and they break. I chose a golden calf as my visual to represent the sin that the Israelites did. I chose it because it represents their sins, and that I think that we all have our own “golden calves”. I don’t think anybody actually has a statue of a calf made of gold, but I think there are things in our lives that we put before God. My “golden calf” right now is stuff, like owning a lot of things and having as much stuff as possible.

Theme 8: Salute to a King

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When Israel wanted a king, what they wanted is a king to lead them into battle and to help them in battle, and that type of king is called a melek. What God wanted for them is a king who help his people follow him, and to keep them away from idols, and that type of king is called a nagid. I used this visual because I think they wanted a king because all the other people had one, so they wanted one too. I think that the Israelites wanted a king, because they were jealous of the other people who did have kings, so they wanted one too. I see a lot of that in the world around us, some people have some stuff that looks appealing to them, so they’re jealous of them and want to have what they have. There is a lot of jealousy around us, and in some cases, like with the Israelites, it’s actually better without the “king”.