God gave Paul different gifts and things that would help him later on as a missionary. One of them being that Paul was really smart, he got special tutoring which helped him be a better missionary. He was also studying to be a Pharisee which would help him because he knew a lot about scripture so he could tell it to a lot of people. I  haven’t had any life changing experiences yet but I know that I am lucky enough to know Spanish. I think being able to speak Spanish is a gift that I have been given because I can talk to people from different places or even help others because I have that ability. Without having many experiences in different things I cant tell what God is working on or what he will do with me but things could change.

My group studied Colombia. There were many things that surprised me about the persecution there and the stories that we read. One of the things i found interesting was that around 90% of the population of Colombia is Christian and those are who are being persecuted the most. Colombia has freedom of religion but there is a lot of violence going on towards Christians. Most of the persecution s directed towards people in remote areas which is where there is a lot of gang violence and crimes. another fact is that Christian church leaders get persecuted and can be murdered or put in jail for teaching the gospel. Something else is that Colombia is ranked 30 on the world watch list for persecution. This means they have pretty high persecution and it is not getting any better. The type of persecution is organized crime and corruption which kinda means that the most common crimes there are human trafficking and drug trafficking. I liked how our presentation turned out but one of the things i was most proud of was the video just because i feel like we had good information and got to tell more about Colombia.

1. What did you do for the Stephen project (ie. newspaper, comic, song, etc.)?

I made a news article about the story

1. What did you do well on the project?  (or what are you proud of and what you want me to look at when I grade it?)

I guess i did well on trying to sound like a news article and acting like i was reporting something.

1. How do you think you would feel if you were really observing this event?

I dont think i would want to experience someone getting stoned because he didnt really deserve it because people told them opposite of what Stephen was doing.

1. Re-read Acts 7:57-58. How would you feel towards Saul?

Im not sure but I think I would feel mad because he was just there while someone was getting stoned and people set their coats down by him.

1. What do you think encouraged these early Christians? In other words, why did the early Christians keep up the faith despite the persecution?

i think because they had enough knowledge about what is real and knew who God was and they might have experienced all the things God did which made them be committed even when people would persecute them.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kFxTaSNu9oTnBn7NuuNgIjxjS3huyLExGEeAdjJTBDU/edit

This year has been a lot of fun so far. I have enjoyed being with my friends and being in actual classroom. I have also enjoyed being able to do work outside. Something I have learned a lot about is natural disasters and what kinds are most likely to happen in which states. This year I am looking forward to more fun and more learning experiences.

This summer we didnt do much because lots of things were closed and we couldn’t go anywhere fun. I went to sandy pines a lot with my family to “camp”. I also went shopping a lot to pass time with my sisters. I got to see friends and hang out to catch up on what they have been doing over quarantine. I went to the beach a lot and made weird things out of sand. I spent a lot of time with my cousins hanging out by the lake and playing board games. I also played tennis every day in July which was really good practice and a lot of fun. I had a lot of photoshoots with my sisters because we had nothing better to do. Lots of golf cart rides and jam sessions were what really made this summer so good. Overall this summer was a lot of fun even though there wasnt much to do.

Part 1:

1.  “Do you ever have one of those moments…like…if you could just freeze it? It’s so beautiful.” If you could freeze a moment from your life, what moment would that be? Please write about this moment.

I have a lot of moments that I wish I could freeze. But one of them that I wish I could freeze is when i’m with my family and cousins. We always have a lot of fun and It would be cool I you could actually freeze time so that it could last longer.

Part 2:

1. What do you think God is whispering to you right now? How does His presence comfort you? 

I don’t really think he is whispering something to me right now. His presence comforts me when I am nervous of anxious about stuff.

 

1. What did you learn or think about the most this week from our theme “Psalms teach us to say, “Forgive me, Lord”. Was there a phrase from a Psalm that stood out? When did you stop this week to ask God for forgiveness? 
   
   This week i thought mostly about how we aren’t perfect and we all do stuff that isn’t great. A psalm that stood out to me was Psalm 51:2.  It says ” Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” It stood out to me because its like us asking for forgiveness and what we want to happen and what we need to do to be forgiven.I asked for forgiveness after i finished school work.

 

1. With forgiveness comes repentance. To “repent” literally means to change directions. After we ask forgiveness, receiving God’s grace can cause us to want to act differently than before–to repent. Tell a story about a time when you acted differently after asking for forgiveness. OR tell about something that you would like to do differently in order to better reflect God’s love. What happened? How did you feel?
   

After I ask for forgiveness I could change how I treat others. I could do a lot of things to reflect Gods love, I could be kinder I guess and be more helpful to others. I don’t have any stories about how after being forgiven I acted different. I’m sure that when it happens it will be cool and I could reflect God more and more.

 

1. Tell a story about something creative that you did this week. What happened? Who was a part of making it happen? 

This week i didn’t do many things I would consider being creative. I guess something creative is that I have started designing clothes for fun. I was mostly part of making it happen but I used my moms iPad to draw them. I also went outside and went on my hammock with my sisters I guess that is kind of creative. I also painted rocks so I did some art this week.

 

1. Did God speak to you clearly this week when choosing the possible theme? If so, describe what that was like. If you did not hear God’s voice, how did that make you feel? Did the Zoom on Tuesday make sense to you? Do you have any suggestions for the 8th-grade teachers on finding the theme during distance learning? Do you have any questions for the 8th-grade teachers?

I think God spoke pretty clearly to me his week because it just made sense for or school. The zoom did not make a lot of sense because there was a lot going on. I don’t really have any suggestions for the 8th grade teachers or any questions.

 

2. Describe one gift or talent that you have that you could use to lead ZCS next year? Where and when could that gift be used at ZCS? For example, you might say that you like to organize so you could help Mr. Commeret organize the Lost and Found. You would do this by…

I don’t really know of any talents or gifts that i could use to lead ZCS. I could help with any things that need to be cleaned up or anything like that. I guess i could be a leader by trying to be a good example and being kind to others and helping people.

 

3. Listen to these songs and connect the song to “Listening to God” or this week’s search for a theme. What phrase stuck out to you? Why?

I chose the song ‘Word of God speak”. A phrase that stuck out to me was when he said ” The last thing I need is to be heard but to hear what you would say.” That phrase stuck out to me because it kind of gives us a mindset that we should have when we talk or do anything because we need to listen to God first instead of thinking about ourselves and stuff like that.

The story that can bring hope to us is the story of the burning bush. I think that it brings us hope because it shows that God can show up anywhere in any way. In this case God showed up in the form of a burning bush and told Moses to bring the Israelite’s to Egypt. It can give us hope to know that God will be with us trough anything. Go told Moses that he would be with him while he was on his way to Egypt. I think this story is telling us that we should pay attention to Gods signs and actions even though they may not be as obvious as a burning bush. The truth in this story is that God is always with us and he can show up in any way.

1. What did you learn or think about the most this week from our theme “The Psalms teach us to sing praise to God.” Was there a phrase from a Psalm that stood out? What praise do you sing to God right now? 
   
   

I thought about back when we got to actually be in church and sing and praise to God all together. A phrase that stood out to me was Psalm 2 where it says “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” That verse stood out to me because it reminded me of church and being able to sing with people. The verse it telling all of us to lift our hands and praise him because we are servants of God and we should praise him because we are servants of God. The praise i am singing now is that my friends are healthy and that my family can stay home and heal from all the bad news we have received.

 

2. Tell a story about a time that was difficult this week. What happened? Were there things that comforted you at all? 

Something that was really difficult for me and my family this week was having to deal with my grandpas death and having to start the week with bad news. There were a lot of people who have checked up on me and have cheered me up a lot. My friends have always been good at making me laugh and I was happy that i could have them to make me laugh this week. It has been kinda difficult to do work because i have so many distractions along with just the thoughts in my head which keep me from being able to focus sometimes . And school took my mind off of everything that has been happening for a little bit during the day. 

 

3. Tell a story about something this week that you were proud of. What happened? Who was a part of making it happen? Use at least 5 complete sentences.

I haven’t done much this week that i’m proud of because i don’t really know what to do. I guess i’m kinda proud of myself for actually doing my work even through everything that happened and it was mostly myself that made it happen. I was also proud of myself for making cookies which turned out perfect. I made them myself but my sister helped me roll them up into balls and put them in the oven. I am also proud of myself for doing devotions more often because I have so much time to do anything.