Children praising the Lord in Chapel

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.“Yes,” replied Jesus,“have you never read,“‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

Matthew 21:16

Mandisa, one of my favorites.  My nickname for her is porkchop.

Today my ministry partner Ginger and I lead the precious Zulu children in chapel.  Our creche opened a month ago for the new school year and currently we have 45 preschoolers attending.

We begin with prayer and then singing.  Today's lesson was from Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

 And God spoke all these words:

With their finger as their light, the children sing THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE.

 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

 “You shall have no other gods before me.

We always choose a child to hold the CPH poster of the story.  Here I'm reviewing last weeks story about baby Moses and beginning to tell the story of Moses and the 10 commandments.

Here is Moses, with his oranges shoes up on the mountain holding the 10 commandments.

We counted to ten... remember these are preschoolers.  As I read each commandment, the teacher translated them into Zulu and the children had to repeat each commandment after the teacher.

 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Thobeka, definitely my favorite.  Such a sweet child.

 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

The B-I-B-L-E... yes that's the book for me!

 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."

 ^"Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.  For in six days the Lordmade the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

The teachers translate for me.  Here they are leading the children in a Zulu song.

 “You shall not murder."

Dumfusi

“You shall not commit adultery."

Rejoice

“You shall not steal."

Substitute teacher, filling in for our principal who is out for maternity leave.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”