Bible Memory that works!

In our youth ministry here in Sawang Dandin, we have stumbled upon a clever method of helping our youth memorize verses. I used to erase one word at a time, from a white board. Sometimes I would add a cartoon or something to help with memory. It was a lot of work "on the fly" and took a lot of time but I observed kids liked it. But with an digital video projector, we can prepare multible slides using power-point which substitute cleverly chosen icons representing an idea, one word at a time. Sometimes we might chose a pun, or humorous illustration for a word --size it to the sentence size and replace it. For the children (and the Adults!) it is a challenging word game! They not only repeat with great gusto each small change, but it provides a lasting word association method that helps them remember verses quickly and with enduring recall. The longer the verse the more word substitutions and repeats. Each time we start the memory time, there is a round of clapping and cheers--they love it. Here a second grader is quoting from memory 1 John 1:9, just learned. All thirty students were able to do just as well. Interesting enough, they have fun reviewing the verses as they get together in play time, recalling from memory sometimes helping each other, using the mental images of the clip art and icons chosen for the memory verse.

This is just one illustration how, our video projector has become one of the greatest tools in our ministry. I had always thought it would be nice to have one but they are still quite expensive items. This projector was provided for us through an amazing set of circumstances (amazing how the way the Lord works!) which included a automobile accident for a fellow missionary. This nearly destroyed the projector a few years ago. He replaced it, and gave it to us. We had used the projector after a partial repair, from time to time, but because the screen quality was poor, we rarely used it.

A few months ago, I was able to restore it to full function and had our workmen affix it to our auditorium ceiling and now it is instantly usable for any images displayed through a personal computer. This includes Christian movies and cartoons in Thai and English, digital photos of the classes (they like to see their images), Bible memory, Bible Study text, announcements, English lessons and projected songs and choruses for rally time. How the Lord has blessed the ministry here!