Tirzah demonstrates her "scooter technique"
I think a certain brother and sister put Tirzah up to this one!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
LEGO Resurrection Eggs
Last Easter we did a egg hunt based on Resurrection Eggs. Today Jemilla asked if we could repeat the exercise but use only Lego items in each egg to pair with the relevant Bible verses. (I think she was inspired after seeing the exhibition in Taikoo!) She found all the items and wrote the references and prepared the eggs. This is what she came up with...
1. (Palm branch) John 12:12-13
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!”
2. (Bread) Matthew 26:26
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
3. (Coin) Matthew 26: 14-15
Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
4. (Purple cloth) Mark 15:17
They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
5. (Thorns) Matthew 27:29
...and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.
6. (Whip) Mark 15:15
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
7. (Cross) John 19: 17-18
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
8. (Nails) John 20:25
So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
9. (Sign) Luke 23:38
There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
10. (Spear) John 19:34
One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
11. (Rock) Matthew 27:59-60
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of
12. (Empty) Matthew 28:6
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Craig and I hid the Lego Resurrection Eggs throughout the house, then let the kids loose for some fun.
We enjoyed discovering the treasures inside each egg and reading all the associated Bible verses. It was a fun and meaningful Easter egg hunt!
He has risen!
We enjoyed a wonderful combined service at Kowloon International Baptist Church this morning. Congregational members were invited to adorn a cross at the front of the church with flowers. (Thank you, Veronica, for sharing your flowers with us as we had forgotten to bring any!)
Here is the Harvey family on our second Easter in Hong Kong.
After church, many of the congregation members walked to a nearby restaurant to share in an Easter lunch together. I thought the dumplings were especially delicious!
I can't really explain why I am so opposed to any Halloween celebrations yet I willingly participate in a festival that also has pagan roots, namely Easter. I guess I would answer people by saying that we have made it into a Christian celebration. This weekend we have spent plenty of time reflecting on what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jemilla and Keegan loved the recent elementary Easter chapel service where it was stressed that Buddha 's tomb and Mohammed 's tomb are both occupied. Only Jesus rose from the dead. We rejoice in the sacrifice that he made, so that we might live. The presence of chocolate rabbits or eggs in our house does not impact on our faith or how we celebrate Easter.
In the last fortnight I struggled to share the Easter story with my little class at school. Due to their disabilities, it's hard to know how much these students understand of these often complex Bible stories. I try my best to tell the story in different ways, with visuals, songs, craft, etc. One student, upon hearing of Jesus' death on the cross, broke into tears saying the story was just "so sad". Her mother told me later that it was actually the first time she had heard about the crucifixion. I was really moved by her response.
During the sermon this morning I recalled how in Africa as a teenager I participated in several Christian outreaches to villages where we showed the Jesus film in the local dialect. It still gives me chills to remember how when the movie reached the point of Jesus rising from the dead, spontaneous applause and cheers would break out from the crowd. They were just so excited and thrilled with the events of the story that they were seeing for the first time that they could not contain their joy.
Maybe you are like me and are very familiar with the Easter story. I pray that today you will find a new and fresh way of looking at the enormous sacrifice Jesus made for you. And as our pastor said this morning, the cross does not have "The End" engraved on it; the cross is the beginning of new life!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Lego Exhibition in Taikoo: "Build up your imagination"
It seems that Lego is a major part of our lives these days, so naturally when we heard about a major Lego exhibition here in Hong Kong we had to go and check it out. We found "Build up your Imagination" at City Plaza, Taikoo Shing.
Here are Craig and the kids queuing up next to a sign that reads "Waiting Time 60 Minutes". Thankfully the line moved much faster than indicated!
You can see how crowded the place was though.
I think everyone and their brother were here today!
Most of the exhibits featured famous buildings from around the world. Here are just a few examples...
China
Japan
Our own Hong Kong: Cultural Centre
Hong Kong: Tai Po Railway Museum
Hong Kong: Big
India
England
Egypt
This was Keegan's favourite display as his Grade One class has been learning all about Egypt.
Australia
Holland
France
Can someone help me out with the likely location of these buildings?
Unknown #1 now identified as Dubai (thanks to reader Aruneh)
Unknown #2 now identified as Thailand
Unknown #3 now identified as Macau
Unknown #4 now identified as Russia (thanks to reader Aruneh)
Unknown #5
Unknown #6
These are some random scenes, but just as awesome in their construction as the others.
These famous buildings from around the world were on a smaller scale and all constructed together in one case.
Hong Kong in a glance.
These were costumed characters inspired by Japanese animations.
Besides the wonderful creations, there was a mini museum to inform visitors about the history of LEGO.
In 1932, in the village of Billund, Denmark, a carpenter by the name of Ole Kirk Christiansen started a company to manufacture wooden toys. In 1934 he named his company LEGO. It is a contraction of the Danish words "leg" and "godt", meaning "play well". Coincidentally and rather appropriately, the word lego has the meaning "I assemble" in Latin.
This is a photo of the first ever LEGO toy factory.
The first plastic bricks were moulded in 1949.
In 1960, the warehouse that held all of LEGO's wooden toys burned down, so the LEGO company decided not to continue its production of wooden toys, and instead to concentrate on plastics.
The first Lego people were called "Homemaker figures" and appeared in 1974.
Mini figures first appeared in 1978. We love the range of characters out now!
Introduced in 1979 and geared towards younger builders, Fabuland figures featured animal heads.
Can you guess how many red Lego bricks make up this jumbo brick? As part of the exhibition, the 30 closest guesses will win a Lego gift pack worth $350 HKD. The exhibition continues until May 2, so you still have a chance to be in it to win it!
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