PRAISING IN PRISON! Pages 16 and 17

December 2014

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Hi there!

Are you looking forward to Christmas?

I want to tell you something interesting.

There’s really no way of knowing the day and month of

Jesus’ birth. But in order that we would remember his coming into the world as a baby, a long time ago it was decided to celebrate it on 25th December. And that’s what we do here. But in Russia Christmas is celebrated on 7th January!

The date isn’t important, what is important is that we thank God for sending his Son, the Lord Jesus, to be our Saviour.

God bless you,

Irene

3 December’s star birthDays

4 - 5 Poor Gran! Luke takes his gran to hospital.

6 Preshal’s Precious KiDsThe last Project 2014 article.

7 it haPPeneD at camP, really it DiD!Photos to remind you!

10-11 it’s all about JesusWhat the shepherds saw in the middle of the night.

14-15 comPetition cornerHow good are you at following grid references?

18-19 robert murray mccheyneHe never forgot the Greek alphabet!

Compass comes to you thanks to the Free Church of Scotland Home Missions Board, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS. Sharon Barrett, Maria Wighton, Susan Clyne, Karen Murray, and Broderbund graphics helped with this month’s issue.December 2014, Volume 1 Number 3

What’s Inside

PLUS

16-17 Praising in Prison

20 the birthday

box

12-13 We’ve been to

see the Kelpies!

8-9 saturn, the

ringed planet

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PRIZE NEWSSend your competition corner, Young Reporters’ Club letters, and It’s All About Jesus sheets to

Mrs Irene Howat, 57 Garvine Road, Coylton, Ayr, KA6 6NZ, for your little prize.

December’s Star Birthdays

Samuel Stirling will be eight on 27th December. He lives in Forres and goes to Elgin Free Church. Here’s what Samuel says:

I have a big sister called Emily. I have a cat called Casper. I like swimming, cycling and running. My favourite books are the Barry Loser books. My favourite food is pepperoni pizza. I like watching Dennis the Menace and Gnasher. My favourite game is ‘Chicken or Egg’. I want to go to Iceland because I went there on holiday in the summer and had such a great time I would love to go back.

Hannah Nicolson will be twelve on 22nd December. She lives in Point, in the Isle of Lewis. Hannah tells us about herself:I have a big brother called Arron.We have a guinea pig and a dog. I like monkeys and tigers too but we don’t have any of them!Gymnastics, cycling, running, drawing and painting are my hobbies, especially gymnastics, cycling and running. I’m an outside person.I love medium rare steaks.My favourite game is ‘Colourful Penguins’.The colours I like best are red and orange.If I could choose to meet anyone in the world it would be Katherine Jenkins. She’s a brilliant singer.

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Luke and Mum opened Gran’s gate and found her sitting on the back door step!‘What’s wrong?’ asked Luke, seeing Gran’s white face.‘I’m all right,’ she said, trying hard to smile. ‘My slipper came off when I was going up the steps and I crashed down on my knee. I’ll just sit here and it’ll be fine in a wee while.’

Mum had a good look at the sore knee and then helped Gran into the house. Luke brought a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and put it on her knee to stop it swelling.‘That’s what Mum does when I hurt myself,’ he explained.Mum’s face was serious. ‘I think we need to take you to the hospital,’ she decided.Gran said that she didn’t feel up to it. But with Mum on one side and Luke on the other she made it out the door, down the step and into the car.

The three of them went into the Accident and

Emergency Unit. It was SO busy. People had sore legs, sore arms, sore everything. There was a baby crying very hard too. Then Luke had a big surprise. His mum’s friend was there with her grandson. Young Sean had fallen down the stairs and had a big lump on his head! Sean looked happy enough but his gran was very worried. A nurse and doctor examined Sean and decided that he was none the worse of his tumble. The wee boy was sorry to leave the hospital as it was so interesting but his gran was really happy to take him home.

A nurse took Gran away.‘Where’s she going?’ Luke wanted to know.‘I expect she’ll be taken to X-ray where they’ll take a picture of the inside of her knee.’

That’s exactly what happened. And when Gran came back again her knee was bandaged.‘They say I’ve cracked my

Poor Gran!

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patella,’ she told Luke and his mum.‘What’s that?’ he wanted to know.Mum explained that it was the bony pad in front of the knee joint.

Gran was still looking very pale when they helped her back into the car.‘I think you should stay with us tonight,’ Mum said gently.Seeing that Gran was looking a bit doubtful, Luke said, ‘Please, please say you’ll come. You can sleep in my bed. I’ve always wanted to sleep in the fold-down chair.’Gran smiled. ‘Well, I can’t let you down, can I?’

Luke made a great fuss of his gran that night. He wanted to be absolutely sure that she was comfy in his bed. After she’d had a little to eat and a cup of tea, the boy was pleased to see her nodding off. He smiled down at his sleeping gran. She looked so funny tucked up in his Thomas the Tank Engine bedclothes!

Later that night, when Gran was sound asleep, the family had their special Bible time

together. Dad prayed about Gran’s knee. Mum prayed for all the people they’d seen at the hospital and for the doctors and nurses too. And Luke prayed for Sean and the bump on his head.‘It’s good that we have people to help us when things go wrong,’ Mum said.Luke nodded. ‘But it’s even better that we have God to help us all the time,’ he told his dad and mum. And they agreed.

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all the money you have collected for Preshal’s Precious Kids should be sent to the Free church offices by the end of the year. cheques should be made out to the Free church of scotland and a note put in with cheques saying that the money is for the youth Project.

PRESHAL’S

PRECIOUS KIDS

PROJECT 2014

you’ve learned a lot about Preshal this year! see if you can answer these questions. the answers are upside down at the bottom of the page.

in what city does Preshal work?

is Preshal in a rich or a poor part of the city?

is Preshal for children or for everybody?

Do Preshal’s Precious Kids enjoy what they do?

What kinds of things do they do?

1. Glasgow 2. poor 3. everybody 4. yes 5. music, computing, recording, crafts, singing, sharing and discovering about Jesus

12345

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remember camp?

Did you learn about the lord Jesus?

It happened at camp,

really it did!

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Did you have lots of fun and games?

if you were at camp this year, tell your friends all about it and take them with you next summer!

remember camp?

Did you learn about the lord Jesus?

Do you hope to go next year?

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saturn is about 95 times the size of our

earth. it is called a gas giant because,

although it is thought to have a solid

core, it is mainly made of gases.God made saturn different from

the other planets as he gave it

rings around it! there are nine

rings, and they are mostly tiny

ice particles.

the planet saturn has 62 moons.

53 of the moons have names

and the largest of them all is

called titan. titan is the solar

system’s second largest moon.

saturn is on average 886 m

illion

miles fr

om the sun and it

takes th

e

planet 10,759 earth days (o

r about

29½ years) to go round th

e sun just

once!

in 19

79 th

e sp

acec

raft

Pion

eer

11 fle

w w

ithin

12,5

00

mile

s of

sat

urn’

s cl

oud

tops

and

also

stu

died

the

plan

et’s

ring

s. t

he n

ext y

ear

Voya

ger

2 to

ok b

ette

r im

ages

of t

he

plan

et.

the

n in

201

3 c

ass

ini

sent

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ck

ima

ge

s o

f a

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ane

on

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rn. i

t w

as

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ime

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an

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ica

nes

on

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rth

wit

h w

ind

-sp

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ds

up t

o 3

30

mile

s a

n ho

ur!

OURWONDERFUL

WORLD!

God m

ade the sun, moon,

stars and planets on the

fourth day of creation.

it’s strange that a planet

God m

ade is named after

a roman god, w

ho isn’t a

god at all!

saturn is the

sec

ond

la

rge

st pla

net in the

sola

r syste

m a

nd the

six

th pla

net fro

m the

sun. Jup

iter is the

la

rge

st pla

net. sa

turn w

as na

me

d a

fter a

ro

ma

n go

d.

Scrambled

oD ont eb dfiraa. i nribg oyo ogdo sewn fo rtgae oyj hatt liwl eb fro lal hte loeepp.

A long time ago some shepherds were out on a hillside taking care of their sheep. They had to guard them against wild animals. Suddenly, in the middle of that dark night, there was an amazing light, not like any light anyone had ever seen. It was the light of God’s glory and it shone all around them.

The men hurried down the hillside and found Mary and Joseph in a stable in the town. And they knew they were in the right place for there, beside his mother, lay a baby boy in a manger. His name was Jesus. On their way back to the sheep, the shepherds told everyone they met the good news.

TICK FOR TRUE AND CROSS FOR FALSE

it was night and very dark.

the men on the hill were looking after cows.

an angel came with a message from God.

the message was bad news.

the shepherds went to bethlehem.

they found the baby Jesus there!

they kept the good news a secret.

IT’SALL ABOUT

JESUS

1

4

Unscramble the words to read what they say.

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An angel told the frightened shepherds not to be afraid. Then he said something absolutely wonderful. The angel told the shepherds that down in the town below them a baby had been born who was Christ the Lord. And they would know they had found the right baby for he would be lying in a manger.

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A long time ago some shepherds were out on a hillside taking care of their sheep. They had to guard them against wild animals. Suddenly, in the middle of that dark night, there was an amazing light, not like any light anyone had ever seen. It was the light of God’s glory and it shone all around them.

The men hurried down the hillside and found Mary and Joseph in a stable in the town. And they knew they were in the right place for there, beside his mother, lay a baby boy in a manger. His name was Jesus. On their way back to the sheep, the shepherds told everyone they met the good news.

3 Suddenly a huge number of angels appeared all singing to God. When the angels went away back to heaven the shepherds decided to go down to the town of Bethlehem. They knew that God had sent his angels with good news and they wanted to see the baby they had been told about, that very special baby.

the good news was that jesus had

been born in bethlehem

the shepherds went and found

mary and joseph with the baby

jesus lying in a manger

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IT’SALL ABOUT

JESUS

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

a b C d e f g h i j K l m

N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

n o p Q r s t u V w X y Z

USE THIS TO CRACK THE CODE

IN THE BOX UNDERNEATH

At Greyfriars Free Church we do memory

work where we learn verses from the Bible.

Once we did a memory work challenge and

had to say all the verses we had learnt in the

2013/2014 session! Some people tried it out

and won a prize which was a Greyfriars mug

full of sweets.

Before we go to Sunday school we have to

read and sing some verses from the Bible

with the minister and everyone else. And the

kids get a talk from one of the teachers

called Graeme, which is interesting.

I like Sunday school because it is so friendly

and you can make a lot of new friends. Also

I like the memory work because it is

challenging.

From Lachlan Fraser, Greyfriars, aged 8

THE YOUNG

REPORTERS’ CLUB

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At the Kelpies you can see two massive

horses. The Kelpies are mythical

creatures. The story is that they pretend

to be struggling to swim, so little kids go

and help them and then the Kelpies drag

the kids under water until they drown.

But that’s just a story. The Kelpies are

made out of steel and it’s very clever

because it has lots of different shapes.

They are very detailed. You can see the

Kelpies from about 3 miles away.

Finlay Morrison, Falkirk

The Kelpies

I went to the Kelpies and went

straight to the ice cream stand. The

Kelpies are surrounded by a mini moat

and are next to the Forth and Clyde

canal. They are about 35 meters high.

You can also go inside if you get the

tour. Once you are inside the best

option is to lie down to grasp the full

scale of them.

Andrew Tait, Falkirk

One day Mum told me that we were going to the Kelpies. It was a long walk and I was tired. I went to touch a Kelpie but wasn’t allowed to. It was cool. Then we went for a long walk back and went for the water. My step dad pushed me in and I was laughing my head off. It was so much fun. He went back home to get us dry clothes.

Lucy Ann Hartley, Falkirk

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COMPETITIONORNER

Use the grid references to spell out some facts about the birth of Jesus.

For example B3 = H, F1 = Y and C2 = 0

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A

G

M

T

B

H

N

U

C

I

O

V

D

J

P

W

E

K

R

X

F

L

S

Y

4

3

2

1

A B C D E F

D3 E4 F2 BI F2 D1 A4 F2 A4 E2 E4 A4 F3 B4 A4 B4 F1 B4 C2 F1.

B3 C3 F2 A2 C2 A1 B3 E4 E2 D1 A4 F2 A2 A4 E2 F1.

B3 E4 D1 A4 F2 B4 C2 E2 B2 C3 B2 A4 F2 A1 A4 B4 F3 E4.

BE E4 D1 A4 F2 F3 A4 C3 D4 C3 B2 A4 A2 A4 B2 A3 E4 E2.

D3 E4 F2 B1 F2 C3 F2 A3 C2 D4 F2 F2 C2 B2.

D3 E4 F2 B1 F2 C3 F2 C2 B1 E2 F2 A4 C1 C3 C2 B1 E2.

how many words can you make out of the letters of bethlehem?

COMPETITION

In the beginning was God. He made the heavens and the earth. Then he made light so that there was day and night. God did that on day one. The next day, that was day two, he made land, sky and seas.

After that, on the third day, God made everything that grows - trees, flowers, vegetables and fruit. Then came the sun, moon and stars, and they were all made on the fourth day.

The next day the God of creation filled the sea with fishes and all other watery creatures and he made birds to fly in the sky and to chirp and cheep. That was day five.

And the following day, the sixth and last day of creation, God made every kind of animal and then, separate and different from the animals, he made the very first man. When God looked at all he had made, he was pleased because it was all very good.

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Colour the flowers God made on the third day of creation.

Draw something God made on the sixth day.

PraISInG In PrISon!

A slave girl followed Paul and Silas around. She had an evil spirit that meant she could tell the future.

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‘In the name of Jesus, I command you to come out of her,’ Paul told the spirit. And it left her.

2

3

6

16

The girl’s owners were angry. Paul and Silas were beaten and put in prison.

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PraISInG In PrISon!

At midnight the two men sang songs to God and prayed to him. The other prisoners listened.

Suddenly there was an earthquake! The jailor thought everyone would escape. They didn’t.

5

The jailor fell on his knees and asked Paul and Silas, ‘Men, what must I do to be saved?’

6

The jailor and his family all believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and became Christians.

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4

When Robert was just 14 years old he went to Edinburgh

University. Then, when he was 18, his big brother David died.

Robert loved him.

Robert was born in Edinburgh in 1813. He wasn’t a very healthy wee

boy and often had to spend time in his bed rather than outside playing.

Once when he was ill his big brother taught him the Greek

alphabet – and he never forgot it. Robert was a clever boy.

Lots of people came to St Peter’s. Robert had 170 girls

and 70 young men in his Bible Class! Many people wanted to know about

Jesus.

They went to see how the Jewish people could be

taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

St Peter’s Church, Dundee, is now a Free

Church and the minister is Rev. David Robertson.

After David died Robert thought a

lot about things. He asked the Lord Jesus to forgive his sins and be his Saviour and Lord.

When he was away God did wonderful things in

Dundee. Many, many people became Christians, men, women and children too.

Robert murray mccheyne

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Once when he was ill his big brother taught him the Greek

alphabet – and he never forgot it. Robert was a clever boy.

Lots of people came to St Peter’s. Robert had 170 girls

and 70 young men in his Bible Class! Many people wanted to know about

Jesus.

When he was a teenager, Robert and his friend Malcolm

went on a walking holiday. It didn’t all go smoothly but they had a great time.

After David died Robert thought a

lot about things. He asked the Lord Jesus to forgive his sins and be his Saviour and Lord.

When he left university Robert

Murray McCheyne became a minister,

eventually going to be minister of St Peter’s

Church in Dundee.

In 1839 Robert was asked to be a member

of a small group of Christians going to the Holy Land, where

Jesus had lived.

When he was away God did wonderful things in

Dundee. Many, many people became Christians, men, women and children too. Robert died and went to heaven

when he was just 29 years old.

Robert murray mccheyne

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1st Dec William McCabe (Toronto) 121st Dec Rolo Bradley (North Coast) 92nd Dec Amily Devoti (Coatbridge) 73rd Dec Marcus Macaulay (Tain) 93rd Dec John Maclean (Kilmallie) 73rd Dec Rowan Henderson (Prestwick) 67th Dec James Morrison (Scalpay) 139th Dec Erin Macleod (Back) 1 110th Dec Scott MacIver (Invergordon) 1210th Dec Elspeth Murray (Kilmallie) 1010th Dec Emma Gordon (Dunfermline) 1310th Dec David Fleming (Inverness) 1 110th Dec Ruaraidh Maclean (Point) 611th Dec Anna Cumming (Gateshead) 1214th Dec Evette MacAskill (Inverness) 1015th Dec Walter Baak (Fort William) 1 116th Dec Daniel Lockington (Glasgow) 617th Dec Jordan Morrison (Shawbost) 17th Dec Craig Fraser (Drumnadrochit) 1 117th Dec Thomas Rapley (Kilmallie) 1317th Dec Anna Cumming (Gateshead) 1017th Dec James Maciver (Tong) 718th Dec Jane Finlayson (Barvas) 13

18th Dec Iain Campbell (Sandwick) 1018th Dec Marc Devoti (Coatbridge) 619th Dec Abigayil Charters (Nairn) 1220th Dec Josh Lohse (Invergordon) 820th Dec Scott Murray (Tong) 1220th Dec Andrew Maciver (Carloway) 621st Dec James Forbes (Lairg) 721st Dec Isla Maciver (Aultbea) 922nd Dec Ross Morrison (East Kilbride) 1322nd Dec Hannah Nicolson (Point) 1222nd Dec Hannah Mackenzie (Back) 1023rd Dec Lewis MacKenzie (Inverness) 1223rd Dec Donald MacDonald (Glasgow) 1325th Dec Matthew Maciver (Livingston) 725th Dec Calvin Farquhar (North Coast) 1226th Dec Douglas Harvey (Dunfermline) 1326th Dec Sarah-Jane Chesters (North Coast) 1027th Dec Christian Richards (Cumbernauld)27th Dec Samuel Stirling (Forres) 827th Dec Brodie Watson (Inverness) 1229th Dec Fraser Urquhart (Knockbain) 829th Dec Calum Turner (Knockbain) 630th Dec Luke MacAulay (Leith) 12

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