Godly Play training

For the last ten months or so, David has been involved in leading introductory days and training sessions in the Godly Play method of working with children. Here is a link to a website which shows some of the results of a recent workshop organized for the Mountainview International Church leaders and members in Madrid.



Seppo, one of the participants in the workshop, told the parable of the Good Shepherd to the rest of the group

Here is a comment from one of the leaders of Mountainview Church:

Hi David, I just wanted to say thanks again for your great help in training us in the parables and helping us to create the materials. Everyone is once again very, very excited about implementing Godly Play in our church. I think Seppo has a done a story for the kids (and adults) at every Bible study meeting since that day. We are hoping to start at our services this month. Thanks so much! Keep up the good work. ~April

You can find many more pictures of Godly Play presentations and workshops at the Godly Play Spain blog.

Car crash!

Last Saturday afternoon, my son, John Paul, and his family (Mari Angeles, Andrea, Zaret and Daniel) were travelling by car to Galicia, the north-west region of Spain. They were planning to spend a week redecorating their new house. Near the town of Santiago de Compostela, they were involved in a near-fatal car accident. While overtaking another vehicle on a bend on the motorway at 120 km/hour (70 mph), they suddenly found themselves approaching a third vehicle which had just been abandoned by its driver and passengers... and was lying right across the fast lane! It was impossible to avoid a full frontal collision. John Paul's car is now a complete write-off (cf. photo above). However, thankfully, both he and the rest of the family managed to survive the accident with only minor cuts and bruises. Mari Angeles was the worst affected with blows to her chest and legs, mainly through the impact of the air-bag, and the children also had grazes from the seat-belts. None of the occupants of the other vehicles suffered casualties. Finally, all the witnesses, police officers, hospital staff and garage mechanics, who were either at the accident scene itself or saw the subsequent state of the vehicle, agreed that it had been a sheer "miracle" that the whole family had not been killed outright!

I was able to visit John Paul and his family in Galicia the day after the accident and I spent a few days with them at their new house. Eventually I left my own car with them and returned by air to Madrid, as they are at a loss without transport in that rural setting.



There was also the opportunity to share some Godly Play parables with the children. The one about the Good Shepherd who sometimes leads his sheep through 'dark, dangerous places' seemed particularly relevant. Zaret's drawing above of the wolf pouncing on a very frightened sheep was her way of responding to the parable. "I wonder if that poor sheep got killed?", I asked her. "No", she replied. "The Good Shepherd was able to save her in the nick of time!"

Andrea's drawing was much more explicit of the actual danger ('peligro') they had just experienced as a family: a before ('antes') and after ('después') view of the car crash. The 'dangerous places' in the Godly Play parable are represented by black shapes, while the 'good pastures' are depicted by green felt. Note the black and green lines in Andrea's picture above. Godly Play is such a rich and wonderful way of helping children work through existential issues and important personal experiences.

John Paul and family plan to turn the new property into a rural guest-house. In the photo above, they are standing in front of the main building. There are also stables and grassy land around. It is in a beautiful part of Galicia, between Santiago and Finisterre ('Lands End').

This picture was taken a few days after the accident at an idyllic spot just 5 or 10 minutes away from their new house.

Claudia

I'd like to introduce to you the newest member of the Pritchard clan. Cilla and I are proud to announce the birth of our 9th grandchild. Claudia came into the world this morning, 3rd February 2005, weighing 3kg 200gr. At this rate, we grandparents should be well into double figures (i.e. regarding the number of our grandchildren) by the the time we reach 60!


Claudia... welcome to the world!

Baby and Mum (our daughter, Miriam) are doing just fine!