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APRIL 2015
What’s
Inside
Hi there!
7
storm in Sky
e
20
birth
da
y
s!
Do you like the owl on the
front cover? Owls are
very interesting birds.
You’ll find out about them
on page nine.
A
Owls are said to be wise birds.
Perhaps that’s because they look as if they
are wearing spectacles. Not that wearing
spectacles makes you wise! The Bible tells
us where true wisdom is found. Proverbs
2 verse 6 says, ‘For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding.’
PLUS
lu
b
12
’C
Pl
ot
ag
ainst Paul!
-1
3
rs
Irene
17
-
God bless you all,
16
Where do you think you can find the wisdom
God gives? You’ll find it in the Bible because it
is God’s Word for you and for me.
e
rt
Young Repo
3 April’s star birthdays
4 - 5 Penguins, puffins and paint
Now there’s an idea for a present!
6 Project 2015
Imagine a fifth of Scotland under water!
10-11 It’s all about Jesus
‘Was your son really blind?’ a man’s parents were asked.
14-15
Competition corner
You’ll need to get your brain in gear for this page!
18-19 The story of George Müller
George was one very naughty boy.
2
Compass comes to you thanks to the Free Church of Scotland Home Missions Board, The Mound, Edinburgh,
EH1 2LS. Sharon Macleod, Maria Wighton, Susan Clyne and Karen Murray helped with this month’s issue.
April 2015, volume 1 number 7.
APRIL’s
Star Birthdays
Allan MacColl will be six on
14th April. Over to you, Allan.
I go to St. Mary’s Gaelic
School in Fort William and
am in P1 and I go to the
Free Church and Sunday
School in Fort William too. My sister Emma
is a year older than me.
I like doing sums and I can count up to 20 in
Gaelic! Dad is a Chief Officer on a CalMac
ferry. He uses numbers all the time to
steer the boat right.
I take Giraffe with me to bed as well as a
teddy. But I have a dream light toy and,
after Mum reads me a story, I press its
tummy and it lights up.
I would like to go to Landmark, Carrbridge.
There are water slides, a rock climbing
castle, a house with a bridge to cross and
lots to play with.
Ellie Blackhall will be 11 on
12th April. Here’s what
Ellie says about herself.
I am in Hill of Fearn
Primary School and I’m
in P 6.
I go to Tain Free Church and to the Sunday
school there.
My brother Charlie is six and my sister
Jessica is eleven.
My favourite subjects at school are
art and reading. And my best hobby is
horse-riding.
We have a pet black cat called Harley. He
is two years old and he has green eyes.
My teddy bear is called Crystle and that’s
what I take to bed at night.
If I could choose to go anywhere and do
anything, I’d go to Florida to Disney World.
And what I’d most like to do there is swim
with dolphins.
THANKS!
The editor says a big thanks to
Compass readers who have been in
touch this month.
Eilidh and Paddy MacInnes, Alistair
and Kirsty Macdonald, Chris Strang,
Joanna and Martha Shillaker (all
from Lochcarron), Anna Moller
(Bernisdale), Cameron and Daisy
Macaulay and Keiran MacDonald
(East Kilbride), Allan MacColl
(Fort William), Ellie Blackhall (Tain),
David Chisholm and Ross Munro
(Maryburgh and Killearnan) and
Daniel MacLean (Glenurquhart).
PRIZE NEWS
Send 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.
3
Pe n g u i n s ,
pu f f i n s
and p ain t
Lisa was excited to be spending the
Billy was not so sure. He thought
Lisa was admiring a painting of a lion
and lioness that her gran’s friend
had done.
it would be boring and, anyway, he
‘The lions look very sleepy,’ said Lisa.
morning at Gran’s art class. Brother
wanted to play football with his
friends. Gran was busy trying to
organise the children to bring paper,
paints, brushes and all they
would need for the art class.
Gran’s friend laughed. ‘Yes,’ she said.
‘I made them that way so I wouldn’t
have to draw and paint their
eyes. I’m not very good at
doing eyes.’
‘There may be other
children at the class
because of the
school holiday,’
Gran said, as
they left home.
When they got
there Billy was pleased that
another boy called Ken was with his
grandmother. Ken was drawing a
lighthouse in pastels.
‘Wow! That’s good,’ Billy told him.
4
‘What would you two like
to do?’ the art teacher
asked the children.
‘I’d like to paint a puffin
and make it into a
bookmark for my mum,’
said Lisa.
Mum was forever losing her
place in her book!
‘What a lovely idea,’ smiled the
teacher.
‘And I want to paint a penguin,’ Billy
told her. ‘I think that would be easier.’
Gran and the teacher laughed.
‘And I could make it into a
bookmark for Grandpa.’
‘Their grandpa is a very keen birdwatcher,’ Gran explained. ‘But I
don’t think he’s ever seen a penguin
outside Edinburgh Zoo.’
Soon the children had their
heads down and their
tongues sticking out of
their mouths. Do you
do that when you’re
thinking hard about
something? They
both did.
Lisa drew a
puffin which
she thought
was cute. Billy
just couldn’t get
started.
‘Would you like some
help?’ asked the teacher.
‘Yes please,’ Billy answered, holding
up a picture of a penguin. ‘I
thought penguins were black and
white but there are lots of bits of
colour in this one.’
‘So there are,’ she agreed.
Then the teacher drew the outline
of an emperor penguin and left
Billy to paint in the colours. He did
it really well!
After both paintings were dry the
teacher said that she would laminate
them, that’s cover them with plastic
so they wouldn’t get in a mess.
‘Do you want to write something on
them before they’re laminated?’ she
asked.
‘What do you think we should write?’
the twins asked Gran.
‘What about “Look at the
birds?”’
And that’s what they
wrote.
Mum and Grandpa
were delighted with
their bookmarks.
At bedtime
Grandpa had
something to tell them.
‘There’s a book I know
about birds and it was
written by a minister,’ said
Grandpa. ‘He said that he
learned a lot about God just by
looking at birds.’
‘I think I know what he meant,’ said
Lisa. ‘When I looked at a blue tit in
the garden I thought that God must
be a great artist to design such a
beautiful bird.’
‘And so he is.’ Grandpa agreed.
5
Project
2015
Collecting Money for the
Disaster and Relief Fund
We know what rain is in
Scotland, don’t we? Yes
… but we’ve no idea how
it can rain in Pakistan.
In 2010 the monsoon
rains were thought to
be the heaviest ever.
Rivers in the north of
the country flooded,
and then rivers in the
middle of the country
flooded, and then rivers
in the south flooded
too. Eventually a fifth
of Pakistan was under water! That would be like Scotland being under
water apart from north of Inverness.
Eighteen million people were affected by the floods and twelve million
homes were destroyed or badly damaged. 450,000 cattle were drowned –
a terrible thing to happen in a country where many people are poor. And
10,000 schools were left useless. The Free Church sent £18,000 from the
Disaster and Relief Fund to help those in great need.
All the money you send in this year will go to the Disaster
and Relief Fund to be ready and waiting to be sent out when
something like that happens again. Can you think of any ways
in which your Sunday school could raise money for the Fund?
6
Do you enjoy reading stories about real people who have done amazing
things? Would you like a newly-written story emailed to you every
month, along with a puzzle sheet and pictures to colour? Then you
would enjoy being a member of the Editor’s Story-a-Month Club. If
you ask someone to make you a member as a present, you’ll have a
birthday gift every month of the year!
www.story-a-month-club.org.uk
From
Anna Moller,
Compass’s
Young Reporter
on Skye
On Thursday the 8th
of January this year
we had a fierce storm.
There was blue lightning
and high winds. Because the storm was
on its way my brother’s
school was closed but
my school was still open
when the storm was
coming.
During the storm there
was a big power cut. I
felt very scared during
the storm because I
didn’t know what was
going to happen next. The rain sounded like
gush, gush, gush and the
wind sounded like very
loud whistling. Because
of the power cut my
school was closed
before I went to it. On Friday our power
went back on but some
people still didn’t have
power till the following
Monday. I really felt
very sad for the people
working in the storm.
Even when they felt very
tired they would have to
keep on working to fix
the power, maybe even
through the night when it
was really wild!
7
8
Barn owls can capture prey when
blindfolded. However, they cannot
capture prey if one of their ears
is plugged or if they lose their
feathers around their eyes. They
act like satellite dishes to catch
sound. It was God who made the
first satellite dishes!
ey u t
th Yo ’
n
t
.
at ets l ca an’ t
s
th
e
ck ow u c lmo
o a
rg so n
s
la ir t a t y ds at’
so he bu ha ea wh
w
e in t s ,
o rh e
e
ar
s ve ey n d hei se
a t
to
ye o r
c
u
l e ot m yo ls urn nd
u
w
O nn oll Ow n t ro
ca n r at. ca ay
y
w !
ca th
m
he e
d o , t th h e
t
d o gh t d
n
ri hi
be
Be
go ca
th od use
m ey vi o
di ain hu sio wls
ow nne ly nt b n w ha
b
ls r b y y e s ve
ab y so sig om su
le lis un ht
e ch
to ten d. . A tim b
do in Co ma es ig e
g u
th fo ld zin th ye
at r yo g ink s
ly
a
it
!
? u f , o th nd
a
G in
od d wls t
m yo hu
ad ur nt
Owls
e
ea
anima t the same
k
ls as s
ome o ind of sma
don’t
ll
ther b
fight
over
irds. B
hunt d
t
h
u
em. T
uring
he oth t they
the da
hunt a
er bir
y and
t nigh
ds
most
t. God
owls
plann
ed tha
t well
.
O
w
se ls
e
bu w are
at t t ha fa
th a d hey t’s r-s
ey is
c ri ig
ar tan an ght hte
d
e
i
c s
hu e. ee n f . T
r
nt Th br on he
y
in at ill
g
i to d
’
fo s h ant f t on
’t
e
h
r
l
fo lpf y w em
od ul
,
h
w at
.
he is
n
l
ow
f
l
e
e
.
the ll. Th
all
t
s
i
m
l
a
ow cm t 60 c es in
t
s
r
3
iz
e
all out 1 s ove all s
m
i
f
s
ab wl
ls o
o
The it is
w
y
o
e
d
an at gr ade
s
m
e
he s a
as
gr
t
h
k
.
e
d
ng lv loo
Go ween
i
e
r
t
.
s
be
du m ves on
e
d h
l g
ne h t se tin
e
c em sit
ak t
w tre e th re s.
e
s k
a r
ar es a ey to
ls im d m th da
ow et an ee pre
m
g
r
in so an e t om
p
c
y
h
fr
t
y
ee e
sl , th the of em
If y s
ts th
da ll a ar es
ta e p hid
lik is
Th
Burrowing owls are found
in Canada, America and
the Caribbean islands.
They live underground in
burrows made by small
animals. What fascinating
creatures God has made!
OUR
WONDERFUL
WORLD!
9
There are
nine different
words in the
story beginning
with S. Use
your eyes to
find them and
then look for
them in the
grid.
S
I
D
D
E
N
I
S
H
E M A
O
L
I
S
H
T
E
O A
R
H
A
T
E
E
W O
G
H
E
A
E W B
Y
H
G
I
S
T
N
N
B
D
I
A
S
N
E
E
S
A
S
P
E
A
K
I
N
G
C
Jesus and his frie
who had been bor
sinned,’ the discip
man or his paren
born blind?’ Jesu
the man had been
that God’s power
in his life. They d
would happen tha
Jesus made a paste and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go
and wash in the Pool of Siloam,’ Jesus told him. The
man went and washed. God did a wonderful miracle,
for when the man went back to his home he could see!
And remember, he had never seen in all of his life.
Lift some stones to see what
bugs are underneath.
Look really hard into someone’s
eyes and see all their colours
and speckles.
Draw a plan of your bedroom.
Put in where your bed is and
where your favourite toys are.
Try to count how many colours
you can see from where you
are sitting.
10
10
Thank God for giving
you eyes that can see.
The Pharisees e
with the man’s
he had been bli
man, who could
he was speakin
very first time,
man were not f
could do nothin
what the clever
day didn’t know
God who had gi
ends met a man
rn blind. ‘Who
ples asked, ‘this
nts, that he was
us explained that
n born blind so
could be shown
didn’t know it
at very day!
even checked
parents that
ind. Then the
d see who
ng to for the
, said, ‘If this
from God, he
ng.’ He knew
r men of the
w, that it was
iven him sight.
Imagine you are blind and that a friend
leads you to an animal. You feel it with
your hands. This is what it feels like.
It is huge!
It has four legs like tree trunks.
The animal has a nose like a long hose.
It has a short tail like a whip.
It has ears like curtains.
What is it?
An
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Pharisees decided to investigate. ‘How come you
can see?’ they asked him. The man explained what
Jesus had done. Because Jesus gave the blind man
his sight on the Sabbath the rulers were very angry
and said that Jesus didn’t come from God. The man
who had been blind was amazed!
r
Use you
eyes to
ut
work o
ite
which k
s to
belong
oy.
which b
11
THE
YOUNG
S
R
E
T
R
O
P
E
R
CLUB
LOCHCARRON
SUNDAY SCHOOL
What do you like about Sunday school?
I like the crafts in Sunday school and everybody is
so friendly. ( E i l i d h M a c I n n e s )
I like the stories in the Bible. ( A l i s ta i r M a c d o n a l d )
In Sunday school I like learning about different
people in the Bible. ( K i r s t y M a c d o n a l d )
I like Sunday school because you can do stuff
instead of being bored. It is better than primary
school. ( C h r i s S t r a n g )
In Sunday school I like reading
different stories in the Bible.
(Paddy MacInnes)
I enjoy learning about the Bible in
fun ways and with my friends in
Sunday school. ( Jo a n n a S h i l l a k e r )
In Sunday school I enjoy doing the
crafts. ( M a r t h a S h i l l a k e r )
12
E
D
I
R
B
L
I
K
T
S
A
E
L
O
O
H
C
S
Y
A
D
SUN
d I go to the
I’m Cameron an
hool as Daisy.
same Sunday sc
ay
t things in Sund
We do differen
e reading the
school and I lik
the lions is my
Bible. Daniel and
ing
y and I like hear
or
st
e
it
ur
vo
fa
e
the basket. I lik
in
es
os
M
t
ou
ab
could go back in
all stories. If I
when Noah was
time, I’d go to
I’m four.
building the ark.
a u lay
C a m e ro n M a c
My name is Dai
sy and I’m seve
n. I go to
East Kilbride Fr
ee Church Sund
ay School.
My teachers ar
e Michelle and D
avid. We
do worksheets
and crafts. I lik
e doing
crafts. My favo
urite Bible stor
ies are
Sarah and Abr
aham having a
baby,
Moses in the ba
sket and Jesus
coming
alive again. I lik
e living in East K
ilbride
because it is ne
ar Nana and m
y friend.
If I could go ba
ck in history, I’
d like to
go back to whe
n the princess
found
Moses in the R
iver Nile.
Da is y M a c a u la
y
day school. I like
and Daddy are my teachers in Sun
I’m Keiran and I’m five. Mummy
Sunday school.
. We learn about God and pray in
the story of Jonah and the big fish
at Lollipop
e to walk my dog and I like playing
I like East Kilbride. It’s a good plac
be Adam and
I could go back in time, I’d like to
Land. That’s a soft play centre. If
I wouldn’t eat the fruit.
Ke ira n Ma cD on al d
East Kilbride
Sunday school,
left to right:
Cameron Macaulay,
Keiran MacDonald,
Daisy Macaulay
holding Leah
MacDonald, and
Seòras MacLean
13
COMPETITION
O
R
N
E
R
Use the grid references to spell out some
facts about the Easter story.
For example B3 = H, F1 = Y and C2 = 0
D3 E4 F2 B1 F2
B3 E4
B2 E4 C1 E4 E2
D4 C3 D4
D3 E4 F2 B1 F2
B2 C2 A1
D4 C3 E4 D4
B3 E4
E2 C2 F2 E4
C3 F4
D1 E4
B3 E4
D1 C3 F3 F3
D4 C3 D4
A1 C2
B
C
D
E
F
3
G
H
I
J K
L
2
M N
O
P R
S
1
T
U
V
W X
Y
A
B
C
D
F
C3 B2
E
D1 E2 C2 B2 A3
F2 A4 C1 E4
A1 B3 E4
D4 E4 A4 A1 B3
B1 F2
D4 E4 A4 D4
D3 E4 F2 B1 F2
F4 C2 E2 A3 C3 C1 E4
Write a thank-you prayer to Jesus.
14
A
D4 E4 F2 E4 E2 C1 E4
F4 E2 C2 A2
A1 E2 B1 F2 A1
4
C2 B1 E2
F2 C3 B2 F2
Colour in the picture of Moses.
A special little boy was born at a really hard
time for his family. They were Hebrews, and
the Hebrew people were then slaves in Egypt.
Not only that, Pharaoh (the king) had passed a
law saying that all Hebrew baby boys had to
be drowned in the River Nile! This baby’s mum
and dad didn’t do that. Instead, they hid him at
home until he was three months old. Then his
mum made a waterproof basket and tucked
him in the basket and hid it among the reeds
beside the river. The baby’s big sister kept
watch to see that he was all right.
Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby and
fell in love with him and then decided to take
him home and bring him up in the palace. She
called him Moses. When he grew up God used
Moses to free the Hebrew people from their
slavery.
(This story is in Exodus 2)
Here are five words from the story of Moses.
Can you fit them in the grid?
Moses
Basket
E
Egypt
Pharaoh
Nile
P
N
B
M
15
P
against
lot
P
Paul was arrested in
Jerusalem. The commander
ordered him to be taken into
the barracks.
Paul told all those who
were gathered about
the Lord Jesus. The next
night God told Paul that
he would be taken to
Rome to preach about
Jesus there.
16
Then the commander
said that Paul should be
whipped. The people
round about were
shouting against Paul.
Paul’s nephew heard
about a plot to kill Paul.
More than 40 men had
agreed not to eat anything
until they had killed him!
P aul !
Just before he was
to be whipped Paul
told them he was a
Roman citizen. It was
against the law to
whip a Roman citizen.
The next day Paul was brought
before the Sanhedrin. The
commander wanted to find out
what Paul had done wrong.
When the commander heard
about the plot, he ordered a
troop of soldiers to take Paul
out of the city to safety while
it was dark. He was taken
safely away during the night.
God saved his life once again.
17
GEORGE
George Müller was born
in 1805 in Germany. His dad
collected taxes for the government.
George had a brother called Friedrich.
The boys could sometimes be very
naughty, especially George.
Their dad kept his work
money at home. One da
George stole some of the
money and hid it in his shoe.
Mr Müller searched the boy
and heard the coins rattling.
George was given a hard
smacking.
When he was a student
George went with a
friend to a meeting and
became a Christian. His other
friends waited for him to start
getting drunk with them like
he used to. But he didn’t.
Even though they were
working as ministers the two men
opened an orphanage for these poor
children. There were so many of them that
they had to open another orphanage, and
another.
This is amazing! Over t
years the orphanages t
George Müller and Henry Cr
built housed and cared for ov
children in Bristol.
Once there was no
breakfast for the children.
The staff prayed and God sent a
baker with a cartload of bread. Then a
milk cart broke down right outside and the
milkman gave them all his milk.
18
mis
the tw
b
pra
freezin
He d
MÜLLER
k
ay
Sadly George went from
bad to worse. When he was a
teenager he even jumped out the
window of a hotel he stayed in to get out
of paying his bill. He ended up in prison.
In 1929 George Müller
sailed to England to become a
ssionary. He met Henry Craik and
wo men became good friends. They
were both ministers.
the
that
raik had
ver 2,000
George and Henry
moved to Bristol. There was
an outbreak of cholera there.
Many children were living on the streets
because their dads and mums had
died of cholera.
And here’s something
even more amazing. They
never, ever asked anyone for
money. When they needed things, they
prayed about it and asked God. He always
answered their prayers.
And when the heating
broke down one winter they
ayed that God would stop the
ng wind until the boiler was fixed.
did! And the boiler was fixed in
record quick time.
George Müller, who was
a boy thief, never took any pay.
God gave him and his family all that
they needed and all that the orphan
children needed too.
God is SO good!
19
1st Apr
2nd Apr
3rd Apr
3rd Apr
3rd Apr
3rd Apr
3rd Apr
4th Apr
4th Apr
4th Apr
4th Apr
4th Apr
5th Apr
5th Apr
5th Apr
6th Apr
8th Apr
9th Apr
10th Apr 1 1 th Apr
1 1 th Apr
1 1 th Apr
12th Apr
12th Apr
13th Apr
13th Apr
13th Apr
14th Apr
20
Fraser MacLeod (Fortrose) 1
Iain MacLean (Ayr) 5
Steven Macleod (Tong) 13
Abigail Fioretti (Leith) 9
Bree Dorrian (Perth) 1 1
Megan Pescod (Kilmallie) 9
Tyler Paton (Inverness) 9
Matthew Davidson (Inverness) 1 1
Rory Macaskill (Glasgow) 8
Neela Mutch (Uig) 7
Angus MacLeod (Edinburgh) 9
Rachel Johnstone (Kirkcaldy) 1 1
Grace Macleod (Tong) 10
Lucy Robertson (Inverness) 7
AJ Graham (Knock) 10
Zoe Haw (Glasgow) 4
Tianna Cowie (Inverness) 5
Liam Cowie (Inverness) 7
Miriam MacDonald (Glasgow) 12 Theo Keschner (Edinburgh) 1 1
Euan Macleod (Back) 9
Lucy Knight (Fortrose) 6
Robbie Murray (Kilmallie) 13
Ellie Blackhall (Tain) 1 1
Nathan McCabe (Toronto, Canada) 10
Eilidh Murchison (Drumnadrochit) 1 1
Kayleigh Ann Terris (Inverness) 10
Iain Ross (Aultbea) 12
14th Apr
14th Apr
14th Apr
14th Apr
16th Apr
17th Apr 18th Apr
19th Apr
19th Apr
19th Apr
19th Apr
20th Apr
20th Apr
21st Apr
21st Apr
21st Apr
22nd Apr
23rd Apr 24th Apr
24th Apr
26th Apr
29th Apr
29th Apr
30th Apr
30th Apr 30th Apr
30th Apr
Liam Forbes (Aultbea) 12
Peter Laing (Aberdeen) 9
Allan MacColl (Fort William) 6
Mairead Last (Coigach) 1 1
Chloe Cummings (Ayr) 9
Jay Dyke (Perth) 1 1
Sam McNeil (Tain) 1 1
Calum Gordon (Dunfermline) 1 1
Hannah Nicol (Drumnadrochit) 1 1
Amy Emmot (Back) 12
Alasdair Lipp (Fortrose) 1 1
Megan Barton (Ferintosh & Resolis) 1 1
Kate MacAulay (Tain) 8
Rachel Murray (Inverness) 1 1
Alana Matheson (Kinloch) 10
Ross Maciver (Back) 12
Ross MacDonald (Lower Shader) 10
Calum Alexander Maclennan (Back) 13
Laura Hope (Crossbost) 13
Joanna Lipp (Fortrose) 9
April Sutherland (Helmsdale) 1 1
David Stewart (Maryburgh) 1 1
Freddie Patterson (Kilmallie) 10
Nicole Stephenson (Livonia, USA) 7
Johanna Peters (Glasgow) 13
Tori Mackinnon (Tong) 12
Adam Mackinnon (Tong) 12