OSSAE-UK REGION Diocese of UK, Europe & Africa of Indian[Malankara] Orthodox Church

Transcription

1 ORTHODOX VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2018 Leaves & Branches [Juniors] THEME BOOK OSSAE-UK REGION Diocese of UK, Europe & Africa of Indian[Malankara] Orthodox Church

2 ORTHODOX VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2018 Leaves & Branches [Juniors 9-11 years] Contents Message from Diocesan Bishop... 3 Foreword... 4 Theme Overview... 5 Chapter-1 Introduction to the Theme Reflections and activities Chapter- 2 Theological outlook Activities Chapter 3: Practical Aspects Activities: Acknowledgement... 25

3 Message from Diocesan Bishop OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 3 of 26

4 Foreword Beloved Sunday School teachers, parents and my dear children, Here we are again, beginning another year of OVBS which we have always been eagerly looking forward to. It gives us opportunity to learn and explore the spiritual joy and enjoyment through prayer, singing and learning. This year we have a wonderful theme for our OVBS God Mould Us (Isaiah 64:8). This theme indicates God-Human being relationship which rests on divine love (Father), sovereignty (potter) and care (work of your hand). This relationship is part of the unchanging reality of God. The description of God as the potter fits the history of God s people. He called Abraham and then shaped and moulded his descendants into a nation. God made them what they were. But the description also aptly describes God s people individually. God shapes and moulds every believer. We are the clay, and God moulds us to the shape and for the use that he deems appropriate. We are the work of his hands. The apostle Paul declared that the Ephesians were dead in their sins, but he went on to assure them that God s grace had saved them: For we are God s workmanship (Eph 2:10). So this year s theme will help us to submit ourselves to God s hand. Our OSSAE-UK team is working hard under the leadership of our Diocesan Metropolitan HG Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios for the success of OVBS I take this opportunity to thank you all, especially our Diocesan Metropolitan, all Vicars, OSSAE UK Director, Secretary, Treasurer, OVBS coordinators, District Inspectors, Head Teachers, Teachers, Volunteers and Parents, for your dedication, selfless work and support to OSSAE-UK and OVBS Special thanks to team who worked hard behind the songs and theme books. Your every effort to support and nurture our children in Christ will be rewarded by Our Lord. In our song book, as previous years, we have included official songs provided by OSSAE OVBS 2018 and few English songs to make it more lively for our children. Each units have the freedom to choose number of songs from the song book depending on their OVBS duration, however, prayer, marching and theme songs are mandatory to be taught in all units. I request vicars and head teachers to conduct OVBS 2018 with a minimum of two days duration concluding with Holy Qurbana and OVBS rally. Prayers and wishes for a blessed OVBS Yours in Christ Fr Anoop Abraham Malayil (Vice President OSSAE UK) OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 4 of 26

5 Theme Overview "God moulds us". Isaiah 64: 8. Theme Introduction. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 The Book of Isaiah is a miniature Bible. It has 66 chapters just as the Bible has 66 books. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah speak for the most part of law and judgment just as the 39 books of the Old Testament. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah speak of comfort, restoration, and mercy under the Messiah just as the 27 books of the New Testament speak of Jesus the Christ (Messiah). Isaiah contains a bit of all that is found in the rest of the Bible. Isaiah s message covers about every theme and doctrine of the Bible. Isaiah preached over a period of about 40 years. Purpose of the book was to encourage the prophet's contemporaries to be loyal to the Lord and to exhort future readers in exile to repent of sin and trust the Lord to bring the faithful remnant of Israel and other nations to unprecedented blessings after the exile. Prophet Isaiah Isaiah was born in the 8th century BC, to a man named Amos. Isaiah was a Hebrew prophet who was believed to have lived about 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Born in Jerusalem, Israel, he was said to have found his calling as a prophet when he saw a vision in the year of King Uzziah's death. Isaiah prophesized the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The Book of Isiah. The book of Isaiah is composed of three natural divisions: sayings, principally of judgment, historical narratives, and of comfort in chapters Chapters were written by a prophet of the exile and not by Isaiah the son of Amos. This great anonymous prophet became known as Deutero or Second Isaiah and chapter Trito-Isaiah is written by some prophet back from the exile. Most contemporary scholarship affirms the multiple authorship of Isaiah; however, some conservative scholars still insist upon the unity of the book. Theological Outlooks-Key Truths: God called Isaiah to warn his people of the judgment of exile and to assure them of future restoration to tremendous blessing after the exile. Isaiah's reliability was demonstrated by the fulfilment of many of his earlier prophecies by the time of the writing of the book. Isaiah's astounding predictions about the end of the Babylonian exile and the restoration were sure to take place, but only the repentant in Israel and the nations would enjoy these future blessings. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are the clay. When we are open to God s will in our lives, He moulds, transforms, and sanctifies us as we walk with Him. When we come to the Potter, we need to surrender all to Him, all our imperfections and let Him be our Master. We need to let Him mould us and make us the vessel of honour that He wants us to be. For this to be accomplished, we need to have the knowledge of God s Word before He can start the process of moulding us. As the potter places a piece of clay on a wheel he needs water in order to make it pliable and soft enough for him to be able to use it. Sacramental life is the Water. The next step is that the piece of clay needs to be properly centered on the wheel. The reason for this is if a lump of clay is not properly centered on the wheel, it will eventually tear apart before the potter can finish the process. In the same way we have to be properly centered in Jesus Christ before God can start to mould and shape us. Being centered in Jesus is to have our life fully surrendered to Him where He is in full control. A Christ centered life. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 5 of 26

6 Once the lump of clay has enough water and is centered on the wheel, then the actual moulding process begins. The wheel starts spinning and the potter s hand presses down on the top of the clay to create and opening and moves his hands deep inside the middle of the clay. He continues by constantly shaping it and moulding it to result in the vessel he desires it to be. In the same way, God s own hand literally goes down deep into our soul and spirit where the sanctification work is actually done, moulding and transforming us into the saints He wants us to be. Just as the piece of clay needs to fully trust the potter, in the same way we need to fully trust the Lord to mould, shape, and transform our lives. The clay is totally under His control. It has to be one hundred percent yielded to Him. The clay must yield to the potter s hand if it is to become something useful. For this reason, we need to yield to God by surrendering ourselves completely. a) God s activity in creating and sustaining the world. The Bible says that God created the universe in the beginning and that He is now preserving it. Genesis 1 tells us that God is the Creator of the universe, including mankind. He created man and woman in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and this is what sets man apart from animals. Being created in the image of God means that mankind resembles God in certain ways. Such as the ability to reason, to make moral choices, the use of language and being creative. It also means that they are the representatives of God to have authority over creation. Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28). It talks about the beginning of marriage and family, society and civilization, craft and industry. Sadly, it also explains how sin entered the world and corrupted God s good creation. But Genesis also shows us the beginnings of God s plan of redemption. Covenant: In Genesis, covenant involves divine promises and the blessings that accompany them. It refers to promises made to the entire world through Noah and to those made to the family of Abraham. Relationship: Genesis gives us a picture of the relationships between God and the world, between God and human beings, and between human beings. b) Moulding a continuous process Clay is not easy to work with. Before clay can be put upon the wheel, it has to be properly prepared. It has to be supple enough to adapt to change, yet firm enough to not collapse under pressure. Just like clay, before God can begin remaking and changing us, there are some preparations that have to occur. "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel. Yet the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it" (Jer. 18:3-4). God sent Jeremiah down to the potter's house to reveal more of Himself in a very tangible way. God still uses life as a classroom, guiding us into His truths. Every event, hardship, failure, sin, and success is a part of our personalized lesson plan. Learning the lesson will require being able to see the situation through God's eyes. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 58:8). Seeing life through a heavenly lens puts it in a new perspective. Spending time in His presence can open the door to God revealing to you what type of vessel He wants to make you into. Once you get a glimpse of God's vision for your life, you have to then be willing to go through His process for change. No vessel is so flawed that it cannot be made new. Each can be reworked into a useful vessel in the hands of the Potter. c) Image and Likeness. According to most of the orthodox Fathers, the terms image and likeness do not mean exactly the same thing. The expression according to the image, wrote John of Damascus, indicates rationality and freedom, while the OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 6 of 26

7 expression according to the likeness indicates assimilation to God through virtue (On the Orthodox Faith, 2, 12 (P.G. 94, 920B)). The image of God signifies man s free will, his reason, his sense of moral responsibility everything, in short, which marks man out from the animal creation and makes him a person. But the image means more than that. It means that we are God s offspring (Acts 27:28), His kin; it means that between us and Him there is a point of contact, an essential similarity. The gulf between creature and Creator is not impassable, for because we are in God s image we can know God and have communion with Him. And if a man makes proper use of this faculty for communion with God, then he will become like God, he will acquire the divine likeness; in the words of John Damascene, he will be assimilated to God through virtue. To acquire the likeness is to be deified, it is to become a second god, a god by grace. "I said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Psalm 81:6). The image denotes the powers with which every man is endowed by God from the first moment of his existence; the likeness is not an endowment which man possesses from the start, but a goal at which he must aim, something which he can only acquire by degrees. However sinful a man may be, he never loses the image; but the likeness depends upon our moral choice, upon our virtue, and so it is destroyed by sin. d) Sin and fall The Orthodox Church cannot agree with Augustine, when he says that humans are under a harsh necessity of committing sin in his City of God. The image of God is distorted by sin but never destroyed and because we still retain the image of God we still retain free will, although sin restricts its scope. Orthodoxy repudiates any interpretation of the fall which allows no room for freedom. However, we agree with the West that sin had set up a barrier which humanity by its own efforts could never break down. Sin blocked the path to union with God. Since we could not come to God, He came to us. e) Theosis Theosis is the belief, mostly found within the Eastern Orthodox Church that Christians can experience a union with God and become like him so much that they participate in the divine nature. This concept is also known as deification. Theosis does not mean that they become Gods or merge with God but that they are deified. They participate in the "energies" of God with which he reveals himself to us in creation. But, these Christians are said to not participate in God's essence. Furthermore, this deification does not mean that a person stops sinning or no longer struggles with sin. Instead, theosis is a mystical union with God that proceeds throughout the person's life and culminates in the resurrection of the body. Some have said that this is equivalent to sanctification as taught in the Western churches. Protestants do not use this term because of the natural error associated with becoming gods. We are not God, and we will never be God. God alone possesses His divine nature. False religions sometimes teach that we can become godlike and even gods. For this reason, we must be very careful when describing the doctrine of theosis, and we must also be careful not to adopt anything that would support the heresy of becoming divine by nature. At best, we become more like Christ as we increase in our relationship with him, but we do not in any way become divine. May the OVBS training would illumine our hearts of all those who get involved in it, not only children but teachers, trainers, volunteers and parents. Let us explore the theme in its length and breadth and find our life more meaningful. I wish all the very best for OVBS May God Bless & Moulds us! Yours in His service, Ninan Achan. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 7 of 26

8 God Moulds Us Chapter-1 Introduction to the Theme OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 8 of 26

9 1.1 Introduction to the theme God moulded the entire universe, in the most accurate way, with care and perfection. This year s theme for the OVBS is taken from the Holy Bible from Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. According to both Jewish and Christian tradition, Isaiah, the son of Amos is the author of this book from which this verse is taken. Isaiah which means "the salvation of God" was from the tribe of Judah. In the above verse, Prophet Isaiah reminds each one of us about our maker who moulded us, to become His most valued creation. Journey in Life. He is the only, one and true God who moulds and preserves us through our entire life and has still given us the free will to do things of our own. He gave us life on this planet and guides us every day through our wonderful 1.2 God Moulds us Let us start by reading what King David says in (Psalms 139:13-16) "For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them yet existed." OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 9 of 26

10 When we reflect upon these words we understand the nurturing care of our God when we are formed in our mother's womb, He is the one and only God who can see us being shaped to become good people to do God's will on earth. A shepherd boy David, who was made to be king by God, knows and tells us, how the creator has fashioned him in his mother s womb. The creation of mankind is something beyond our imagination and sometimes we as children do not know how complicated a human body is, except when we study in school explained by our school teachers in detail. 1.3 Reflections and activities Read the following poem. THE POTTER'S CLAY By Deborah Smith Plemmons I was but a lump of shapeless clay, Until I was touched by the Potter one day. With His hands, He started molding me Into what He would have me to be. I did not resist His gentle touch, Though I thought I'd not amount to much. He smoothed rough edges, getting rid of self. I really didn't want to sit on a shelf. He fashioned me after His own image. I remained pliable to avoid any damage. Thank you, God, for not giving up on me. I pray I'll be all you want me to be. God is the Potter and I am the clay. He molded me into what I am today. I feel now I'm a vessel fit for His use; A vessel of honor to share His truths. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 10 of 26

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13 References: OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 13 of 26

14 God moulds us Chapter- 2 Theological outlook OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 14 of 26

15 2.1 How does God mould us? As a child, the above question must have gone through everyone s mind, but once we read through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will guide us and lead us in understanding the power of God. There are various verses in the Holy Bible which tell us how God formed us, and in whose image, God formed us and about the power of God, that gives us the authority to rule over everything. Firstly, let us look at Genesis 1:27, 28 "So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that move upon the earth". As we can see from the above two verses, God gave man His own image and power over all the living things on earth: this shows God's love towards mankind. In Genesis 2:7, we can see how God moulded us - Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostril the breath of life; and man became a living soul. The book of Job and the book of Psalms also support the above verse from Genesis. The words of Job say " The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up. Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay"- Job 33:4,6. Even in Psalms it has been mentioned how the heaven and the heavenly hosts were created. In Psalms 33:6, King David says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth". The above verses help us to analyse God's power and love towards his creation. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 15 of 26

16 2.3 Live with God who fashioned us Remember always to live with God who created us in his own image and likeness and gave us power over everything on earth, as in Psalms 33:8 "let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him". Beauty and health are indeed good; knowledge and ability are essential, but the person who begins to use and enjoy all these, by giving up God, will gradually find himself in uneasiness. If we live with God, we can use and enjoy the gifts which God gave us. This is the key to peaceful life. If we do not live with God who created us we cannot do anything in peace and love, because God is Love. In the New Testament, in John 15:5, Jesus says - I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing". Please keep these words of Jesus in your mind always- without the Lord we cannot do nothing. God completes us His creation. 2.3 Summary - God's Gift to Us Our whole life is the gift of God. Each moment of our life, our intellect, our knowledge and our talents are all gifts that God gave us and that is how he has chosen to mould up into the person we are. Yet, many people have ill-will towards God. We complain by saying, 'I don t have this; I don t have that; but other people have all these.' How much do we really thank God for the gifts which God gives us? He moulds us to receive these gifts in our life. Think, what have I given back to God, who gave me all these gifts. The mind, the tongue and the voice with which we complain against God are all gifts from God. The success of life is not in receiving more gifts from God, but what we can give back to our Lord Jesus Christ in our day to day life by helping and sharing our love and time with each one of his Creation and by being able to use the talents he moulded in us, to be used as he wishes for others. As King David says in Psalms 24:1 The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein, the above verse clearly shows that we are Lord's people. So, let us worship by saying praise be to the Lord. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 16 of 26

17 The book of Psalms concludes by saying Psalms 150: 6 Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord. Praise be to God. Let Praise, Honour and Thanks be to our Lord, Our God, Our Creator. 2.4 Activities A) Draw a pot (your choice of shape) and colour it, representing this as your life and write down what you want God to fill it with. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 17 of 26

18 B) Complete the following C) Group activity Split into 3 groups to think about either the spiritual, practical or personal aspects of the theme. SPIRITUAL ASPECTS What does it mean to sculpt, shape, or mould something into a particular shape? What are things that might be moulded, sculpted, or formed? OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 18 of 26

19 Before you started your drawing in activity A, did you come up with a plan before you started or did you just start and make changes as you went? Was this a good or bad method? Why? PRACTICAL ASPECTS Why do you think God wants to mould us? Why is it better for us to be like clay? What are some things in life that try to mould us and shape us? What are some typical moulds that students at your school get squeezed into? Why do we give way to pressure to be shaped by things and people around us? PERSONAL ASPECTS What things are shaping your life? How would you describe the work of the Divine Potter in your life? What can you do to be less complaining to God s hand to shape your life? References 1. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 19 of 26

20 God moulds us Chapter 3: Practical Aspects OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 20 of 26

21 3.1 TALE OF A TEA CUP There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful cup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the cup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red, and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'let me alone,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.' "Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the cup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.' And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.' "Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot, and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head saying, Not yet.' "Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat!" the teacup said. "I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, 'Not yet.' "Finally, the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.' OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 21 of 26

22 "Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened, and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.' REALISING THE MASTER S VISION "'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'" LEARNING FROM THE TEACUP STORY: God knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will. May the teacup story become our story as we willingly yield to our Potter's hand! 3.2 Activities: Activity 1: Play time with play dough As you think about how God shapes you, use some Clay Play-dough to shape a creation of your own put it on a tray so you won t make a mess. Make a crown or a puppy or a statue of Teddy, your favorite bear. When you are finished, take a close look: Your creation is covered with your fingerprints just as God s fingerprints are all over you. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 22 of 26

23 Activity 2: Color a pottery Image 3.3 Apply Learning s to our Life. Think about each of the following. OUR LIFE IS WORK OF GOD Every day in life is different and full of challenges. Some challenges we like, some we do not, but do not complain about life being not fair because all those challenges you do not like are moulding you into a person God wants to see in you. MOULDING IS A PROCESS AND YOU NEED TO BELIEVE AND BE PATIENT ABOUT IT. As mentioned in the story above, moulding is a process with hardships at different stages of it. Your life will go through these changes and you need to be patient about it as it changes you and your life for the better. YOU NEED TO BE CLAY OF THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY FOR THE MOULDING PROCESS Clay is not easy to work with. One day, my son returned from school with a white substance on his clothes. When I asked about it he replied, "Sorry mum, my clay was too wet." His class was attempting to make cups as gifts, but someone put too much water in the clay mixture. Instead of a firm sturdy, pliable clay that could moulded, what they had to work with was a sticky, gooey, weak mixture that refused to conform to the desired shape. Before clay can be put upon the wheel, it must be properly prepared. It has to be supple enough to adapt to change, yet firm enough to not collapse under pressure. Just like clay, before God can begin remaking and changing us, there are some preparations that have to occur. OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 23 of 26

24 "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel. Yet the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so, he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it" (Jer. 18:3-4). For God to start moulding us into the form he wills us to be, one needs to be open, to be positive to the idea of letting God work his magic in our life. Once you get a glimpse of God's vision for your life, you must then be willing to go through His process for change. God moulds us as per his plans Romans 9:19-21 One of you will say to me: Then why does God still blame us? For who can resist his will? But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Just like a potter makes cups and jugs and different vessels of different shapes and size, God also has different plans and a different vision for all of us. We should not compare our appearance, life or fortune to others. CONCLUSION: FAITH IN GOD S PLANS Everything happens as per God s plan and his vision for us in our life. One should always have faith in God s plan and not complain when little things go wrong or not as you expected because God is at work moulding your life to be better. Internet reference: OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 24 of 26

25 Acknowledgement All OVBS participants, head teachers, teachers, coordinators, music teachers, parents and volunteers, Let us praise and thank our Almighty God for guiding us in all our centralized Sunday school activities within UK. This is our sixth successive centralized OVBS programme. Considering the unique needs of our children growing up in the UK, similar to last couple of years, the OVBS scheme has been developed and modified by incorporating some changes to make it an enjoyable experience for the children but keeping the essential and core components from OSSAE. First of all, I would like to express my humble gratitude to H.G. Dr Mathews Mar Thimothios, our Diocesan Metropolitan and president for OSSAE-UK for the blessings and invaluable guidance to all our Sunday school activities in United Kingdom. Sunday school in UK is greatly indebted to Central OVBS committee headed by H. G. Dr Gabriel Mar Gregorios, President OSSAE; Rev. Fr. Dr. Jacob Kurian, Director General OSSAE; Rev. Fr. Dr. Reji Mathews, Ex-Director General OSSAE; Rev. Fr. K. V. Alias, Examination Controller, Rev. Fr. Mathew Koshy, OVBS Director; Dr. Ipe Varghese, General Secretary OVBS; Prof. Dr. Cherian Thomas, Publication Officer; Prof. K.V. George, OSSAE Executive Officer for providing us with OVBS central curriculum and song book of OSSAE. My sincere gratitude to Rev. Fr. Anoop Malayil Abraham, Vice President OSSAE-UK for his inspirational leadership and encouragement specifically towards OVBS and generally to all Sunday school activities within UK region. I wholeheartedly thank Rev. Fr. Dr. Ninan V George, vicar of St. Gregorios I.O.C, London for spending his valuable time and effort in guiding, supervising, reviewing all theme books and preparing an overview of the theme for general assembly. Kindly join me to convey our hearty gratitude to Mrs. Shali Saji (St. Marys IOC, Bristol), our OVBS coordinator, Mrs. Merlin Robin [St. Thomas IOC Cambridge], OVBS Assistant coordinator of OSSAE- UK and their families for their valuable contribution and painstaking efforts especially in compiling OVBS song book for UK as well as in the procurement and distribution of OVBS materials to all participating units. Specially acknowledging all the Sunday school teachers and students assisted them. Also passing our sincere gratitude to all the students who sent drawing book covers. A special mention to Master Matt Sijy Abraham [St. Gregorios IOC London] and Mrs. Deepthi Cherian [St. Marys IOC, Bristol] for writing the songs and Sneha Thomas & Aleena Thomas [St. Marys IOC, Bristol] for composing and beautifully singing those songs. Extending a big thanks to Joshi Eapen, Secretary of OSSAE-UK who put on a lot of different hats in the preparation of this years OVBS. Similar to last year, the OVBS Theme book has been prepared exclusively for OSSAE-UK by Sunday school teachers from different units. I hereby sincerely thank all teachers who wrote lessons namely: Viji Syra [Hemel], Lisha Simon,[London], Shali Saji, Sophy Thomas & Sonu Dennis [Bristol - Primary], Shibu Thomas, Sharon Susan Thomas, Roni K Rajan, Loveena Simon [Southend-on-Sea Juniors book], Joshi Eapen, Shaji Varghese and Shiji Biben [Manchester Intermediate], Rev. Dn.Tiji Thankachan, Roopa Thenat [London] & Ranju Abraham[Cambridge] and internal reviewers Roshnnie Manoj, Vinitha John, Preena Kurian and Beena Mathew [London]. Sunday school activities in UK is strengthened and led by all our vicars, district Inspectors, Sunday school head teachers, teachers, talent competition coordinator, volunteers and parents working at different capacities within limited resources and in various circumstances. I thank each and every one OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 25 of 26

26 for their commitment, dedication and efforts for making our children grow in Orthodox faith enabling them to serve God in the true Christian way. Finally, I would like to thank all Sunday school children in all units for their enthusiasm and spirit; Sunday school teachers, music teachers, and OVBS unit coordinators for their commitment; head teachers and district inspectors for their dedication; volunteers and parents for their motivation; OSSAE-UK executive committee members for their outstanding support; and Church managing committee of various units for jointly working with Sunday school teachers to make this OVBS a grand success. May God Almighty continue to shower His Blessings in all our activities in future and help us to work together for His Glory and spiritual growth of our students! Yours in Christ Simon Chacko Sunday School Director-UK Region (sundayschool.iocuk@gmail.com) OSSAE-UK: OVBS Theme Book Leaves & Branches Page 26 of 26