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Cricket doesn’t get much more competitive than The Ashes. This summer, there’s double the drama too, as the English and Australian men’s and women’s cricket teams both do battle!
In case you don’t already know, The Ashes are a series of cricket matches between England and Australia. The men’s cricket team began their rst Ashes test at Edgbaston yesterday (16 June) and on Thursday (22 June) the women’s teams will go head-to-head at Trent Bridge. The women’s competition runs in a slightly different way to the men’s. The women play one ve-day test, three one day internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 (T20) matches. A test victory is worth four points (two points each for a draw), and each ODI and T20 win is worth two points (one point each for a draw). It’s a full on festival of cricket! Australia’s women have kept hold of the Ashes for the last four competitions, so it’s a big task facing England’s women. A record-breaking 70,000 tickets have been sold already for the Women’s Ashes. That means we can expect to hear plenty of home fans cheering as England try to reclaim the Ashes on home soil.
Coverage of the Women’s Ashes series will be shown on Sky Sports. The first ODI on 1 July will also be shown on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Highlights of all matches will also be shown on ‘Today at the Test’ on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 7pm.
Cricket’s amazing! It’s played by people all over the world and from all walks of life – rich and poor, young and old, all genders and all races. There are even different versions of cricket: test matches last for days; one-day games that last for, well, a day; and T20 matches that are played in just two-and-a-half hours. This got me thinking about God’s Kingdom, which is amazing! And it’s for everyone, from all walks of life. There are even different versions of church: house churches and mega churches; churches that meet outdoors, in grand cathedrals, in tin sheds, in schools and community centres; churches where they sing along to organs, or brass bands, or rock bands, or churches where there’s no music at all… I could go on.
The most amazing thing about God’s Kingdom is that you have a place in it! I hope you know that’s true.
In this week’s Bible cartoon Jacob’s life takes another turn – what a rollercoaster! Jacob had 12 sons and he didn’t hide the fact that Joseph was his favourite. This made his other sons very angry. So angry that they sold Joseph into slavery and tricked their dad by telling him Joseph was dead. That takes ghting with your siblings to a whole new level! Joseph even ended up in a country far away from his home. He must have been pretty scared. Unfortunately, there are people today who are tricked into leaving their homes and treated badly. There are also people who have to leave their homes because it’s not a safe place to live, such as refugees.
This week, on Tuesday 20 June, many people will be marking World Refugee Day. Are there any refugee children in your school? It must be incredibly scary to have to leave your home and travel to a strange country where, perhaps, people speak differently or eat different foods. How would you feel if it happened to you?
It’s really important that we take time to think about people who are facing situations that make them leave their homes. It’s also important to do what we can to help them and show them love, respect and care. After all, that’s what being a Christian is all about. What can you do this week to show you care?
Use the space below to write some prayers for refugees or people who have had to leave their homes for other reasons
In the Bible there are incredible stories of young people choosing to trust God. In return, God used them to do extraordinary things. As you read about these young people, be inspired because Jesus is calling you to make a difference too.
Paul wrote a letter to Timothy to encourage him as he served and led in the church. He reminded Timothy, that even though he was young, he had a great and true faith. Paul said that Timothy’s faith was strong, because it had been passed on to him as a child, from his mother, Eunice and his grandmother, Lois. Now that he was older, Paul wanted Timothy to boldly continue trusting and serving God.
Timothy’s mum and grandma made a special effort to teach Timothy all about God. Because of this, Timothy accepted Jesus as his friend and played an important role in helping the early Church.
Do you like it when your parents or carers talk to you about Jesus? Read Deuteronomy 6:7 and Proverbs 22:6. When they teach you about Jesus, they’re doing exactly what God has asked them to do.
KA! JAM is the coolest Bible activity club around. As a member you’ll go on amazing adventures through the Bible learning about Jesus. Each activity sheet is filled with lots of great stuff about being a Christian. You’ll also receive our mini-mag, Chatterbox, which is filled with jokes, games and much more. And to top it off, there are loads of awesome prizes to be won!
To join KA! JAM and complete the Bible activity courses online, go to salvationist.org.uk/kajam.
Or if you would like to receive the postal version, simply fill in the coupon below.
Name:
To join KA! JAM just ll in the application form and send it – along with two rst-class stamps – to: KA! JAM, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Applicants must be between 7 and 17 years old to join.
Date of birth:
Address:
Postcode: Boy or girl: Do you attend a church, and if so, which one? apply for membership of Kids Alive! Jesus And Me. I understand that joining KA! JAM doesn’t mean I have joined The Salvation Army and that it is not a free subscription to Kids Alive!
I, (signature)
PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS.
To see your name and birthday printed in a future issue of KA! email your full name, address and date of birth to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to type ‘Happy Birthday to You!’ in the email’s subject box.
18 June
Charlie Jeffs – age 12
19 June
Rosario Plummer – age 12
Isaac Dunn – age 11
I’m excited to watch the women’s ashes this year! Do you like my cricket gear? See if you can spot this version of me on ANOTHER PAGE IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE.
When you feel the heat of the Sun on your face, it’s hard to believe that heat has travelled 93 million miles! Just imagine how hot the Sun must be. Actually, we can tell you – the Sun’s core (that’s the bit in the middle) is 15,000,000°C! That’s way too hot for anything to live there, but every living thing on Earth needs the Sun’s energy to survive.
As you probably already know, the Sun is actually a star – a yellow dwarf star to be precise – and scientists have calculated it’s around 4.5 billion years old. The Sun is at the centre of our solar system and its gravity holds everything in our solar system in place. The Sun is around 100 times wider than Earth – so if Earth were the size of a £1 coin the Sun would be about as tall as your front door.
The cosmos or universe is so enormous and stupendous it’s mind-boggling! Here are some facts about space that are … well, cosmic!
Ho ho, ha ha, he he! He he, he he!
X
X
Replace the question marks with an add, subtract, divide or multiply symbol to complete the sum +
49 ? 7 ? 8 ? = 5 ? 2 20Hoho,haha,hehe!
Hehe,hehe!
+
What is a batter’s least favourite bird? A duck!
÷
What did the wicketkeeper say to the ball as it flew past her ear?
‘Bye!’
The answers to the clues in this puzzle are anagrams of the answer immediately above or below, plus or minus one letter. The first one is filled in to give you a start.
e n r a g e d
by Neil LockerHo ho, ha ha, he he! He he, he he!
Why did the cricket team want rabbits to play for them?
They wanted a bowler with a great long hop!
What do you give a sick cricket player? Chicken nurdle soup!
B C
What animal is best at hitting a cricket ball? A bat!
across:
3 Hydrogen, for example. 5 Place of education. 6 Unhappy. 7 A garment consisting of a top and skirt in one piece. 8 Side of coin opposite tails.
Did you hear about the batter who didn’t understand the rules of cricket?
She got to the crease and was stumped!
11 Supporter of football team, for example. 12 Round shape. 13 Remains of fire.
down:
1 Corrosive liquid in battery. 2 Chilly. 3 Adhesive. 4 Spring or summer, for example. 6 Large desert in Africa. 9 Curved structure. 10 Ride waves at the beach. 11 Trip over.
W O M e N ’ S A S H E S
W O R D S E A R C H
Find the cricket-related words in the grid
rose bowl bats pads
overs innings runs
by Neil Locker
With the summer holidays edging closer, we thought you might be looking for some new reads to keep you busy while you’re off school. This week we’ve got a bundle of six different books – one for each week of the holidays!
The rst book in the bundle is The Faraway Adventures of Henry Bogget: Henry and the Great White Whale. Henry is an ordinary boy of eight years old, but he has a secret! In England, whenever someone changes the world and leaves their mark on history a little round, blue plaque is placed on the house where they once lived. This leaves a little trace of very powerful magic behind. One night, Henry discovered this secret and his life changed for ever. The other books making up the bundle are, Rory Green Secret Agent to the Queen, Dylan McFinn and the Sea Serpent’s Fury, Summer in Somersby, Thomas the Baker and the Fire of London and Joy’s Playground
For your opportunity to win all six books, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to put ‘Book Bundle Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 14 July when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by lling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: Book Bundle Competition, Kids Alive! 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN.
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Age:
Remember, the best way to enter is to email your entry to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
Sunday 18 June is Father’s Day, so here’s a card for you to colour in, cut out and give to a special person in your life. Once you’ve completed your card you can give it to your dad, grandad, uncle, big brother or anyone else you want to celebrate today.
The design on the right or a print of the design on the right. A piece of A5 card (or cut a piece of A4 card in half). Scissors. Paints, pens, pencils and crayons for colouring in. Bright and colourful stuff to cut out and stick on to make a collage. Glue. A grown-up to help. Your imagination.
1 Cut out the ‘Happy Father’s Day!’ design and stick it on to a piece of A5 card or print it on to a piece of card and cut it out.
2 Use paints, pens, pencils and crayons to colour in and add to the design. Or cut out some bright and colourful shiny stuff and stick it on to make a collage.
3 Fold the card in half.
4 Write a message to someone you think is wonderful inside the card and give it to them.
This month in KA! World we have been focusing on water – clean water to be precise!
Not everyone in the world has clean water on tap. Last year, more than 2.3 billion people faced water stress (that means that they did not have enough clean water to meet their needs) and almost 160 million children experienced severe droughts.
Not having enough water is a reality for millions of people and the burden of nding it often falls on women and girls.
Anastasia lives in the Karonga district of Malawi and she, along with the other women and girls in her village, needs to collect water every day for her family to use. There is no running water in her home, so she must walk for up to an hour to reach the nearest water point – the river.
When it’s the dry season, Anastasia has to scoop water from the shallow pools on the riverbed. This task of collecting water is very frustrating. Why do you think this is?
It’s hard work
It takes a long time
The water is not safe to drink
All of the above
The answer is all of the above. Women around the world spend a collective 200 million hours collecting water each day. This time would be much better spent doing other things such as going to school, working to help to grow the household income, and spending time with family and friends.
Living a healthy and an active lifestyle and caring for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Anastasia and her community knew that a solution was needed. They reached out to The Salvation Army so they could work together to solve the issue of water scarcity.
A project was created to construct a special structure to help improve access to clean and safe water. What do you think they built?
Sand dam Borehole
Concrete spring protection
That was a bit of a trick question because different Salvation Army projects have actually used all three of these technologies to improve access to clean water. Sand dams have been constructed in Kenya to provide accessible clean water all year round. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, concrete spring protection has helped ensure water collected from natural springs stays clean.
In Anastasia’s community in Malawi, a borehole has been installed to provide a nearby source of safe water.
Anastasia said: ‘We used to face the challenge that our water source was shared with animals. This meant we were often ill and our children suffered cholera frequently and had to visit the hospital regularly.
‘In the past we were working in isolation but now we work together. The Salvation Army has really supported us to cement our relationships. Before the project, women had no place in committees but now women do. For example, I am a member of the Water Point Committee that helps keep the borehole working.
‘More than 200 households use this borehole so in future, we hope to construct another borehole.’
More needs to be done. The Salvation Army wants to keep working with communities to improve access to clean water and ensure people have a safe place to use the toilet.
One way of supporting these projects is by taking on the Spend a Penny, Give a Pound challenge – over the course of a day (or longer if you choose), donate £1 for each time youor someone in your house – uses the loo! You can use the toilet tally on the right to keep track and ask your parents or carers to scan the code to donate.
Megan, age 13, sent this brilliant Dancers Colouring. Don’t these dancers look like they’re having a fab time on the dance oor?
Here’s a photo from Cwmbran Salvation Army’s family fun summer party. The theme was the Bible story when Jesus feeds 5,000 people. Around 80 people, including children and their families, enjoyed crafts, games, stories, hot dogs and ice lollies.
Here’s an awesome DJ Colouring from Aurora-Rose, age 10. We love how many different colours you’ve used in one picture. It really makes it stand out.
The Kids Alive! team loves to hear from its readers. And guess what –other readers love reading your news! So why not get in touch?
You can email or post your own colourings, drawings and letters.
Or you could ask your Sunday school, church or corps leaders to email us or write to us with any news about the fun stuff you’ve been doing at your church or corps.
Email: kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
Post: Kids Alive! 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN
Dylan’s profile photo is him with Jackie and Michael, the officers (leaders) of the Salvation Army church he attends. Unfortunately, it’s the last photo he’ll have with them as Jackie is retiring and his Salvation Army church is closing. He and his family are so thankful to Jackie and Michael for welcoming them to The Salvation Army and supporting them.
This Water is Life Colouring was sent by Tessie, age 13. There’s some excellent neat colouring in there – check out the turtle!
Would you like to feature in our Reader Pro le section on this page like Dylan?
If you would, ask your parents, carers or Sunday school leaders to email the address in the green box on the left and we’ll send a questionnaire for you to complete (as well as sending a photographic permission form for your parents or carers).
Age?
Favourite colour? Yellow and orange.
Favourite food? Pasta bake and pizza.
Favourite sport? Biking.
Favourite bit of Kids Alive!? The jokes.
Favourite Bible story and why? Noah’s ark, because I like doves and water. Most of all I like the big boat that Noah builds.
Favourite TV programme? Dinotrux.
What do you want to be when you’re older? A pilot or ship’s captain, ideally both.
Pets? Henry the dog. Hobbies? Bike riding and building Lego models, especially ships.
Tell us a joke. How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh? Ten-tickles!
Tell us something interesting about yourself. I’ve got a great knowledge of the history of the Titanic. I love to make boats out of Lego.
This evening at Brownies, Brown Owl said that I was too talkative…
…And although having a lot to say wasn’t a bad thing...
…it did mean that the other girls didn’t get to have their say.
What do you think, Patch? Do you think I’m too talkative and make it difficult for others to get a word in edgeways?
be honest with me. Don’t hold back. I need to know so that I can do something about it. It’s not the first time someone has said I’m talkative. My mum has…
…She says that I could talk for England, whatever that means. So, how about you, Patch? You haven’t answered my question about if I’m too talkative.
If you stopped talking for just one moment, Olive, I might actually be able to give you my answer!
…And Mr Lyons my history teacher is always telling me off for talking in class when I should be listening. Oh yes, and there’s also Mrs Johnson, our headteacher…
