Newsletter 60.

Newsletter 60 from Maurice Sweetsur


Last month I shared the first three instalments of my serial "Jimmy and the six weird witches" which forms the basis of my six-week discipleship programme. This month, I share the final three instalments.

Maurice Sweetsur


Story - Jimmy and the six weird witches.

Part 4 - Library Lizzy.

With the help of the friendly Porter, Jimmy had managed to defeat Moaning Maggie, Old mother Curseandswear and the Tricky witch. He was now inside New Station, waiting for his later train to Seaville. He noticed that there was a Bookstall in the station, so he wandered over to have a look, thinking that he might be able to buy a book or magazine to read on his long journey to Seaville.

Jimmy made sure that the Bookstall had nothing to do with the Tricky witch, but she was nowhere to be seen. The books and magazines didn't seem very appealing to Jimmy, with titles such as 'Gardening weekly', 'Home decorating' and 'Cooking for beginners'. But then he spotted an interesting sounding book. It was titled "Visitors Guide to Seaville'. Jimmy examined it and thought "I'm going to Seaville, this book could help me find my way around when I get there." So Jimmy purchased his book.

Shortly afterwards Jimmy's train arrived. It was one of those that had separate compartments, with a corridor running down the outside. As Jimmy had had enough excitement for one day, he found an empty compartment and hoped that nobody else would get in so that he could read his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' in peace. But just as the train was starting off, the compartment door opened, and a very large lady, carrying an enormous handbag came in and sat down opposite Jimmy.

"I hope you don't start talking to me" thought Jimmy. So he got out his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' and began to read it. But after a few minutes the lady leaned towards Jimmy, and asked "Are you going on holiday?"
"Yes, I'm going to stay with my aunt in Seaville."
"Have you been before?"
"No, but I have this 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' to help me find my way around."
"Let me have a look."
Jimmy handed over the book. The large lady looked at it briefly and handed it back. "That's a funny sort of book for a boy your age to be reading. I thought that you would prefer comics."
"I do like comics, but I think that this book will be very helpful to me."
"Nonsense! This is your lucky day. It just so happens that I run a library for boys and girls your age. I have some of my books with me" said the large lady, as she began to look inside her handbag "I will lend you one of them for you to read instead of that silly book you have."
She handed Jimmy a book. "How about this one 'Screams of Fun - 100 Practical jokes to play on people you don't like.'"
"I don't think I like the sound of that one" said Jimmy.
"Oh but there's a great joke in here. You creep up behind someone while they are sitting down, and when they are not looking tie their shoelaces together. When they get up, they trip over themselves!"
"That doesn't sound very nice to me."
"Never mind. How about this one? You place a bowl of water on top of a door, which you leave ajar. The first person through the door, gets soaked with water!"
"I would get in trouble if I did something like that" replied Jimmy.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that. There is a whole chapter in this book, which tells you how to make quick getaways. And there is another chapter which tells you how to put the blame on someone else."
"I'm sorry" said Jimmy, handing the book back. "I don't like that book at all."
"How about this one then? 'Cross Patch - 200 ways of making people lose their temper.'"
"But I don't like it when people lose their temper. No thanks."
"Well you are certain to like this one. 'Always Right - How to make other people look silly.'"
"No. That book doesn't sound very nice either."
"This is my favourite. Everyone likes this book. '500 Funny and nasty names to call your friends.'"
"If I called my friends nasty names, they wouldn't be my friends much longer. No, I am sorry, but I don't like any of your books" said Jimmy as he handed the last one back.

Suddenly, the large lady's face began to turn redder and redder. She stood up, leaned over towards Jimmy, and began shaking her fist in his face. In an angry voice she began to say "You nasty little boy. You are just a nasty, nasty little boy. Don't like any of my books do you!. Why, I will teach you, you nasty, nasty, little boy."
Far too late, Jimmy realised that the large lady was one of the six weird witches he had been warned about. Frightened, he pressed himself back against his seat as far as he could go. But the witch came even closer "You nasty, nasty, nasty little boy."

Suddenly Jimmy heard the door to the compartment open, and a familiar voice said "Tickets please." Jimmy looked up, and although he was now in a ticket collectors uniform, it was obviously the Friendly Porter. The large lady sat back down on her seat while Jimmy offered his ticket up to be clipped. Then the Friendly Porter turned towards the large lady. "Tickets please" he demanded. The large lady began to look through her bag, but she couldn't produce a ticket. Eventually the Friendly Porter said "Away with you Lizzy." The large lady collected up all her nasty books, stuffed them in her bag, and stormed off down the corridor, slamming the compartment door behind her.

"I'm really glad you came along when you did" said Jimmy. "I think that lady was one of those weird witches you warned me about."
"Yes" replied the Friendly Porter "That was Library Lizzy. She always tries to get people to read her nasty books. I hope you didn't read any of them, Jimmy?"
"No, I gave them all back to her."
"That was the right thing to do. Let me see that book you've got Jimmy."
Jimmy passed over his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville.' "This should help me find my way around while I am on holiday."
"That looks a very good book to me" replied the Friendly Porter as he handed Jimmy his book back "I would stick to reading that one."

The Friendly Porter left Jimmy to read his Guide book, which he found really interesting. And in some places it was very exciting.

Conclusion. Just like Jimmy had a guide book to help him find his way around, Christians also have a guide book - The Bible. God has given His Word, the Bible to us to help us on our journey through life. If you keep finding out what the Bible has to say to you, we won't go far wrong. However, if you never look at the Bible, or ignore what it says, then you are certain to make mistakes in life, and go off in wrong directions.

God's enemies don't like us reading the Bible, and they have a whole lot of other books and magazines that they would rather us read instead. You need to be very careful about the sort of things that you read. There is a very powerful spiritual law at work in us all. This basically says "Good things in, good things out. Bad things in, bad things out." In other words, if you take in good things (like the Bible) through your eyes and ears, good things will start coming out from you. i.e. You will begin to say and do 'good' things. If, on the other hand, you take in bad things through your eyes or ears, bad things will start coming out from you.

Therefore, be very careful about what you read, what T.V. programmes, films and videos you watch, and what type of music you listen to. You may be thinking "How do I know what is 'Good' or 'Bad'? Very often this is quite obvious. But if you are not sure, test to see how you feel about what you are taking in through your eyes or ears. If you feel uneasy or anxious, that is God warning you through the Holy Spirit that you shouldn't be taking this in. But then, remember, it is still your choice whether you continue taking in that thing or not. God won't send an Angel down from heaven to take your book away, or switch off the T.V.! It is always your choice to do it. But remember, "Good things in, good things out. Bad things in, bad things out."

Suggested Object lessons. God's Guidance (A balloon guidance system) O.L. 13 (Newsletter 5).
The Flaming Bible. O.L. 65 (Newsletter 56).


Part 5 - Freda Fib.

With the help of the Friendly Porter, Jimmy had managed to defeat the fourth Weird Witch, Library Lizzy. He was now on his own, reading his "Visitors Guide to Seaville", which he found really interesting and, in places, quite exciting. After a while, Jimmy realised that he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since early that morning, and now it was early afternoon. He wondered if there was a cafeteria on the train, so went to have a look.

Jimmy soon found the cafeteria, and ordered himself a sandwich and a milk shake. He looked around for somewhere to sit down to have his snack, but the cafeteria was nearly full. In fact the only vacant seat was right next to a young girl, about his own age. Jimmy didn't normally like sitting next to girls, much preferring boy's company. But this girl looked quite nice with her long blond hair and sweet smile, so Jimmy went and sat next to her. After a few minutes, the girl struck up a conversation. (This next part of the story, I usually tell by means of a puppet play. Characters - Jimmy, Freda, Ticket collector, 'Changed' Freda).

"My name is Freda, what's yours?"
"Jimmy, and I'm on my way to Seaville"
"So am I. My dad's got lots of money, has yours?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well my dad has millions of dollars, and we live in an enormous house with over 100 rooms, and a Television in every one. We have 10 cars, and my mother has big diamond rings on all her fingers. She wears them all the time - even when she is doing the washing up."
"It's funny to wear diamond rings when you are doing the washing up."
"Well my mum does. How much pocket money do you get?"
"I get $2 a week."
"$2 a week! $2 a week!! I get $500 a week."
"Oh come on Freda, nobody gets that much pocket money."
"Well I do. In fact, some weeks I get $1,000. But it is too much for me. So I end up throwing most of it away."

"Tickets please" came a voice from nearby. Jimmy looked up to see that it was the real ticket collector, so he offered up his ticket for examination. The ticket collector clipped it, then handed it back to Jimmy. Then he turned to Freda. "Ticket please."
"My mummy has got my ticket, and she is in the carriage." said Freda. The collector seemed satisfied with that explanation, and walked away.
"Silly old fool" said Freda. "I always fool them. I haven't really got a ticket."
"You'll get in trouble" said Jimmy.
"No I won't. Because we are going to hide in the Guard's van."
"But, I don't need to hide" protested Jimmy.

Suddenly Freda grabbed hold of Jimmy's arm. Jimmy tried to pull away, but for someone so small, Jimmy found that Freda was very strong. There was nothing he could do but let Freda pull him all the way to the Guard's van.
"No one will find us here" said Freda.
"But I keep telling you, I don't need to hide. I have a ticket" said Jimmy, as he held up his ticket.
"Oh no you don't" replied Freda as she snatched Jimmy's ticket out of his hand and threw it out of the open window.
Jimmy stared at Freda in amazement. "You've thrown my ticket out of the window. I will tell the man."
"He'll never believe you" said Freda gleefully. "You will have to buy another one."
"You're mad" said Jimmy. "You're making it all up. All that stuff about having $500 a week pocket money, your dad being very rich and your mum doing the washing up wearing her diamond rings. You are just a liar."
"Yes. I like telling lies. It's fun and it gets people in trouble. I've made a lot of trouble for you!"

Suddenly Freda's appearance began to change. Her hair became brown and straggly. Her nose became long and pointed, and her face became red and crinkled. Too late, Jimmy realised that Freda was one of the weird witches that he had been warned about (Actually, she was Freda Fib, the well known lying witch). Freda started to move towards Jimmy. Panicking, Jimmy spotted the red emergency button which stops the train. He pushed it, and immediately heard the sound of the train's brakes as it began to slow down.
"I hoped you'd do that. I hoped you'd do that" shouted Freda as she jumped up and down for joy.
"No one will believe you if you say there is a witch on the train. You will be fined $1,000 for stopping the train. You might even be sent to prison." With that, Freda quickly opened the door and ran off, leaving Jimmy on his own.

After a few seconds Jimmy heard footsteps coming towards the Guard's van. "I'll get in trouble for stopping the train" he thought. In panic Jimmy opened the outside door to the now stationary train, jumped out, and ran back along the track until he was out of sight of the train. After a few minutes, Jimmy heard the sound of his train starting up and pulling away into the distance, leaving him all on his own right in the middle of the deserted countryside.

Oh dear. Jimmy is really in trouble now. What will happen next? Will he make it to the end of his journey, or will the weird witches beat him? Come back in October for the final instalment of this serial.


Conclusion.

Like Freda Fib, people lie for a number of different reasons. Here are the main four ones.

1, To show off. Freda Fib told lies about her mum and dad, and the amount of pocket money she got just to boast and show off.

2. To get out of trouble. Freda Fib lied to the ticket collector so she wouldn't get in trouble for not having a ticket. (Jimmy might have been tempted to tell a lie like this if someone had asked him if he had pressed the emergency button to stop the train).

3. Out of pure spite or nastiness to get other people into trouble. If asked, Freda would have probably lied to the ticket collector, saying that Jimmy didn't have a ticket.

4. To get something you are not due, or don't deserve. For example, imagine someone is passing round a box of chocolates. You have already had yours, but you are asked if you have had one - and you say no!

Lies are one of God's enemies favourite ways of stopping people being good Christians. They often spread like measles - you tell one, and then you have to tell a lot more to cover up the first one. And the more lies you tell, the easier it gets, until it becomes a habit. This is true for all sins (e.g. cheating, stealing, swearing, getting angry or jealous etc.), but especially for lies - because once they become a habit, they don't seem to matter any more.

The only way to deal with your lies (or any other sins) is to get rid of them straight away by asking God to forgive you. This is rather like weeding your garden. If I see one weed in my garden, I pull it up, and it is not a problem. But if I ignore the weed, the next time I look at my garden I will probably find that that weed has spread all over - causing real problems.

You should 'weed your garden' every day. When you pray, think back to see if there is anything that you have done, or said, or even thought, that you know was wrong. Then tell God you are sorry (and be sorry, of course), thank Him for forgiving you, and ask Him to help you do better the next day.

Suggested Object lessons. Little sins grow bigger (Balloon burst). O.L. 15 (Newsletter 6).
Sin is serious. O.L. 34 (Newsletter 14).
Sin grows rapidly O.L. 35 (Newsletter 14).
Our sins are gone forever (Flashpaper). O.L. 57 (Newsletter 41).


Part 6 - The Screaming witch of hate.

Jimmy was in serious trouble. Following his encounter with Freda Fib, he had panicked and pressed the button to stop his train. When he had heard footsteps coming towards the Guard's van to investigate, Jimmy had jumped out of the train and ran back along the track until he was out of sight. After a few minutes, Jimmy heard the sound of his train starting up and pulling away into the distance, leaving him all on his own right in the middle of the deserted countryside.

Jimmy looked all around but, apart from the countryside, there was nothing to be seen. No people, no roads, not even any houses. Jimmy decided that the best thing he could do was to walk along the train track. He thought that if he was lucky he might come to the next station, and if he was really lucky, he might even be able to catch another train and finish his journey to Seaville.

After walking along the track for a few minutes, Jimmy heard the sound of a train coming towards him.

"Oh no" he thought "This must be my train coming back. They must be looking for me to punish me for stopping the train."

Jimmy spotted a bush near the side of the track, so he hid in it, hoping that he wouldn't be seen as the train reached him. But as the train got closer, Jimmy noticed that it wasn't the train he had been on. This was a single black engine. It was travelling very slowly, and instead of making the usual "chu. chu. chu." train sound, it seemed to be saying "hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate." Sitting on top of the engine was the ugliest old woman that Jimmy had ever see, She had a pointed black hat, a long black coat, and long black boots. Her head was moving from side to side as she obviously searched for something near the track. Jimmy instinctively knew that she was searching for him!

This old woman was actually the Screaming witch of hate. She was the oldest and worst of the six weird witched. And sitting next to her on top of the black engine and also searching the track were all the other sisters. There was Moaning Maggie, still muttering "It's a miserable, miserable day." There was Old Mother Curseandswear, littering the track with her scraps of paper, and calling out nasty names such as "Chicken pox." "Break a leg" and "Coughs and colds." There was the Tricky witch, but she wasn't smiling now. She had a big scowl on her face. There was Library Lizzy, still holding onto her bag full of nasty books. And there was little Freda Fib, sitting right alongside her sisters.

Jimmy moved as far into the bush as he could, trying to make himself as small as possible. He prayed and hoped that he wasn't seen by anyone on the hate train. But as the train got closer, it's sound changed from "hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate." to "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him." Jimmy closed his eyes and waited. The train was right next to him now. "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. - - - - -" . But eventually he heard the sound of the train gradually moving away. As soon as the sound of the train became faint, Jimmy came out of the bush and began to run as fast as he could along the track, determined to get as far as he could away from the deadly hate train.

The track curved round to the right, but as Jimmy turned the corner, there just a few metres in front of him was a big black tunnel. Jimmy peered into the tunnel, but he couldn't see any light from the other end. "There is no way I am going in there," thought Jimmy. He thought of going back along the track in the direction he had just run. But then he remembered the deadly hate train, and immediately dismissed the idea. "I will just have to get off the track" thought Jimmy. But both banks on either side of the track had become so steep just before rhe tunnel, that they seemed impossible to climb. Jimmy just didn't know what to do.

After a few minutes, Jimmy heard a voice. He looked up to see a tiny figure in the distance on top of one of the banks. Jimmy couldn't be sure about this, but he thought that the figure looked like the Friendly Porter. The figure was waving his arm as though he wanted Jimmy to go into the tunnel. But then the figure disappeared.

"I guess there is nothing else for it" said Jimmy as he began to walk into the big, black tunnel. Soon there was no light at all, and Jimmy kept falling over the track as he slowly moved further and further into the tunnel. Jimmy began to think that he had made a mistake in coming into such a horrible place. He moved to the side of the track and began to feel his way along the tunnel wall, which was all slimy. Jimmy was making very slow progress, and still there was no sign of the end of the tunnel.

Then Jimmy heard the one sound in the world that he didn't want to hear - hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him." It was the deadly hate train coming back towards the tunnel. Jimmy flattened himself against the tunnel wall, hardly daring to even breathe. He heard the train enter the tunnel, and as it did so the sound changed again - "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him." It had almost reached Jimmy when the whole tunnel was filled with smoke from the engine, It went into Jimmy's nose, mouth and eyes. He began to cough and splutter. Suddenly, there was a great screech. Jimmy screamed Ahhh! And then - - - - - Absolutely nothing!

The next thing Jimmy remembered was feeling a large hand grab hold of his shoulder and begin to shake it. A voice from behind him said "Come along young man, or you will miss your train." Jimmy blinked, opened his eyes, and looked around him. He could hardly believe what he saw. He was back on the station platform where he had first started his journey. And a train had just roared into the platform with a great screech. The voice behind him said "Come on, wake up. You are going to Seaville aren't you? This is your train."

Very slowly, Jimmy realised he had been dreaming! When he was on the platform that morning, he had felt tired, and gone over to sit on a bench for a rest. He had closed his eyes for a second - or so he thought. Actually, he had fallen asleep, and dreamt all those adventures about the six weird witches!

So Jimmy got up, thanked the Porter for waking him up, picked up his suitcase, boarded the train, and went off to have a great holiday in Seaville.


Conclusion.

The Screaming witch of hate was the worst of all because hatred lies behind every nasty thing people do. It causes wars, terrorist attacks and all sorts of trouble.

This witch tried to stop Jimmy getting to the end of his journey, and lack of love (which is another name for hatred) is the thing which holds us back most on our journey to heaven. God loves you (read John 3.16), and He wants you to share his love with others. If you are really serious about following Jesus, this is something that you must do. You need to be kind and nice to everyone - even if you find it hard to like them, or think they don't deserve it. That is what Jesus would do.

Suggested Object lessons. Defeating evil with good (Paper is stronger than wood). O.L. 24 (Newsletter 9).
The fair distribution of food. O.L.36 (Newsletter 15).

Suggested play. The Good Samaritan (Modern version) - Newsletter 35.

Suggested story. Jesus for tea.- Newsletter 35.