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"Mrs. Gail and the Good News Club"
Mrs. Gail is the nicest lady in town who hosts the weekly Good News Club in her home! She tells the best stories about Jesus from the Bible utilizing her story board and cut-out felt characters. We sing songs about Jesus while her daughter, Ruth, plays the old, upright piano in the corner to keep us in tune and on time! Afterwards, she treats us with warm, chocolate-chip cookies and cold milk... mmm-mm, I can almost taste them!
This is an excerpt of what to expect when you read the many life-challenging, true stories from the children's evangelical picture book, "Mrs. Gail and the Good News Club." After reading one of the 12 short stories, there are 4 follow up questions to be sure young ears are listening; providing a discussion time together. AND! There are Bible memory verses for children to learn -- to help them navigate through todays culture; all through the lens of a Christian world view.
Climb aboard the Glory Train as Mrs. Gail shares how to be a Christian in todays world and how He would want us to speak and act. All aboard!!
The Story Behind Mrs. Gail
This book is written in memory of my Mother-In-Law, Abigail "Gail" Sermeno. She hosted a Good News Club (child evangelism) in her home for 50+ years! In fact, by the time she ended her ministry, she was teaching some of the grandchildren of her original students! She faithfully taught the Bible to children and their parents. Her home was known as The Bible House and she was admired and loved by all who knew her.
As she would share her many Bible Club adventures with me, her son-in-law, author and illustrator Steven C. Martin, I developed her stories and would read them back to her; much to her delight!
Mrs. Gail, as she was affectionately known, would tell fascinating stories about Jesus and the Bible utilizing her storyboard and felt, cut-out, characters. Her daughter Ruth would play on piano the familiar Good News Club theme song, as well as many others (The Countdown, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Children of the World, Deep and Wide, Only a Boy Named David, and many others), to keep the kids in tune and on time.
Mrs. Gail would also create and sew costumes for the children each year as they would go door-to-door Christmas caroling. Additionally, she'd create clothes for neighborhood children and young adults alike who attended the local colleges. She would minister the gospel and pray with her neighbors over the many decades while she, her husband and family lived in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California.
She graduated into Glory in 2017. If there ever was a Proverbs 31 woman to admire and emulate, it most certainly was Mrs. Abigail "Gail" Sermeno... a woman I was proud to call, Mom!
--Steven C. Martin