“When she realized that the apple tree was actually a wolf, the hen ran inside her house and slammed the door. She was safe!” Vinumi finishes with enthusiasm. The other children laugh and clap.
“Well done, Vinumi!” Mr. Gapper exclaims. “Who wants to share a favorite part of the story?” Hands raise and kids clamor to answer the question. Everyone wants to share a favorite part of the fable their friend just shared.
This is the CAP program, or Storytelling and Creative Arts Program that the Gappers put on in LPF schools in Sri Lanka. The school is the private school that their children are enrolled at. Many Sri Lankan and Islander families also attend the school. This provides a wonderful way for the Gappers to use their skills at storytelling and teaching to bless the school and build relationships with families.
CAP was first introduced into the school in September 2020, when schools in Sri Lanka were briefly open for in-person learning. And while you might think that going online would be devastating to a program where kids are taught art, dance, singing, and more, moving to zoom actually turned out to be a huge blessing for the CAP program and has caused it to grow and thrive.
Not only do the Gappers and their guests tell stories to the children, but they also teach skills and creative arts. Sometimes, these lessons relate to the story and reinforce the moral of the story, but at other times the skills are just fun things their guests want to share. The kids have experienced and learned cooking lessons, dance, drama, singing, art and crafts, creative writing, culture studies, science, and language introduction. They have learned these skills and arts from people all over the world: The Gappers have invited special guests from the United States, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Tunisia, Australia, and more!
Each session of the CAP program begins with a skill or creative art presentation. The kids love to learn about the skill or creative art and to ask questions of the special guest. Then, another guest like Vinumi tells the story. After this, the students takes some time to discuss the lesson of the story. They also share their favorite part of the story or fable that was shared. The Gappers try to choose stories that will make the students think critically and will teach them something important about life. In Vinumi’s story (the fable of The Hen and the Apple Tree), the kids talked about how it is important to be yourself (unlike the wolf pretending to be an apple tree), and to be discerning (like the Hen discovering that the “apple tree” was actually a wolf).
After they discuss the story as a large group for a few minutes, the students are sent to breakout rooms where they participate in small group activities. Sometimes these activities are related to the story, and sometimes to the skill or art presented by the special guest. Sometimes it is a game they play to reinforce the main lesson of the story. A favorite activity was the time that the kids imagined their own country. They each designed a flag for their imagined country, as well as a slogan, then they shared with the other kids about their country. The kids loved this activity. But whatever the activity is, it is always guaranteed to be creative and help the kids practice critical thinking. After they have spent some time in breakout rooms, the kids come together for a few minutes to share their experiences with the activities in the breakout rooms.
CAP has been a real blessing to the school. The kids have grown to love CAP so much that it is often the highlight of their week. Some of the students have started to come as guest storytellers, like Vinumi. Mr. Gapper coaches them before they share the story, teaching them how to tell a good story. The teachers at LPF school view the program as a gift from God because of how much the kids are learning. The Gappers are blessed by it too, as they get to see the creativity of the kids and build relationships with their community. Ultimately the Gappers know that solid relationships will lead to opportunities to share the gospel with their neighbors and friends…which is the real reason they continue to invest in this program.