Well these are unexpected times. None of us have lived through stay at home regulations like this! 

As such we have been busy making Ebenezer! 

I hope some of you have been tuning in! For those that haven’t got round to it yet, or if this is your first time hearing about our new endeavour – Ebenezer is a new online series we’ve made for children in Stone. You can find the videos on our Christ Church website, Facebook page and YouTube page and we’ve made 13 episodes so far!

We called the show Ebenezer because of a verse in 1 Samuel 7:12 – 

‘Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”‘ 

It’s a stone of help! Which is what these videos are trying to be for our stone community.

It’s been a big learning experience but we hope it is helpful. Do watch and send in any questions to the office email! We’d love to respond to your thoughts. 

But the star of the show, without a doubt, is our feathered friend Zelda! And because she is such a central part of the show I figured I would answer some common questions you might have about her.

Who is Zelda? 

Zelda is a conure, and in particular a crimson bellied conure. She is nearly a year old, so she is still very young, but has a huge personality! She loves getting head scratches and biting everything she can get her beak around! Her favourite foods are blueberries and red peppers. 

How can Zelda ask such good questions about the Bible?

Well, Zelda has already heard lots from the bible because we’ve been reading through the Bible in a year together! When we read from the Bible we read aloud for all the birds to hear, so Zelda has amassed quite a knowledge of scripture! 

Why is Zelda in front of the camera instead of the other birds?

For those of you who don’t know my wife and I have 4 birds currently – but the other three aren’t nearly as tame. They would be too shy to be recorded! Zelda however loves being the centre of attention making her a great choice for the show.

What does Zelda get up to during the day?

Well Zelda loves getting attention – so often she’ll fly over to us for head rubs or just to sit on our shoulders. She’ll spend time sleeping in her house or on our shoulder everyday, as well as playing with her many foraging toys! She loves digging through wads of paper looking for something tasty. We also do training with her – she has mastered the come command but she is still practicing with fetch. She can go and pick up an item, but she is still learning how to give it back! 

Where does Zelda sleep? 

Well she has a big house that she goes into at night, and she sleeps in a perch in there. It’s filled with her food and plenty of toys. She loves chasing round a ping pong ball and playing with it on her back – she acts almost like a cat sometimes! She also often calls at us to let us know it’s her bed time! 

Will Zelda keep being in the show? 

Yes! Zelda loves being part of the show (mainly because of the treats and attention that come with it!) and we’ve enjoyed making them with her. 

Do spread the word about Ebenezer with friends and family who have children who might be interested. This show is intended to be fun and enjoyable but also to go through the Bible and discover what we can learn from it. Our current series in Luke explores Jesus’ life and teachings – and our hope is that these videos will help teach as well as entertain. Hope you’ve been enjoying them! 

But that’s all we have time for I’m afraid. So that’s bye from me, and it’s bye from Zelda.           Peter