Three Ways to Love. Description: Materials: Aims: Audience: Minimum Time Requirements: Scripture:

Transcription

1 Three Ways to Love Description: A craft plus a real-life story from Cameroon illustrating how God helped a translation team discover the correct word to use for unconditional love in Hdi Scripture Aims: Children will learn the word for unconditional love in the Hdi language. Children will learn that God loves them and sent His son to die for them. Children will use the craft as a reminder to pray for the Hdi people. Audience: Grades Pre-K 6 Minimum Time Requirements: minutes Scripture: Romans 5:8 Materials: Bible marked at Romans 5:8 World globe or map Print out of hearts from pages 9 11 Origami paper or construction paper to make origami hearts, recommended for ages nine and up Optional: pens for children to write the Hdi words for love on their origami heart or to circle a word on page 12 Red crayons to color page 12 Optional: computer, projector, and screen to project hearts with words instead of holding them up Optional: Print out of the skit script, pages 7 8. If you have any questions or problems related to this lesson, please contact Wycliffe s Children s Communications team at kids@wycliffe.org. No part of this lesson may be republished or sold without permission. Copying for classroom use is encouraged! Wycliffe 2013 More curricula to engage children in Bible translation are available at

2 Pre-class Preparation: Decide if your children should make the origami craft (suitable for ages nine years and older) or color the heart on page 12. If your students are making origami hearts, select one of the websites listed below, and practice making an origami heart for a sample. Cut pieces of origami or construction paper so each student who will make an origami heart will have one. Make a copy of each of the three hearts with the words dvi, dva, and dvu from pages 9 11 to use during the story. (Tip: Tape the paragraphs for each heart on the back of the hearts so that you can read the story to the students from the back of the hearts.) Or prepare to project the hearts onto a large screen. Optional: Decide if you want to include the reader s theater style skit from pages 8 9. If so, you will read the narrator part. Prepare four other scripts, highlighting each person s text with a different color to aid in reading. Be thinking of four good readers for the different parts. If your students will be coloring the picture on page 12, prepare a sample and have enough copies for each student (recommended for students age eight or under). Don t stress over how to pronounce the three words in Hdi just be consistent. Here are a few sites that provide clear directions for making an origami heart: (video and picture instructions shown in upper right corner of this page.) (animated illustration) (printable diagram) (half-square triangle uses less paper, pictured to the right) Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 2

3 Class Time: Begin by asking, Often we call February the month. What word would you put in that sentence? That s right, we often call February the love month. Lots of books have been written about love. We all want to be liked, and even more we want to be loved. We want our families and to love us. God loves us with a love that lasts forever, no matter what. We call God s kind of love unconditional love. In every one of the almost seven thousand languages spoken in the world, God provides a way for people to understand His unconditional love in terms that are clear. Today we re going to discover one of those terms. Holding the globe or pointing to a world map, ask, Can anyone point to Cameroon? If no one volunteers, point out the country of Cameroon, and say, In the Hdi language of Cameroon the translation committee coordinators, Lee and Tammy Bramlett, could not find a word in Hdi that meant God s unconditional love. God prompted Lee to look again at the Hdi word for love. He knew that every action word or verb could end with one of three letters. But with the Hdi word for love, he only could find examples of dvi and dva. Lee wondered, Why isn t there a dvu? Optional: If using the readers theater style skit, call up the four students you ve selected to read the parts of Lee and three translation team members from pages 7 8, and skip down to the to continue. If you aren t using the readers theater like skit, hold up the heart with the word dvi on it from page 9, or project it on a large screen. Continue, So Lee got together with a group of men who spoke Hdi. These men formed the Hdi Bible translation committee. Lee asked the men, Could a man dvi his wife? Yes, they said. That would mean that he loved his wife once, but not anymore. Hold up the heart from page 10 with the word dva on it, or project it on a large screen. Continue, Next, Lee asked the men, Could a man dva his wife? Yes, they said. That kind of love depends on the wife s actions or what she did. Her husband would love her with that type of love as long as she was Materials: World map or globe 4 scripts for the readers theater like skit with parts marked from pages 7 8 dvi heart from page 9 dva heart from page 10 Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 3

4 faithful and took care of him. But neither of these words expressed the kind of love that never ends, no matter what. Hold up the heart from page 11 with the word Dvu on it or project it on a large screen. Continue, Could a man dvu his wife? Lee asked. Everyone laughed. Of course not! they said. If a man loved his wife that way, he would have to keep on loving her no matter what she did even if she never got him water or never fixed meals for him. Even if she went to live with another man or family, her husband would have to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say a man dvu d his wife. It just doesn t happen. Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, which says, For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NLT). Then Lee asked the men, Could God dvu people? There was complete silence for three or four minutes! Then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally they responded. Do you know what this would mean? they asked. This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia (thousands of years), while all that time we rejected His great love. He is compelled to love us, (that means He can t help but love us) even though we have sinned more than any people. Conclude the story by saying, By changing one simple letter, the vowel at the end of the word, the meaning changed from God loves you because of what you do and who you are, to God loves you because of who He is. God loves you because of Him and not because of you. Sometimes we think God loves us only because of what we do or who we are. But God loves us no matter what. He loves us unconditionally. God loves us just because He is a loving God! Just under two thousand people groups still wait to have the Bible in their languages. They have never heard God s words of love. We need to pray that people will get involved in Bible translation so that all languages can have God s words of love. Will you pray?* When people have God s Word in their language, they will be able to fully understand how much God loves them. Materials: dvu heart from page 11 *If a student or family would like to pray for a group of people without a Bible in their language. They can sign up to receive a specific language name to pray for at eoplesprayerproject.aspx. Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 4

5 Craft Time: These crafts can remind your students that God loves them no matter what unconditionally and forever. All He asks is for them to believe that He came to take the punishment for the wrong things they do. The crafts can also remind them to pray for the Hdi people to love God and grow in their faith as they read the Scripture portions that have been translated into their language so far. The crafts can also remind them that there are still many people waiting to read about God s love in the language that speaks to their heart. Option for older students: Pass out the squares of paper. Show them your sample, and walk them through the steps. After they finish folding the heart, the children can write on the outside: God so dvu d the world! (as shown in the origami samples on the first page of this lesson.) Option for younger children: Before younger children color a copy of the heart on page 12, have them write their name on it and circle the word that means God s unconditional love in the Hdi language. Closing: For younger students: say, We celebrate Valentine s Day as a day of love, right? Take a few responses, and then say, That s right. We give cards and candy, but God gave a much greater gift. He gave His only Son! God sent Jesus to die in our place so that we could become part of His family. We can t do anything to make ourselves become God s child, because we ve all done bad things. Those bad things separate us from God. Only Jesus, who never did bad things, can stand as the bridge of love to make a way for us to reach a perfect, Holy God. God loves the whole world and wants everyone to know it! People can best learn about His love in the language that speaks to their hearts, just like the Hdi people learned about His love through the word dvu. Close in a simple prayer, or skip down to the. For older students: ask, In what country do people speak the Hdi language? Take responses, and then say, That s right, Cameroon. And what did we learn about the Hdi language and their words for love? Materials: Squares of paper for origami hearts Origami heart sample you prepared Optional: pens for children to write the Hdi words for love on their origami heart or to circle a word on page 12 Picture to color from page 12 and red crayons, one for each child Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 5

6 Answers will hopefully include that they have three words for love. Then ask, Who can tell me which of the three words for love in Hdi means God loves us, no matter what, and just because He s God? (dvu) The Hdi language has a special word that describes God s love. In the language we speak, English, we don t have a special word for unconditional love like the Hdi do. We have to use the word unconditional to describe it, but we can know how much God loves us because He tells us this in the Bible. Have someone read Romans 5:8. Then say, For those who believe in Jesus, God s love is always there. It s always the same. And it won t go away, no matter what. Aren t you glad that you have God s Word, the Bible, to read so you can know about God s unconditional love? Close in a prayer something like this, Thank you, Heavenly Father, that we have the Bible. Thank you that the Hdi people now know how much you love them in their language because of the little word dvu. Help the Hdi people to grow in their faith as they read their Bibles. And I pray that each of these students will experience Your unconditional love in their lives as they learn about You. Help them to become men and women who love and serve You, starting right now. Materials: Bible marked at Romans 5:8 Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 6

7 Script for Optional Reader s Theater Type Skit Call up four students to read the parts (Lee, translation committee member #1, translation committee member #2, and translation committee member #4.) Then begin reading the narrator part: Narrator, holding up the dvi heart: So, Lee got together with the translation committee and asked... Lee: Could a man dvi his wife? Translation committee member #1: Yes, that would mean that the husband loved his wife once, but not anymore. Narrator, holding up the dva heart: Next, Lee asked the men Lee: Could a man dva his wife? Translation committee member #2: Yes, that kind of love depends on the wife s actions. Her husband would love her as long as she was faithful and took care of him. Narrator: But neither of these words expressed God s kind of love that never ends, no matter what. Narrator, holding up the dvu: heart: Lee was silent a moment and then asked Lee: Could a man dvu his wife? Everyone but Lee: Laugh. Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 7

8 Translation committee member #3: Of course not! If a husband loved like that, he would have to keep on loving his wife no matter what she did, even if she never got him water and never made him meals. Even if she went to live with another man or family, her husband would have to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say a man dvu d his wife. It just doesn t happen. Narrator: Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, which says, For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NLT). Then Lee asked the men, Lee: Could God dvu people? Narrator: There was complete silence for three or four minutes. Then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally, they responded very excitedly. Translation committee member #1: Do you know what this would mean? Translation committee member #2: This would mean that God kept on loving us over and over, for thousands of years, while all that time we rejected His great love. Translation committee member #3: He really must love us, even though we have sinned more than any people. The End Invite applause for the actors, and let them return to their seats. Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 8

9 Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 9 dvi

10 Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 10 dva

11 Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 11 dvu

12 Directions: Circle the word that helped the Hdi people know that God loves them, no matter what, and forever. Then, color the heart. Be sure to put your name on the paper. dvi dva dvu Write you name on the line. Three Ways to Love, Fall 2013, page 12