2018 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 5-MINUTE LESSONS

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1 2018 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 5-MINUTE LESSONS Dear Teacher, Our 2018 VBS project is to raise funds for the Evangelical College of Theology in the city of Churachandpur which is in the state of Manipur, Northeast India. The college is hoping to offer a new program this year which is an M. Th. in Missiology. In order to be accredited, among other things, the library must have 20,000 volumes. They have less than half that now. Since they need specific books in some cases, it is easier to raise the monies and let them buy what they need rather than try to buy books here and ship them over. Attached are five lessons designed to be five minutes each, to be used in conjunction with your VBS program. The lessons are based on an anagram of the alphabet, with five letters being used each day. Photos of the college and the library are interspersed to give your children an idea of what the building looks like, and how it is both similar and different from school buildings and libraries in the USA. You might want to download and print or just make large letters of the alphabet that your children can hang or have children hold up the letters for each evening. If you would like more background information or to add to the lessons, you can go to the EC website, and look at our MMK lessons on India. To get there, go to the Structures tab in the top center of the website. Click on that, then on the Communities tab, and then Global Ministries. At the bottom of the GMC page is a list of various pages. One is Mission Minded Kids. Click on that, and you will find sets of lessons for each of our international churches: India, Nepal, Japan, Mexico and Liberia. You can download any of the lessons individually or as a set, and use them to augment your VBS program or any Mission Minded Kids programs at your church. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Global Ministries office. Our is ecglobal@eccenter.com, and the phone number is Office hours are M- F, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (Church Center is closed on Fridays in July and August.) Pat Strain, Global Ministries office (Many thanks to Kaye Miller for developing the alphabet theme for this series of lessons.)

2 DAY 1 Our VBS project this year is to raise $10,000 to help the Evangelical College of Theology purchase the books they need to reach their goal of 20,000 volumes. The Evangelical College of Theology is a bible school and seminary located in the city of Churachandpur, in the state of Manipur, India. Manipur is in northeast India, the section in red brown to the east of mainland India.( Figure 1) It is attached to the mainland by just a small area of land. Northeast India is where the work of the Evangelical Congregational Church of India is located. The people there are not like the people who live in mainland India. They look different, have different customs and speak different languages. Our churches are made up of six different tribal groups. They each have their own group of churches called presbyteries. Evangelical College of Theology is open to students from all the different tribes. They teach all their classes in English, which is the second official language of India for education. The first is Hindi. What s one of the first things you learn when you start school? (Allow children to give answers.) The alphabet! Everyone needs to learn their ABC s. Each day we will use 5 letters of the alphabet as reminders of our goal. The final letter of the alphabet will be used in the closing service. 1. ASK God to help us reach our goal of obtaining 20,000 volumes for the library. 2. BELIEVE that our goal will be met! 3. COLLECT an offering each night to help reach our goal. 4. DAILY pray about the 20,000 books that are needed. 5. ENJOY helping the Evangelical College of Theology in Manipur.

3 Figure 1 Northeast India India INDIAN OCEAN

4 DAY 2 How many of you have ever visited your local library? Do you have a library at your school? Here in the USA, most public libraries are open to anyone living in that county. They carry many different kinds of books for the people to read. A bible college library is different in that they carry books that are related to the subjects they teach. They must have a lot of specialized books for each subject, and these are often very expensive. Most students will never own the books they need to study. That is why we are trying to help ECT to buy the books needed for the students to study these subjects. (Figure 2 & 3 students in ECT library) Figure 2

5 Figure 3 1. FAITHFULLY pray for our project of raising $10, GIVE as the Lord directs you. 3. HONOR God by being a part of this project. 4. INVITE others to learn about our bible college in Churachandpur, India. 5. JUMP into this project with enthusiasm!

6 DAY 3 Review: Do you remember what our project is this year for VBS? What is the name of the bible college? Where is it located? This is a picture of the staff and teachers at Evangelical College of Theology. Currently they have 71 students. Notice the skirt that the second woman from the left is wearing. This is traditional style of dress for ladies in Northeast India. Each tribe has its own colors, and often the women wear long woven wrap skirts with their tribal colors. Black, yellow, red and white are the most popular colors. The lady on the right is wearing a top woven in tribal colors.

7 Here are photos of the students, teachers and staff at Evangelical College of Theology. Please keep them in prayer as the students train to be pastors and missionaries to the people around them who don t know Jesus.

8 1. KINDLY tell others about raising money for ECT. 2. LOVINGLY share the needs of ECT. 3. MAKE sure everyone in your church knows about the VBS project! 4. NOTICE the difference we can make by praying for this project. 5. OBEY the Lord as He directs you with this project.

9 DAY 4 Do you remember how many books the library at Evangelical College of Theology has to have? That s right,, 20,000. That s a lot of books. Here are some pictures of the library now. Right now the library has about 10,000 books. That means they need to double the number of books they have in their library. That s a lot of books! Can you imagine how high the piles would be if you piled 20,000 books on top of each other? You wouldn t be able to see over them!

10 1. PRAY for the students using the library. 2. QUALITY books are needed, so pray for this. 3. RALLY for those who are serving the Lord in Manipur. 4. SEEK other ways to help those who serve the Lord. 5. TELL others about the $10,000 that needs to be raised.

11 DAY 5 The principal of ECT is Rev. Dr. Lalrosiem Songate. Dr. Songate studied for his doctorate here in the USA, in Indiana and in Texas. He is fluent in his tribal language and English, among other languages. Dr. Songate is very grateful that the churches in the USA are helping to raise the money so that ECT can buy the books they need, especially for a new program they want to teach. It is scheduled to begin this summer. The master s degree in Missiology will prepare students at ECT to become better pastors and missionaries. Many of the states surrounding Manipur are primarily Hindu. They need people to tell them about Jesus and that He loves them. Thank you to all of you for helping them to be able to study so they can reach their neighbors for Christ. 1. UNDERSTAND why we are trying to raise $10, VICTORY will be met with your help! 3. WATCH us reach our goal to raise $10,000! 4. X-CITEMENT is what we are feeling as we reach our goal! 5. YOU just made a difference with your prayers and giving. THANK YOU! CLOSING PROGRAM ZEALOUSLY rejoice in what God did here this week at VBS and for the Evangelical College of Theology in Manipur, India!