MISSIONS #7 FAMOUS MISSIONARIES K/1 ST GRADE MAIN POINT CHINA/TAIWAN God loves the Chinese and Taiwanese people and works through all kinds of people to show them His love. PASSAGE: ROMANS 15: 20 Key Verse: My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard... PRE-CLASS CHECKLIST Pray with your team! Activity Stations Chinese character strips (red couplets) on red paper, 1 of each design/child Yellow yarn/ribbon or gold sequins Crayons Glue/glue sticks Passports (made by the kids who were there last missions lesson) Pre-made passports (for those students who don t have one) Chinese/Taiwanese flag stickers, 1/child Culture stickers, 2/child Ethnic snack* Picture books on China/Taiwan* Date stamp/stamp pad Introduction Inflatable globe/world map Lesson Laminated pictures of New Year s food Small Group Prayer balls, 3/class Game Laminated Chinese calendar wheel *Missions teacher to bring XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1998/99 rev 14 FAMOUS MISSIONARIES K/1 st Missions#8 Page 1
LESSON PLAN SET UP INCORPORATION 15-20 MIN INTRODUCTION/ INSTRUCTIONS 5 MIN LESSON LG GROUP February 10, 2019 Take the pictures of the adopted missionary child and the sponsored children from the poly envelopes in the bottom drawer of your carts. Put them on the white board to remind everyone to pray for them during small group. PLEASE REMEMBER to put them back in the poly folder, then the bottom drawer of your cart at the end of class. Activity Stations: Passport Station In a separate area of the room, have a team member help children. Instructions: Have each child pick up their passport. New children will need to get a passport and write their name in it and draw their own self-portrait. Give each child Chinese/Taiwanese flags and cultural stickers to place on the China page (page 6) of the passport. Stamp the page with today s date. The children can also look through the library books and enjoy an ethnic snack at this station. Craft Red Couplets Instructions: Have children color in the characters on the red paper couplet. Each child should get two different sets of characters. They can glue yellow yarn or ribbon or gold sequins to border the design. There is a translation of the characters into English phonetics. Help them say the phrases. The Chinese New Year is one of the most important celebrations in China. This year it was celebrated on February 19. Decorations are a very important part of this holiday. One of the main forms of decoration are red couplets Chinese good-luck sayings written on red paper. These often have gold trimmings and usually are made of four Chinese characters which ask for luck in terms of long life, wealth, etc. Red is considered not only a lucky color for the Chinese, but also a color that frightens off the monster, Nian, whom the Chinese believe arrives at this time of year and destroys crops and homes. Some New Year couplets are intended to be pasted or pinned in special places, such as the kitchen or on doors, while some can be placed anywhere. The couplets are usually taken down after the New Year celebration, though some people keep them up all year long in the hope of keeping good luck. Today we need our passports to fly to China. Let s pray and we ll get going. (Show the children where China is on the map or globe. Also show them Taiwan.) Taiwan is this very small country next to China. Even though it is its own country, its culture is much like that of China. The Chinese New Year, also celebrated in Taiwan, is their biggest holiday. What is ours? (Christmas.) Why? (Birth of Jesus.) The countries of China and Taiwan are not Christian countries, so they don t celebrate Christmas. But the people celebrate New Year much like we celebrate Christmas. They have great food, special treats, gifts and money for the kids and lots of visiting with friends and family. They also have lots of fireworks. The Chinese and Taiwanese people celebrate the New Year for 15 days. During the celebration they hang red couplets, like those you made, on their doors and windows. We have different dates for the New Year because we do not share the same calendar as China. The Chinese people start off the celebration by cleaning their house before New Year s day. This is to shoo away any bad luck accumulated over the past year. Then they decorate with bright 2
10 MIN colors. Lots of red is put up on the windows and doorways because red is considered a lucky color. It is also meant to scare away the evil spirits. You will see that most people are wearing the color red, too, because they think that it will bring them luck. On New Year s day, children receive leisee red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money." Have any of you ever eaten dumplings? What are they like? (They are doughy and round.) Making and eating steamed dumplings are also a part of the New Year s celebration. Someone will hide a coin in the dumpling. After the dumplings are steamed and eaten, whoever finds the coin is supposed to have a lucky year. All the food that is made during the holiday has a meaning. These foods are supposed to bring success, wealth, luck, etc. for the new year. (Show pictures of food.) Egg rolls should bring wealth and money for the new year because they are shaped like a gold bar. Noodles are served in hopes of bringing a long life. Oranges and tangerines are given out to children because the Chinese word for orange sounds like the word for luck and wealth. Fish also play a large role in the festivity. The word for fish, "yu," sounds like the words both for wish and abundance. As a result, on New Year's Eve, fish is to be served at the end of the evening meal, which will hopefully bring lots of success, luck and wealth for the coming year. Actually, any food that is round is supposed to bring the family closer together. LEARNING ACTIVITY #1 LG GROUP 10 MIN LEARNING ACTIVITY #2 LG GROUP 10 MIN Use the picture/library books to show the children more of the culture of China and Taiwan. I want to share with you about two families from Xenos who are currently serving in Taiwan. (Show Taiwan on the map again.) They love the Taiwanese people and want to show them Christ s love. These families are the Gibsons and McCrackens. They have lived in Taiwan for the last 14 years and are working to show God s love to their neighbors and friends in Taiwan. They would love to have your prayers. OBJECT LESSON #2 Giving Campaign Let s talk about one more thing before we hear from our famous missionary. (Hold up the classroom giving globe.) What is this for? Every penny, nickel, dime or more that goes in here will help show Jesus love to people. When we combine all that is given by all the Oasis kids, it is amazing what God can accomplish. LEARNING ACTIVITY #3 SM GROUPS 10 MINN Be sure to check out the bulletin board by the Oasis storage room! We re getting closer to our goal! Let s finish this giving campaign with a bang and raise all the money needed to pay for another year of schooling for our sponsored kids. Your giving and prayers are wonderful ways each of you can show God s love to/for people who live far away from you. There will be no music. MISSIONARY PRESENTATION -- Gladys Alyward SMALL GROUP Discussion Gladys Aylward What great things did God do through Gladys in China? (Name a few.) Gladys was the most unlikely person that God would use, in her mind, because she was not so smart, not big and strong, not wealthy, not married and not a man. But Gladys didn t let that stop her. She realized that God wants us to tell of His wonders and that He wants to use us. He has a great 3
February 10, 2019 job for each of us, no matter whether we are short or tall, big or small, girl or boy, rich or poor, educated or uneducated. When you want to talk to a friend about God, how does it make you feel? How do you think Gladys felt sometimes when doing God s work? Did God help her? God wants us to share with others how great He is. Remember our key verse, My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard... (Romans 15:20). What s the greatest thing that God has done that we can tell others about? (Jesus, God s gift to us.) Beginning a friendship with Jesus is one of the most important things each of us can do in our whole life. Prayer Give each small group a prayer ball. Remind the children to squeeze the prayer ball as they pray. As they are praying and changing the shape of the prayer ball, God is changing the shape of the real world through their prayers. Let s pray for a few minutes: Maybe some of you have never made a decision to have the death of Jesus count for your sins you can do that now. That the hearts of the Chinese and Taiwanese people would be open to hearing about the hope Christ can give them. LEARNING ACTIVITY #4 LG GROUP 5 MIN That we would continue to have giving hearts and meet the goal of our current giving campaign. GAME What animal are you? (Chinese Calendar) How many of you have been to a Chinese restaurant? Do you like Chinese food? Did you notice, maybe on your place mat, how each year in China is represented by an animal? In China and Taiwan, 2015 is considered the year of the Goat. That means that all the babies born February 19 th and later will have a zodiac sign of the Goat. Instructions: How old are you? (They might not know the year they were born. The rosters have their birth dates. If their birthday is in January or February, it might get tricky since the New Year date changes.) Divide the class according to their birth dates. Refer to the laminated wheel for a list of animals and years with the personality of each animal. Let them know what personality the animal has. Have the children act out some actions of the animals represented. *Remember to send home the Mission Possible page and giving flyer/update with each student. Chinese Character Strips (Red Couplets): 4
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Chinese or Taiwanese Recipes February 10, 2019 Chinese Fried Rice In China, fried rice is eaten as an afternoon snack rather than part of a meal. This recipe is a great way to use up cold leftover rice. It is best to start with cold rice. 2 slices bacon, diced 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil (Peanut oil is the traditional Chinese ingredient, but because there are many with allergies to peanuts vegetable oil is fine to use.) ½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced (or 1 tsp powdered ginger not used in China, though) 1 tsp minced garlic 2 cups cooked, long-grain rice (cold) 2 medium sized scallions, sliced ½ cup frozen peas 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 large eggs, beaten In 12 in. skillet or wok, over medium heat, cook bacon until brown and crisp, stirring occasionally. Using slotted spoon, place bacon on paper towels to drain. In hot oil, cook ginger and garlic about 2 minutes. Add rice to skillet; cook, stirring constantly about 5 minutes; add scallions, peas, and soy sauce. Cook 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally until rice is lightly browned. Make a well in center of the rice; add beaten eggs. Cook over medium heat, stirring until eggs are like small peas. Stir into the rest of rice mixture. Can serve in small cups (sample size.) For fun, try to have kids eat with chopsticks; as they do, you can explain that Chinese children do not use forks and often cook with chopsticks too! In china, chopsticks are called quick brothers. Almond cookies- Hsing jen ping 2¾ cups flour 1 cup sugar ½ tsp baking soda 1 cup lard (or shortening) 1 slightly beaten egg 2 tbsp milk 1 tsp almond extract 24 halved blanched almonds (or sliced almonds) In mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cut in lard until mixture resembles cornmeal. Combine egg, milk, and almond extract; add to flour mixture. Mix well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Place and almond piece on each cookie and press to flatten slightly. Bake in 325 oven for 16-18 minutes or until done. Cool on rack. Makes 4 dozen cookies. 6
Sampling Chinese foods The students love to see and smell herbs, spices, and fruits and vegetables from other countries, even if they refuse to taste them! You might consider having a variety of these for your class to check out. Most larger groceries carry these items, but there are also many Asian markets in town (several in Clintonville) that carry them. Chinese foods to try: New Year s foods (from lesson) egg roles, Chinese noodles, oranges or tangerines Bamboo shoots (canned) Pandas eat bamboo too. (Pandas and shoots come from the Szechwan province) Water chestnuts the canned and fresh varieties are very different; however, fresh are hard to find Star anise grows in trees in China; smell great, look cool! Soy sauce Kikkoman is authentic enough, although some Chinese make their own in barrels Dried tree ears edible fungus! Very abundant in Szechwan province, picked off the trees. Dried seaweed dark greenish black in color, is pressed into flat sheets about 8 x 10 inches after it is dried and sold in cellophane wrapped packages. Can also be found at times in flakes in a jar. Tea black, oolong, or green teas. Desserts: Desserts as we know them in our Western culture aren t traditional with Asian menus. Fresh or canned fruit is a traditional dessert for the Chinese. Some fruits to try are: Lychees canned, they come pitted and are a traditional Chinese fruit Oranges, watermelon and fresh pineapple Fortune cookies are actually an American invention; they were invented here and then carried back to China by Chinese Americans. They can also be purchased at most larger groceries as well as Asian markets. 7
Gladys Alyward February 10, 2019 (1902-1970) Her worst nightmare had come true As improbable as it seemed, Gladys Alyward was certain God had called her to China as a missionary. But now, at age twenty-seven, she was being dismissed from missionary training school for failing her Bible class. The person playing Gladys should be dressed in a winter coat and carrying two suitcases. If possible, try to wear an Asian shirt or jacket under the winter coat. Have a long cotton bandage in your pocket to demonstrate the old Asian foot binding tradition. (Speaking in first person) Boy, is it cold out here. You re not going to believe what I ve been going through. I know it s been cold here in Columbus this week, so imagine having to walk 30 miles in weather like this. (Point to outside) I can t even believe I survived. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gladys Alyward and for most of my life I felt God calling me to the missions field in China. It seemed as though I hit roadblocks at every turn. I would like to tell you about my adventurous journey to the missions field of China. At the age of 27, I was sitting face to face with a director of the China Inland Missionary Training School. I worked so hard to get into this school because I felt so led by God to go to China. So imagine my surprise and disappointment when the director kicked me out of the school. He said my grades weren t good enough and other people could fill my position better. I was devastated. This road block was only my first of many. As sad as I was, I knew I had to find another way to China. The director knew I had good housekeeping skills and recommended I go and work for a retired missionary family from China - The Fishers. I did not want to be a housemaid for the rest of my life, however, I knew if I wanted to go to China, I needed to get some money. I found out how much it would cost to buy a ticket to China. It was going to cost my 47 pounds and 10 shillings. That was a lot of money in the late 1920 s. So I cleaned and worked for the Fishers for a long time, saving up my money for my ticket. Finally, after almost a year, I had enough money to head for China. So, with a warm coat like I have on now and two suitcases (point to suitcases) I was ready to go. One suitcase had a few warm clothes and one with some food and a small spirit stove with a kettle and pot tied to the outside of the smaller suitcase. I looked pretty silly but I didn t care. I was on my way to Tientsin, China to find Mrs Lawson, a 73 year old missionary widow living there. This journey was to start in London, go through Europe to Russia through Siberia and on to Tientsin in northern China. I knew this trip was going to take a while going by train but I was prepared or I thought I was. The journey that I thought would take a week or two ended up taking almost two MONTHS! Another major roadblock occurred when I ran into a WAR!! On the border of Russia and China fighting was going on and the train I was on was forced to stop. I was told to get off and the next closest train station was 30 miles back from where I had come from. The only way to get back to that station was by foot through the Siberian winter wilderness. I have never been so cold and tired in my entire life. The entire time I prayed Lord, help me get to China. I had not come this far to freeze to death in the snow! The Lord brought me safely to the train station only to be held captive by the communist government. They tried turning my missionary passport/visa into a work visa. They wanted me to be a machinist in a factory not a missionary in China. FINALLY after escaping from the communist I was put on a boat for China only to find out that Mrs Lawson had MOVED! ROADBLOCK NUMBER 7!! She was now living in Tsechow, China about 350 miles 8
away. It was going to take another train, many buses and even a MULE to get there but I was not going to stop until I made it. So three weeks later I find Mrs Lawson in Yangcheng, China. I was so happy to see and meet this older missionary woman, but she was not as happy to see me. She was a very serious, unemotional person. She was definitely not the warm, motherly type of friend I thought she would be. Together we worked hard to turn the big, old, run down house she lived in into an inn. This inn that we called The Inn of Eight Happinesses was to be like a hotel for mule riders to stay in during their long journeys throughout northern China. It was very hard to get the first few customers through the door but once we did we fed them a hot meal, gave them a clean place to sleep and told them Bible stories at night. They had never heard these stories and they loved them. They would continue on their journeys sharing the stories with others along the way. All was going well until Mrs. Lawson got angry with me one day for a very small reason. I went away for a few days only to find out that Mrs Lawson got sick and died shortly after my return. This was another roadblock because I did not know if I could financially run the inn without Mrs. Lawson. Shortly after Mrs. Lawson died the mandarin, who is the high ranking official of that part of China (like a king), came to see ME! He had heard of me and the inn and wanted to offer me the job of being a foot inspector. Do you know what a foot inspector does? I didn t either. During these days in China it was considered beautiful for women to have small feet. So shortly after little girls were born they would bind their feet up tight so they would not grow properly. (Demonstrate with your hand and a long bandage.) This painful tradition was finally considered unlawful. So, my job was to go around and inform and enforce the new law to all the people in the many villages around me. I was allowed to share the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ with people along the way. The mandarin did not know God, but he allowed me to talk to others about the God of the Bible which is what I wanted to do for most of my adult life. Isn t it amazing how God works things out! The mandarin and I became good friends. We respected each other a lot. One day he surprised me again with a visit. This time he was asking me to go into an all male prison and break up a RIOT! I thought, Are you out of your mind!. I ended up going into the prison and talking to some of the prisoners. They did stop fighting and some things began to change for the good for everyone involved in the prison from that day forward. Another adventure happened in my life shortly after the prison riot. I found out there were many children throughout the city who were without parents or homes. Some of the children were even being sold. I bought or adopted my first little girl named Ninepence. I ended up adopting many abandoned children and loving, teaching and caring for these kids for a long time. We became a family. We all lived at the inn until another war between China and Japan broke out. My family and others were forced up into the mountains to hide in some caves. The Japanese did come and destroyed our city and many people died. The war was long and terrible for everyone. I even had to turn the cave we lived in into a make-shift hospital. At one point I was taking care of over 150 orphaned children. But finally I got word that it was safe for me to return to the inn with all of the orphaned children. My orphanage continued to grow and I needed help. So with the help of some others 100 of the children were transferred to another orphanage in Sian. The other remaining orphans needed to be delivered to their new home in another way. I traveled with this last group of orphans and it was another grueling, long, painful journey that ended with the children in Sian but I ended up in a hospital. All of these incredible journeys, roadblocks and adventures took their toll on me. My health became a big roadblock in the years to come but it did not stop me from my desire and burden to love and share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people of China My HOMELAND. To close today I would like to share one of the most rewarding stories of my time in China. Do you remember my friend the Mandarin? In the middle of the war one evening he asked me to dinner because he had a surprise for me. In the past his surprises were things like becoming a foot inspector or breaking up a prison riot so I had no idea what to expect. After our dinner that night the Mandarin, the highest public official in that 9
region of China, said this: Gladys, Ai-weh-deh, my dear friend, I have seen all that you are and all that you do, and I would like to become a Christian like you. I did not see my friend again after that night, but the most wonderful thing of it all is the promise that we will see each other in heaven some day. This is why I, Gladys Aylward became a missionary to China. 10