MISSIONS #1 FAMOUS MISSIONARIES 2 ND /3 RD GRADE INTRODUCTION MAIN POINT Missionaries have very important work to do by spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to people of other countries. We can participate in this work by praying for missionaries and sharing Jesus love with our friends and family. PASSAGE: MARK 16:15 KEY VERSE: "And Jesus told them, 'Go into all the world, and tell the good news to everyone, everywhere.' PRE-CLASS CHECKLIST: Pray with the other teachers for the day s lesson. Activity Stations Materials provided in the shared supply bag: Passport cover & papers, 1 set/student World Time Chart, 2 colored cardstock sheets/student Paper fastener, 1/student Country & flag sticker, 1 each/student Pens; crayons Scissors; staplers Adopted MK information Library books on adopted MK country * Ethnic snack * Introduction Inflatable globe or world map Lesson Passport* Small Group Laminated pics/bios (adopted MK), 1 each/small group Game Two suitcases, duffel bags, bags, or boxes* Thing to pack (see suggestions in lesson)* *Mission s teacher to bring * Please Note: For clarity, the shaded areas in the above Pre-class Checklist indicate supplies that are in and should be returned to your classroom SHARED SUPPLY bag.
LESSON PLAN SET UP/ INCORPORATION 15-20 MIN INTRODUCTION/ INSTRUCTION 2 MIN LESSON LG GROUP #1 LG GROUP Activity Stations: Craft Passports Instructions: Give each child a passport and have each of them write their name on the inside and draw their own self-portrait to serve as the picture. Craft World Time Chart Instructions: Students are to cut out the two circles. Help them figure out what time it is in <<country where MK is.>>. Have them color our time zone and the time zone where their adopted MK lives. They will probably need help with this. Then they can put the circles together with a paper fastener, the small circle on top of the large one. Activity Traveling to another country Instructions: Have library books available for students to look at on a separate table from where they are putting their passports together. These books should be about the country and culture where your room s adopted MK lives. Your adopted MK scrapbook should also be available for students to look through. An ethnic snack is also on this table for students to enjoy. Stickers with the country name, flag and something about the culture are there also. There should be a teacher or student worker sitting at this table. After each student looks through the books provided and tastes the snack, have them place a sticker with the name of the country on Page 3 of the passport. They also have a country flag to place on this page and 2 stickers about the culture. Hi, I am <<your name>>, and this is missions week. This is the first missions lesson since you ve been part of this class. So, who can tell me what the word missionary means? (We most often think of missionaries as people who travel to another country and tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ.) (Get out the globe or map.) So what country do we live in? What would be a country that a missionary might go to? That country is very far from ours, isn t it? How about our adopted missionary kid (MK)? Do you remember from last year who that is? Where are they serving as missionaries with their family? <<Name and find appropriate country>>. (Hold up the passport.) Each of you made one of these when you came in today. Before you can go to another country, you need to have one of these. This passport shows that you are a member or citizen of the United States of America. All missionaries need to carry one of these when they travel to new countries. Each time you visit a different country, you receive a stamp on your passport saying you are allowed to visit that particular country. You can take the World Time Chart home today, but your passport needs to stay here. Each missions week, we will visit a different country and learn about its culture and people; you will need to have your passport stamped. There will also be a flag and stickers pertaining to the countries we visit. OBJECT LESSON #1 Traveling to Another Country So, today we want to spend some time learning about how the people live in <<where MK is.>> Did you learn that the people live differently in other countries? (Yes.) Tell me the different things you saw. (You can pass around a couple of the books for them to look through now and share what they see.) (Talk about the different clothes, food, skin color, land, schools, buildings and climate.) Did you also notice how those people are the same as you and I? They have the same kind of needs as we do. (Take some time to develop the concept that we all need food, shelter, clean water, peace and safety. There may be more to talk about. For example, what would happen if
those children did not have a house to live in? They might get sick because their bodies need a warm dry place to sleep.) Many families from this church have made this decision and now live in other countries. They re not just on vacation some have lived there over 10 years! That s a long time, isn t it? These families have children who have to learn how to live totally differently than they ve been used to. They have to learn a new language, go to school with kids that may talk, dress and look differently than them. They miss their grandparents, their cousins and their friends. Wouldn t it be hard to leave your family and move somewhere far, far away? <<Adopted MK s name>> needs our prayers. Something else really cool we will get to do this year is to have missionaries from the different countries come to visit us. Most missions weeks, except for today, I will have a different missionary with me. These people have great stories to tell about their exciting adventures. Also, these missionaries will tell us about how God helped them be brave and strong. We will learn about why they decided to become missionaries. We will also learn about what happened in those countries as a result of God sending these missionaries. #2 SM GROUPS GIVING CAMPAIGN Talk about the current Oasis giving campaign! One important thing that each of you can do to help share God s love for and with people is to bring money to support our current Oasis giving campaign. Please remember to ask your parents what small things you can do around the house or in other ways to earn money so you can give to the campaign! (Each small group should use one of the pages for the current giving campaign, along with the pics/bios/prayer requests for the classroom s adopted MK.) Discussion All people all over the world also need friends. We would get very lonely and sad if we did not have a friend to talk to. Who is the person that we really need to have as our friend? We need Jesus to be our friend. Why do we need Jesus to be our friend? Who can tell me some good reasons why it s good to have Jesus as your friend? (Wait for answers.) The only way we can be friends with God and go to heaven when we die is if we are perfect. But none of us is perfect. Do you agree? Can you be perfectly good all the time? Can you make good choices all the time? No. No matter how we try, we still make bad choices. Can you give me an example of a poor choice you ve made recently that hurt somebody? (Have one ready for them if they don t hit the mark.) Well, even though we do a lot of good things, it s those bad things we do that keep us from having a relationship with God. But because he loves us, God decided he would give us a way. That s where Jesus comes in. God decided that Jesus would take the punishment for all of our mistakes, poor choices even the down right nasty things that we do. Jesus said that he would do that for us. He said he would take the punishment for the whole world s bad choices, for all time. So, for all the bad choices that you and I make, Jesus has taken the punishment. Have you ever been punished by your mom or dad for something you did wrong? Has your brother or sister ever asked to take the punishment for you? Can you imagine someone wanting to take punishment for
you when you were the one who (fill in the blank)? It s hard to imagine. But Jesus voluntarily did this for you. He took the punishment you deserve so that you can be with God. God is satisfied with Jesus taking that punishment for you. We are able to start a friendship with God because of what Jesus has done. But there is one more thing. We must ask him. If you want to start a relationship with Jesus and have all the poor choices you make forgiven today by God and be one of God s friends forever, all you have to do is say that you believe in Him. Thank him for taking your punishment for you. You do this by praying. And God will hear you. In a few minutes, we will pray. If there is anyone here who wants to invite Jesus to come into their life, you can do that then. Don t you think that children all over the world need to have a friend like Jesus? This is why it s important to send missionaries out to all the countries. Our key verse today is Mark 16:15, "Jesus told them, 'Go into all the world, and tell the good news to everyone, everywhere.'" What does Jesus want us to do? (Send missionaries or become missionaries when we grow up.) But right now, it would be sort of hard for you to get on a plane and go to another country, wouldn t it? Look at the second part of the verse. What does it say? tell the good news to everyone, everywhere. Each of you can do this, can t you? There are kids you know that don t understand Jesus love for them. They have heard of Him, but may not realize He wants to be their friend and how easy it is for this to happen. Have any of you been able to share Jesus love with a friend or relative who didn t know? When we pray today, we can ask Jesus to help us out with this. TRANSITION 2 MIN #3 LG GROUP Prayer Pray that God would raise up missionaries to go tell the good news like Jesus asked. Pray for your adopted Missionary Kid. Pray that God would help us share Jesus with our friends and family. For our game today, let s break into two groups. We're going to look at one of the many decisions missionaries have to make before they travel far away to another country. GAME -- WHAT GOES? Instructions: Bring two small suitcases, duffel bags, or boxes. Bring items that would be important when traveling; old clothes for different climates, empty medicine boxes, food, play money, maps, coat, umbrella, bathing suits, Bible, etc. Also, bring items that would be luxury items: stuffed animals, rubber snake, Halloween decoration, games, toys, etc. Bring more than enough stuff so that students cannot make it all fit. Give each small group the name of a different country to which they will be traveling. Make sure to include at least one warm weather and one cold weather country. Each small group sends one student at a time to pick an item, but the other students can give their opinion. Encourage them to pick the stuff that is really important first and then, if there is room, they can pick luxury items. This should be an interactive, fast-paced, exciting game. After they are done, go through the bags to see what they packed. Ask them why they would need the stuff they packed. Why did they choose the luxury items that they chose? Point out that these are the kinds of decisions missionaries have to make when they are getting ready to go to their country. Did you know that one of the biggest problems with moving to another country is that you don t know what to pack? You have a whole lot of stuff that is important but you can only pack a little bit. It s very expensive to bring it all with you. It s hard to choose what to leave behind.