Praying for Missionaries

MISSIONS#7 GOD IS A MISSIONARY GOD 2 ND /3 RD GRADE Praying for Missionaries MAIN POINT: Prayer is powerful. PASSAGE: PSALM 66:19-20 Key Verse: But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me. PRE-CLASS CHECKLIST PRAY WITH THE OTHER TEACHERS FOR THE DAY S LESSON. Activity Stations Prayer cube 1 printed on white cardstock, 1/student PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY card, 1/student Penny, 1/student Tape; glue sticks; markers Laminated adopted MK pictures with prayer requests Object Lesson #1 Giving globe Object Lesson #2 After the Missionaries Came, 5 copies/class Object Lesson #3 Long rope for tug-of-war, 1/classroom Velcro Props for tug-of-war game: marshmallow, play money, gauze, tunic, plastic sword, male hat Holy Spirit sign, 1/class Small Group Group 1 Prayer cube, adopted MK picture, PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY card Group 2 Pictures of Bhutanese families Group 3 Pictures of Haiti earthquake & tent city 1 Adapted from Bright Ideas!, Wycliffe Translaters. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 1

LESSON PLAN PRE-CLASS PREPARATION Select 4 volunteers (adults, student workers or students) to do the sketches in After the Missionaries Came. See the attached sketches. Have volunteers read over their scripts so they can share with the class without reading. Decide which small group will pray for each of the three groups of people (missionaries and their families, Bhutanese families, Haiti disaster). ACTIVITY STATIONS Craft Prayer Cube Instructions: Give each student a copy of the cardstock prayer cube. Have them color, cut out and glue or tape together. This prayer cube, with a different picture on each side, reminds us of different things to pray concerning missionaries. If there are small pictures of your adopted MK in an envelope in your scrapbook folder, the students can glue or tape those to their cube over the family spot. (There probably aren t enough for each student.) Craft PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY Instructions: Give each student a copy of this card. They can decorate it if they would like and tape a penny to it. This can be used to remind them to pray for a missionary every time they find a penny or are given a penny by someone. On the card it says the penny is one cent and a missionary is one sent. The back includes specific prayer requests for missionaries. INTRODUCTION It s Missions week again. This week we will learn about praying for missionaries and how important our prayers are for missionaries when they are teaching others about Jesus. After music we will have a little skit to show us what great work missionaries do. But what should we start out day together with? (Prayer.) OBJECT LESSON #1 Cambodia Scholarships Before we go to music, I d like to update you on our giving campaign. (Hold up the giving globe and refer to the flyer.) We successfully met our goal for our last giving XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 2

campaign and now we ll move forward with our next giving campaign to raise money for three kids from Cambodia to attend the Friendship School! The Friendship School provides a quality education to rural children, who would not otherwise be able to afford the public educational system. Poverty is a vicious trap for Cambodia s poor. Education is one form of development that can help free them from the cycle of poverty; however, education is also hardest for them to attain. Most children in the provinces are unable to receive a sustained education, and many of them drop out of school by second grade. To meet this need, the missionary team in Cambodia started a small school introducing first grade in the fall of 2009. The staff consists of Cambodian Christian teachers who have a unique opportunity to serve communities and influence students, their parents, and neighbors for Christ. MUSIC OBJECT LESSON #2 After the Missionaries Came Have each actor come up to explain their beliefs and how they came to Christ. Read the script for student actors. Have each actor sit down after they are finished. We just got a glimpse of what life was like for these people before and after the missionaries came. What did the missionaries do in these stories? (They told these people about Jesus, His love for them and His power over all sorts of things.) Do you think these missionaries were able to do this all alone? What might other Christians on the other side of the world do to help these missionaries share Christ? (Pray.) Let s play a game that will help show how important prayer is and how prayer from the other side of the world actually has an impact on the missionaries ability and results as they share Christ with those who don t know Him. OBJECT LESSON #3 Game Tug of War 2 Instructions: Place Velcro on the floor at the front of the room, parallel to the wall. Stretch a rope on the floor, perpendicular to the Velcro. No one is to touch it yet. Ask a student to stand at one end of the rope and play the part of a missionary. Perhaps 2 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Bright Ideas, Notebook 2 Grades 1-6, "Tug of War." Copying for classroom use is encouraged. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 3

there is a student who thinks God may be calling him or her to be a missionary. Give this volunteer a sign to hold that says "missionary." Ask audience what challenges/difficulties the missionary will face. As they think of some of these below, choose a slightly LARGER student to represent each difficulty. Have each "difficulty" take his or her place along the rope to form an opposing team for tug of war. Give each an appropriate prop or sound effect: Learning a new language (stuff mouth with large marshmallow and recite John 3:16) Money (fake money) Diseases (balance an ice pack on this student s head) Travel to remote areas (put a backpack on this student s back) Rebel uprisings & wars (gauze wrap head bandage) Fitting into a new culture's way of dressing and behaving (tunic) Lions, tigers & bears ( roar ) Spiritual warfare (plastic sword) Ask the audience if the missionary can win. "NO WAY!" they'll likely shout. Still, let the two teams play tug of war. The missionary will easily be pulled over the line. Ask audience what the missionary needs. Yes! The missionary needs some help a team of his own. Ask what kind of person he needs, for instance, for the problem of learning a new language? Call up volunteers for each of the following. Make sure to choose slightly SMALLER OR WEAKER members of this team. (You are stacking the deck so the missionary team still can't win.) Language school teacher (this child repeats "uno, dos, tres" endlessly, hopefully without drowning you out) Financial supporter/s (giving globe) Medical worker (clipboard) 2 or more prayer partners (hands clasped to pray, unless pulling) Pilot (captain's hat- male hat) Play tug of war again so the missionary team still loses. Suggest that the problems on the missions field are just TOO BIG! Even with one more person on his team, the missionary still could not win. Maybe it's hopeless? What do you think? Someone in the audience should challenge you on that point. Get some debate going. Finally, declare, "What the missionary needs is POWER!" From the back, call your big, strong man who has been hiding the sign around his neck all this time. As he XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 4

strides to the front, flexing his muscles, the children will see Holy Spirit written in bold letters. Now play tug of war again so the missionary team wins! Applause!! After the missionary team wins ask: Can a missionary get the job done all by himself? (No, missionaries need a team.) Can people, if they re a big enough team, get the job done by themselves? (No, we need the power of the Holy Spirit. This puts us on the winning side every time, even when problems seem too big.) What unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit? (Prayer!) LESSON That s right, when we pray God does great things. When we pray, people come to know Jesus. The people in our sketches didn t become Christians because of the work of a missionary. They didn t become Christians because of the work of a team of missionaries. They became Christians because the team of hard working missionaries had people praying for them. Today, there are missionaries all over the world telling people about Jesus. Xenos has missionaries serving in many different countries. Recently one of our missionaries in Taiwan, Tim, sent this response about how our prayers have an effect on their work. Listen to how our prayers have impacted the work of Tim and Jen in Taiwan: Col 4:3 talks about how prayer opens doors for the Gospel and equips the workers to take advantage of those openings. I know that every time I have a chance to share the gospel it is because people are praying. Although the people here in Taiwan are friendly, we know that we are working against the evil one here. So we really appreciate prayers for our family and spiritual protection. Tim In 2005, a 24-hour-a-day prayer chain was started for our missionary team and the people they are reaching out to in SE Asia. Do any of you know what a prayer chain is? (It s when different people commit to prayer for a certain period of time, e.g., 15 or 30 minutes, during a certain time of the day.) About 90 people in Xenos have committed to pray in this way for our missionaries in SE Asia. Listen to this recent update regarding how their prayers have impacted the work and our missionaries: Thank you for your prayers and your wonderful support for this part of the world. We have a sense and there is good evidence that God is doing great things here in this land. For instance, just this morning I spoke with a neighbor, whom I work with in our school scholarship program. In the past she has been so nervous and unresponsive to my discussion about Christ. But today she listened and was engaged as I spoke of Christ as our sacrifice. She said she would like to read the verses in her holy book that talk about Christ. I was so pleasantly surprised as she was able to have a calm conversation about faith issues. I believe God is softening hearts. Keep praying without ceasing! Love, Sonya XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 5

Isn t it awesome to see how powerful our prayers can be, even on the other side of the world? Our verse today is Psalm 66:19-20, But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw His unfailing love from me. This doesn t say you have to be a certain age for God to hear your prayers. In fact, three different times in the Bible, Jesus tells his disciples to be like little children. There is one time when some young mothers are trying to get near Jesus so He can bless their babies. When His disciples think this is not important and block them, Jesus rebukes them. This is what he says. (Read Mark 10:14-15, NLT.) God desires all our hearts to be full of simple faith, just like a child s, just like yours. As adults, we tend to want to be all fixed up, have everything right before we pray to God. He wants to us to be able to ask Him for anything, no matter how big or impossible it seems. That s the kind of faith a lot of you have but many adults don t. So He may very well listen and answer your prayers more than He does mine. SMALL GROUPS Let s talk some more about prayer and then spend some time praying. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to pray about for our missionaries and others we may be supporting in some way. Why? Life can be very different in other countries. Often you don t know the people you re praying for. Sometimes your brain just refuses to come up with the things you could pray for. Each small group has a different group to pray for. Prayer group 1 Missionaries and adopted MKs (Explain prayer cube and share how each side of the cube is a different picture that each picture reminds them of something to pray for.) We also have a few specific prayer requests for our adopted MK. (Refer to laminated picture with prayer requests.) There are also prayer requests on the back of the PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY cards. Prayer group 2 Bhutanese/Nepali families The Nepali living in Columbus could use our prayers. (See pictures of some of these Bhutanese families and individuals.) Pray for their understanding of who Jesus is. Many of them are coming to Oasis but because of the language barrier and what they have learned about Hindu gods and Buddhism, it is difficult for them to understand their need for Jesus and to choose to go against what their families believe. Pray for the families in Xenos who are sharing God s love and truth with these families. Understanding the Bible and translating words from Nepali to English can be difficult, plus understanding the need to preach XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 6

Christ and His forgiveness of sin alone. The only way most of the Nepali kids are becoming believers is by falling in love with Jesus. If the talk is about being a Christian, they are not interested because it means giving up the traditions of their families and being persecuted. But because Jesus is one of their Hindu gods, if they choose to become only a follower of Jesus, this is acceptable. The more the focus is on Jesus, His love and what He has done for them, the more likely they are to respond. Pray that the new Nepali believers would understand their new relationship with Christ and all the blessings that are theirs; that they would have enough faith to share this with other family members, regardless of possible persecution. Pray the Nepali people would desire to learn English and make new friends, especially Christian friends. Pray the students will desire to be involved in Xenos middle school and high school groups. Pray for the large Nepali central teaching that meets weekly at 9:30am on Sunday mornings. Pray the English-speaking teachers will share about Jesus in a way that is inviting and convicting to the audience. Pray also for Ravi, the translator and sometimes teacher to translate and share God s love and grace accurately. Prayer group 3 Haiti ministry Haiti suffered a terrible earthquake some years ago. Today, there are still thousands of families who are living in tents or shacks pieced together by bits of wood, metal and tarps (see pictures). Haiti is still the poorest country on this side of the world. Some people feel they are too poor to accept Jesus; they think if they accept Jesus, they would then have to go to church and they don t have clothes and shoes that are nice enough. Xenos has started sending teams of people to do ministry in Haiti. They are only able to stay for 1 week each time, but they get a lot done in just 7 days! There are doctors, nurses and dentists who help people with their sicknesses. There are medicines to help people get better. There are teachers who encourage and teach Christian leaders how to tell more people about Jesus and start new churches. They share Jesus love through teaching young people, playing soccer and other games, telling stores, doing arts and crafts, just like we do here in Oasis! Pray the Haitian people would understand that you can accept Christ s gift of forgiveness even if you don t have fancy clothes! Pray that the Christians in Haiti would be willing to take the gospel message into every neighborhood. Pray for Haitians to hear the gospel message and to accept the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus. Pray that families would be able to find safe and strong houses. Pray for Christians to be God s light in their neighborhoods, sharing the love of God in the words they speak and in the way they show God s love to others. Pray for Haitian people to turn away from magic to try to solve their problems. We have an almighty God who cares about their needs. Pray these people would cry out to Him for help. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 7

There are still orphans in Haiti, because of the earthquake and because of sickness and accidents, too. Pray that the children will not feel abandoned, that they will know God is watching out for them. Pray that God would meet each need for them hunger, sickness, loneliness, safety. Pray for our Haitian friends, Pastor D and Dr. M, that God would give them health and strength to continue to tell their friends about Jesus. Pray for Xenos teams to continue to bring medical and spiritual help to Haiti. PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY card PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY Every time you find a penny Every time you are given a penny WHY? A penny is one cent A missionary is one sent XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 8

Instructions: TRAVEL 1. Color the squares as desired. 2. Cut along outer solid lines. 3. Fold on dotted lines. 4. Apply glue (or tape) to the tabs and form into a cube, with the glued (or taped) tabs inside. HEALTH FAMILY FRIENDSHIPS WORLD PRAYER & FINANCIAL XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 1999/00 rev 2013 Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 9

February 9, 2014 After the Missionaries Came 3 These character sketches show the far-reaching effects of missionary work. Africa My home is in Africa, across the ocean. Before the missionaries came and told me about Jesus, I was afraid of evil spirits. I made statues of them with stones and sticks and feather. I bowed down and worshiped these statues. Sometimes when I was very hungry my parents took the only food in the house and gave it to these statues so the evil spirits would not harm us. Now I know that Jesus is more powerful than any evil spirits, anywhere. I have asked the Lord Jesus to make me a part of God's family. Now I worship Him. South America My home is in South America. I live in a small village. Before the missionaries came and told me about Jesus, I thought there were many gods. I was afraid of these gods and I was afraid of evil spirits. Our village had a special gate people had to enter so the evil spirits wouldn't be able to come into the village with them. Now I know there is only one God. I know God loves me and does not want me to be afraid of Him. I have asked Jesus to make me a part of God's family. The missionaries are translating the books of the Bible into my language. Soon I will be able to read about Jesus in the Bible. I am happy because I have Jesus, and I know God loves me. India My home is in India. Before the missionaries came and told me about Jesus I worshipped bugs! Yes, bugs! I was taught that when people die they come back to earth again in some other form. That form might even be a bug. I would never kill an ant or swat a fly. I thought that a fly or ant might be my grandmother who died. Sometimes we would be very hungry, but we would never kill a chicken or a cow to eat. We thought these might be someone who died and came back to earth as an animal. But now I have asked Jesus to make me a part of God's family. I know that dead people do not come back to life as bugs or cows. I know that when I die I will go to heaven to live with Jesus. China My home is in China Before the missionaries came and told me about Jesus I worshipped my ancestors. Ancestors are people in your family who died long ago, like great grandfathers and great uncles. Our family had an altar in the house. We had household gods and wooden tablets with a list of all our ancestors on them. My father burned incense to show reverence for the gods. The roof of our house is pointed up on the ends so that evil spirits landing on it will slide right back up into the sky. I am glad the missionaries came and told me about Jesus. I have invited Him to make me a part of God's family. I know that God wants us to worship Him only. He wants everybody to know and love Him. I have learned that I do not need to fear evil spirits because Jesus has the power to keep me safe. 3 Source unknown XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 2001/02 God is a Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 10 1340 Community Park Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43229 www.xenos.org 1-800-698-7884

February 9, 2014 OASIS ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM FEEDBACK FORM Name: Unit #: Lesson #: Classroom: 1. Is the main point of this lesson stated in a simple and clear way? 2. Is the information in this lesson simple enough to understand and communicate to the children? 3. Was the application of the main point age-appropriate? 4. Was the outline of the lesson clear and easy to follow? 5. What should be changed about or added to the format, content, teacher preparation of this lesson? 6. Did the lesson challenge the children to think or learn? If so, in what way? XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 2001/02 God is a Missionary God 2 nd /3 rd Missions#7 Page 11 1340 Community Park Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43229 www.xenos.org 1-800-698-7884