Where in the world are you?

As you are driving in the car (or waiting somewhere), ask each child to pick a country. Then play the “If I were in ___________, I would be . . .”

• hot or cold
• sleeping or awake
• walking or riding in a car
• eating __________
• be in school or out off school
• seeing lots or few churches
• playing ____________

You may have to guess at some of these or you may want to look up some of the “answers” on the Internet. To find the different time zones, go to worldtimezone.com. Talk about how God made and loves people in every country. They may look differently, eat different foods, play different games, but each on is important to God and he wants each one to live forever with Him in heaven.

Ask: How will people in other countries know about Jesus? Ask: What is a missionary? (a person whose job is to tell others about Jesus). Pray for a missionary or a mission work somewhere in the world.

Check your tag. Change your world!

While you’re eating breakfast or dinner, ask the kids to look at the tag inside their shirt (or other items of clothing) to see where it was made. If they don’t have eyes in the back of their heads (only moms do) they may need to check each other’s (if the tag is in the back).

Say a prayer for each country “represented.”

Pray:

• That missionaries will go to tell the people in that country
• That people will listen and understand the truth about the Bible and Jesus
• That many people will be saved (accept Jesus)

International Food Night

Try a food from another country or eat out at a restaurant that has international cuisine and that’s not “French” fries. (I googled “international recipes” and over 2 million sites came up). A good way to introduce new foods is to make an international dessert. Below is a recipe for crepes, sprinkle them with powdered sugar, fill them with fruit, roll them up, and eat! (They’re kind of like skinny pancakes.)

• Talk about the people who live in the country (of the food you made).
• Are most of the people Christians?
• Are there many churches there?
• Why is it so important to send missionaries?

Pray for the people of the country where you got the recipe.

Crepe Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so the batter coats the surface evenly. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Kitchen Sweep

Item needed: broom

Pick a piece of straw from a broom and give it to your child and ask him/her to sweep the kitchen floor. When he looks at you like you’re crazy, ask him:

Why can’t you sweep the floor with that?

Would it help if you had a whole bunch of straw together?

Give him a broom and discuss how much more can be done with a whole bunch of straw joining together.

The Bible says that all believers are joined together. They are parts of one body and can do so much more when they work together. God is pleased when believers help one another and work together. (Ephesians 4:16)

Ask:

Can you send a missionary to South America?

Can you give enough money to build and keep the church going?

No. But together we can do many things that we couldn’t do alone. Together we can build God’s kingdom on the earth. 

Good News Messengers

Missions is about loving others and telling them about Jesus. Missionaries are people on a mission to tell others about Jesus. Just before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His followers to go into the whole world and tell the good news to everyone. You can’t make anyone become a Christ follower, but you can make it your mission to love them and tell them the good news about Jesus.

The Lighthouse movement suggests three ways to love others – prayer, care, and share.

Ask your kids to make a list of three people that may not know Jesus. (These can be friends, relatives, neighbors or others who need to know about Jesus.) Pray together for the people on their list.

Pray:

·      that they would want to know more about Jesus

·      that they would realize that they have sinned

·      that you would have a chance to tell them about Jesus

Loving By Caring

The second part of loving others is CARING for them.

While you are shopping for school supplies, buy some extra supplies for kids who may not have the money to buy what they need. Put them in a tote bag/backpack and ask the teacher or school officials to give the supplies to someone who could use them. You can add a note inside the bag that says, “God loves you.”

A Candy Bar for One

Items needed: A candy bar or ice cream bar or food “treat” for each person in the family

As your family is sitting around watching TV or hanging out, open the candy bar and start eating it in front of your kids. (Oooh and aaah about how good it tastes.) If they ask you for a bite, simply reply, “I wish you could taste how good this is!” Do not share the candy with them.

Ask them:
How d id you feel when I ate the candy bar and didn’t share any with you? (left out, disappointed, sad, hungry for one, etc.)

Say something like:

God wants us to share the good news about Jesus with others so they can have forgiveness and go to heaven.  

How could not sharing the candy be like not sharing the good news about Jesus with others? (If we don’t share God’s love and peace with others, they may feel sad. Others will never know how to go to heaven if we don’t share this good news with them.)

How can you share the good news about Jesus with the people on your list? (share a testimony of how you prayed to receive Jesus, invite them to church, share a tract with them, invite them a special Christian concert or event, etc.)

Continue praying for a chance to share the good news about Jesus with the people on your list. Encourage your kids to be bold; tell them it’s not like you’re asking these people to go to the dentist with you. You are sharing the best news in the world! (Praying for and with your child can be another way for them to gain courage.)

Give each person his or her own candy bar or treat!

 ****A good verse to learn (the students are learning it in Sunday School) is Galatians 5:22. (“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.”) Different fruit (characteristics) will be discussed during the new couple of months. Download the visual and stick it on your refrigerator. Learn the verse together. The Holy Spirit produces this fruit as He lives inside you and you say “yes” to what is right. As you pray for, care for, and share with others, you are showing love for God and others.

Sharing God’s Love

If your students are using the CLEAR curriculum, they learned about the young maid who told her boss, Naaman, about the prophet Elisha so he could be cured of the terrible disease of leprosy. She knew that Elisha’s God had power to heal him.

Think about people you know who might need to hear about God. Make a list and pray for them at least once a week. Think of one good thing you can do to show them God’s love and do it this week. (Take cookies to the library staff, visit an older person at the nursing home, take a friend ice skating and for ice cream, send a card telling them how glad you know them, etc.)

Saltiness

Make one of their foods without salt. (Eggs will be met with lots of “Yuck – this tastes awful!”) Make it again with salt (or let them add salt to it).

Ask:
How did salt make the food taste? (better)
What are some other uses for salt? (to melt ice, to preserve food, to bring healing – gargle with salt water)
What did Jesus mean when He said to His followers, “You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13 (Jesus wanted His followers to make the world around them better – by speaking kind words, by helping others, by praying for people, and by telling them the good news about forgiveness and heaven.)
How can you be “salt” at school or work or where you are?

Get In On the Action

One way to tell people about God’s love is to “show” them by helping them or giving them things they need. There are children in the world who need clean drinking water, medicine, and even basic school supplies.

Collect school supplies for the Hanna Project to give to kids in Tajikistan, Morocco, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Each kit will contain:
1 ruler with metric measurements
1 eraser
5 pencils
5 black ink pens
1 pencil sharpener

Supplies should be placed in a large (bigger than a gallon) Ziploc bag and mailed to:
The Hanna Project
294 SW 40th Street
Moore, OK 73160
Please send $5 to cover shipping costs.

For more details or to see pictures, look in the Explorer’s Guide 2 or go to www.hannaproject.com.

Pray...

Make a prayer book. Collect pictures from relatives and friends and put these in a book (photo album or small scrapbook works great). As you pray at bedtime, teach your children to include a prayer for those not yet following Jesus.

Pray:

• that they would know how much God loves them

• that they would understand the truth about Jesus

• that they would invite Jesus into their life

Give...

Start saving change and doing extra chores to give to a missionary or organization for Christmas. One idea is to pack a shoebox for Samaritan's Purse. (The collection week is November 16-23.) All the information you need, including a video for your kids to watch is on their website, www.samaritanspurse.org.

Go! 

Write the word missionary on a piece of paper. Ask your kids what word they see (mission). An astronaut goes on a special space mission. A mission is a job or assignment. A missionary's job is to tell people about Jesus. Jesus gave His followers a mission just before He went back to heaven. His last words were, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

Jesus told the people to go, but He also gave them a promise: "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).