Kids On A Mission, Part One: The World

This week begins a series of posts titled “Kids on a Mission”.  It is our deep desire to help our children develop a love and compassion for the world and all the hurting people in it.  This mission series is developed by us, to help our children “travel” around the world to different countries and people.  Our prayer is that in “traveling” we would plant seeds for growth in a love of missions, people, and the Great Commission.  Please join us every week for the next several, as we introduce a new place in the world that God loves and help our children to understand and even reach out to the people there.

In Him,

Lauren and Katie

Kids On A Mission: The World

Lesson 1

Purpose:

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• give facts about the world as a whole
• identify a passport and what it’s used for
• state prayers for the world as a whole
• summarize God’s plan for missions to the world

Materials:

Getting Ready Tips:

• Assemble passport ahead of time to show the children
• Have all the materials for children’s passports gathered, so as to make the activity smoother
• Write down the Bible verse on a piece of paper so that you can read it with your children and even post it on the wall.  This is great to refer back to!

Lesson:

Begin by showing your children a globe/map.  Tell them that a globe/map is a small picture of the world we live in.  Take a moment to find where you live on the globe/map.

Remind children that God created the whole world, and everything in it.  (For younger children, take time to name things God has created.  Make sure “people” is mentioned)

Teacher says:

• “Did you know God gave you and me very special and important instructions about the world we live in? He did! They are so important that he wrote them in the Bible for us to always remember.  We call these special instructions “THE GREAT COMMISSION”.  We can find The Great Commission in the book of Matthew. Let’s read what it says: (Have children find the verse themselves from their Bible, or read it to them.)

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20

• “Wow!  God’s own son, Jesus, said these words.  He tells us very clearly that all Christians have a responsibility to tell the world about Jesus.  That’s incredible!  Do you tell others about Jesus?  What do you tell them?”
• “Over the next several weeks we are going to learn about the different places and people that God created in the world.  We may even get to tell them about Jesus! But you know, you don’t have to live in another country to tell people about Jesus. We’ll do projects and activities here at home to share Jesus’ love with those in our neighborhood and community. Isn’t that exciting?!
• “In our travels, we’re going to learn about the different homes, food, and jobs people have in other places all around the world.  We’ll even learn about what they believe, which a lot of times won’t be what we believe.  On our travels we might even run into other missionaries, and get to see how they have helped “make disciples of all nations” and even learn about exciting adventures they’ve been on.  It’s going to be so much fun!  Are you ready?
• Okay, one last thing.  Before we can travel we need something.  Do you know what it is?  We need a passport!
• A passport is a booklet that you use when you travel.  It has pages in it that get stamped every time you go to a new country!  Today, we’ll make our own passport!  As we travel all over the world over the next few weeks, we’ll use our passport like a real one, and get stamped each time we “travel” to a new place.

Activity:

Show children a passport sample…

Help children to assemble their very own passport and write their name on the front.

Title the first page “THE WORLD.”  Allow children to fill out information about the world that you’ve put in place. You can include what ever you wish, choosing to recite the answers or allowing children to find the answers on their own. Here is my sample:

• Largest country: Russia (land), China (people)
• smallest country: Monaco (land), Pitcain Islands (people)
• Population: 7 billion
• Where do most Christians live? USA, Brazil, Mexico
• Where do I live?
• How many countries are in the world? 196
• How many languages? 6,500
• How many religions? 4,200

I also placed a map of the world on the back of the first page to color.  To be more specific you can have children color only areas where Christianity is found the least (10/40 window) or other variations.

Conclusion/ Summary:

When all children are finished with their passport, come back together to look at the verse one more time.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20

Teacher says:

• “What’s the last thing this verse says? “
• “Why do you think Jesus reminded the people he was talking to that he’d be with them always?”
  • Allow students to respond, talk about examples if needed.
• “Have you ever been afraid?  Or maybe even nervous to be somewhere or try something new?”
  • Let students give examples if they have one.
• “When you’ve felt scared or nervous, did your mommy and daddy give you a hug and tell you, ‘Don’t be scared, you are going to be great!  I’m here with you!’”
• “Did that make you feel better?”
• “Well, Jesus knew that his followers might be scared or nervous to go out in to the world to share how much He loved them, so he reminded them, that he would ALWAYS be with them.  There is nowhere in the world that we can go and be away from Jesus’ love and guidance.  He is always here.  Let’s pray and thank God for that:

“Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us.  Thank you for commanding us to love others.  Help us to have a deep love for the people in the world.  Open our eyes that we would see how much they need you.  God, we know we will fail a lot, but we also know that you are with us every day.  You can and will work through us if we trust you.  Help us to trust you, Lord.  We love you, and pray all of this in your Son’s name, Amen.”

 Extension activity:

Prayer Hands: http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/diy-prayer-hands-kids/

Prayer:

Pray for the world every day this week!  This will be a great way to keep your weekly mission travels in your mind.  Post this list on your fridge and encourage your children to pray for the world on their own or during family prayer.

7 Days of Prayer for the World

Day 1: Pray our hearts would love others in the world

Day 2: Pray that God would bring peace to the world

Day 3: Pray that I would be bold in sharing God’s love

Day 4: Pray for the hungry people, that God would feed them

Day 5: Pray for the sick people, that they would be healed

Day 6: Pray for the scared people, that Jesus would be with them

Day 7: Pray that others would share Jesus’ love

Katie Short

Hi, I’m Katie. I am new at this stay-at-home-mom thing, and I live in the deep HOT south. My days can be long and tiring at times, but I want to bring glory to God daily by loving my closest neighbors… my family. It is a calling, and I count it all joy. My days are spent playing outside with my son, sitting in a rocking chair with my “sweet potato” of a baby girl, and cooking yummy gut-healing food for my hubby. I am so excited to have the opportunity to write blog posts for AGoodTired and I hope you will find as much laughter and encouragement here as I have.