Finding Out
Leader’s Guide
Four missions experiences on helping others know Jesus
Location: West Africa Focus verse: Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for me.
Psalm
66:16 (HCSB)
Overall message:
Many children in West Africa are hearing about Jesus thanks to Christian workers who love them like Jesus does. Workers like Kimberly Cain hold kids clubs so that children can learn Bible stories and have the chance to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Kimberly knows that children can have a powerful influence in the country if they learn to follow Jesus at a young age. Kids will learn how they can support the work in West Africa, but also be reminded of their own worth to Jesus.
Before you begin:
This resource is a collection of experiences to plug your kids into global missions. The leader’s guide includes plans for four, short missions experiences designed to last 10 to 15 minutes. Add these to existing children’s programs or combine them for a longer missions focus. Through these experiences, kids will learn about other cultures and also about developing lifelong patterns of praying, giving and being personally involved in God’s plan to reach all nations. Names of Christians around the world or Christian workers are often changed or withheld to protect the spread of the gospel.
KOM writer:
G.G. Mathis is a veteran children’s Bible study, missions and VBS writer, testing her teaching ideas on boys and girls at Forest Park Baptist Church in Joplin, Missouri. When she’s not working or writing, there’s either a cat, a book or a cup of tea in her lap.
®
This is a product of IMB, 3806 Monument Ave., Richmond, VA 23230. For comments or questions, contact Kids On Mission at IMB by calling (800) 999-3113.
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Finding Out
Experience 1
Prepare • From the DVD-ROM or kidsonmission.org, prepare to show the Learning the stories video. • Download and print the West Africa map, the Finding Out focus verse, the How hot? game card and the Today’s Temp prayer reminder (one per child). Cut the How hot? cards apart and scramble them. Post the focus verse in your room to reference in each experience. • Bring an outdoor thermometer and a stopwatch or timer. • You can order a Bible Storying Cloth, like you see in the video, by calling IMB at (800) 999-3113 or going to imbresources.org.
Introduction Hand everyone (or 12 volunteers) a How Hot? game card. Set your timer for 60 seconds and challenge kids to arrange themselves in order from coldest to hottest before time expires. (To increase the difficulty, tape the cards to kids’ backs and require kids to arrange themselves without talking.) When you finish, show kids the West Africa map and call attention to the major land feature (the Sahara Desert) adjacent to many West African countries. Comment that the area where today’s missionaries work is commonly described as “hot as a skillet” with daily high temperatures of 88 to 106 degrees year-round.
What’s up in West Africa? • Introduce the video by saying that you will meet a Christian worker in West Africa who has a special ministry to children. • Show the Learning the stories video. • Invite kids to share their observations about the climate, culture and church where Kimberly works. Ask: In what ways do you think Kimberly’s job might be difficult? What stories do you think she tells at her kids’ club? • Comment that Kimberly hopes that as the children learn, they will grow up and choose to follow Christ. Kimberly believes that God has special plan for these children. • Let the kids know that you have the same hope for them!
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Today’s temp • Share your expectations for behavior as your group moves outside and lead the group to a safe outdoor spot. • Use the outdoor thermometer to read the current temperature and compare it to the average West African daily high temperature. (Indoor alternative: allow volunteers to use a weather app on your smartphone to see current temps and a short-range forecast).
Pray • Return to your classroom and distribute copies of the Today’s Temp prayer reminder. Lead kids to record the first entry on the activity page. • Allow everyone an opportunity to offer a brief sentence prayer using the prompts on the activity page. • Encourage kids to use this activity sheet and continue a daily weather watch and prayer time for the missionaries and people in South Africa for the next four days. • Read the Finding Out focus verse together in closing.
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Experience 2
Prepare • From the DVD-ROM or kidsonmission.org, prepare to the Learning the stories, if you haven’t shown it already, and the Everyday Phrases audio file. • Download and print the Storying cloth photos and the Everyday phrases activity page. • If possible, order a Bible Storying Cloth Scarf ($10) from imbresources.org or by calling (800) 999-3113. These are beautiful to keep on display in your church or home.
Recap Children all over the world are important to Jesus. He loves them and wants them to learn about Him when they are very young. Christian workers, like Kimberly Cain in West Africa, love the children like Jesus does. She spends a lot of her time teaching Bible stories to children so they can grown up knowing Him and telling others about Him. Children are very important to the mission of Jesus.
Hello! How are you? • Distribute copies of Everyday Phrases and play the Everyday Phrases audio file. Let kids practice pronouncing the phrases. Older kids can pair off and attempt to create/conduct a conversation in a language that some of our Christian workers have to learn. • Comment that mastering a new language is a huge task for any missionary working with people who don’t speak English. Discuss: Why is it important for missionaries to learn a new language quickly and correctly? • Show the Learning the stories video if your kids have not seen it. Remind kids that Kimberly loves children and wants them to know the stories from the Bible. She learns their language, holds kids Bible clubs on dusty mats and finds the best ways to help them learn about Jesus. • Show the Storying cloth photos. Explain that this cloth is an important tool for Christians who are teaching the Bible. Each block represents a story from the Bible. It starts with the creation of the world and ends with Christ’s return. It’s a great way for children to learn about God’s plan for all people. • If you have an actual storying cloth, let children identify Bible stories they recognize from the pictures.
Pray Call for several volunteers to pray for Christian workers who are learning a new language and new teaching tools to tell people about Jesus.
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Experience 3
Prepare • From the DVD-ROM or kidsonmission.org, prepare to play the Isabelle at the market video if you have not done so. • Bring a roll of duct tape, a package of wrapped candies or miniature candy bars, and clean, dry containers with lids wide enough to accommodate the candy pieces — snack chip cans, small coffee or tea tins or disposable cups with lids.
Recap Children all over the world are important to Jesus. He loves them and wants them to learn about Him when they are very young. Christian workers, like Kimberly Cain in West Africa, love the children like Jesus does. She spends a lot of her time teaching Bible stories to children so they can grown up knowing Him and telling others about Him. Children are very important to the mission of Jesus.
Not all malls are alike! • Invite each child to name three things he saw or shopped for at the last family trip to a shopping mall. • Challenge kids to look for the same three items at the West African “shopping mall” they will see in the video. • Explain that you will watch a video of a young child’s visit to a West African market. Isabelle lives with her family in West Africa where they tell people about Jesus. Play the Isabelle at the market video. • At the video’s conclusion, invite kids to compare their shopping experience to Isabelle’s.
Candy for camp • Explain that Isabelle is a missionary kid (MK) or third culture kid (TCK). She lives outside her parent’s home country. • In Africa, TCKs can go to a special camp. Third Culture Kids camp provides an opportunity for kids like Isabelle to play and worship in their own language with other kids who are growing up with missionary parents. • Propose a project to collect coins that can be contributed to the Third Culture Kids Camp project. (See http://subsaharanafricanpeoples.imb.org/give for details.)
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• Distribute clean containers with lids. Lead kids to tightly wrap duct tape, sticky side out, around the containers. Fill the containers with candy pieces. • Challenge kids to take the containers home to share with their families. When kids or their family members want a treat, they may remove it from the container as long as they stick a coin to the outside of the container. • Set a specific date to collect, count, and contribute the kids’ coins.
Pray Invite volunteers to suggest ways they can pray for third culture kids growing up in West Africa. Mention kids’ requests as you pray aloud.
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Experience 4
Prepare • Provide two foam balls or paper wads.
Recap Children all over the world are important to Jesus. He loves them and wants them to learn about Him when they are very young. Christian workers, like Kimberly Cain in West Africa, love the children like Jesus does. She spends a lot of her time teaching Bible stories to children so they can grown up knowing Him and telling others about Him. Children are very important to the mission of Jesus.
Focus on focus verse • Challenge kids to recall and relate what they remember about West Africa and the missionaries who serve there. (Option: show or replay one or both videos from the Finding Out missions package and show them the Storying cloth photos again.) • Refer to the Finding Out focus verse and lead kids to read it aloud with you. • Call for volunteers to explain the connection between the verse and the work done by Kimberly Cain and young Isabelle’s family. • Direct kids to form a circle. Give the ball to one of the kids and prompt her to say the first word of Psalm 66:16 before passing the ball to her right. Continue saying the verse one word and one person at a time. • Prompt the person holding the ball on the word “me” to tell about something God has done for him or for others. • Repeat the previous two steps several times. Explain that just as missionaries serve God by telling what God has done, kids can serve God in the same way! Encourage them to be ready and enthusiastic to talk about what God has done. • Increase the difficulty level for older kids by using two foam balls. Circulate them in opposite directions so that kids have to concentrate on two renditions of the focus verse at once.
Pray Ask God to give the missionaries in West Africa the freedom and courage to tell others about Jesus.
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Going Further
More ideas using this theme • Download and print the Finding Out parent letter. Give to parents so they can continue investigating this theme as a family. • Rich interactive visuals and photos about the people of sub-Saharan Africa are available at http://subsaharanafricanpeoples.imb.org/explore/view/world-of-the-unreached. If online access is available in your classroom, let kids click and discover more. • A typical West African diet includes mashes and porridges made from milk and ground millet. If bulk millet is available at a local store, bring some for kids to see and touch (it can be used for birdseed later). Meat is eaten rarely, but when it is, it is spiced heavily. Saffron, cinnamon and nutmeg are commonly used spices. Put small pinches of each in a dish and challenge kids to identify them by their sight and smell. • In Experience 3, you’ll talk with boys and girls about growing up as a TCK (a third-culture kid). For your own background, read more about the characteristics of TCKs at this website: http://tckid.com/what-is-a-tck.html. Invite a TCK you might know to come speak to your group. • Don’t forget to visit kidsonmission.org for more activities and KOM experiences you might have missed. Also, like us on Facebook and see how other churches are using KOM.
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Parent Letter
Dear Parents, Your kids are very important to God! You knew that, already, right? Many kids in West Africa don’t know how much Jesus loves them because they’ve never heard that before. That’s why we’re so thankful for missionaries like Kimberly Cain who spend time holding Bible clubs so that kids can learn about Jesus. Ask your kids about the ways Kimberly teaches children and where she teaches them. It probably looks different than the rooms at your church! Here are some ideas for missions-minded family time based on this Kids On Mission theme: A staple food on the streets of West Africa are these fried balls of yam-based dough which are dipped in sugar for added sweetness. Try a batch in your own kitchen:
Yam Balls
2-3 yams
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper, to taste
bread crumbs
Remove skins, boil and mash yams. Add beaten egg, salt and pepper. Form into balls and roll in dry bread crumbs. Drop into deep fat or fry in a pan until golden brown. Much of West Africa’s climate and culture is shaped by the Sahara Desert, adjacent to the region. Investigate online videos about desert life and creatures. Check out the resources at kidsonmission.org. Watch the Finding Out video clips with your child and ask her to fill in other details she’s learned at Kids On Mission.
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Finding Out Focus Verse
Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for me. Psalm 66:16
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Finding Out West Africa Map
Mauritania
Mali
Niger
Senegal
The Gamia
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Benin
Togo Cóte d’Ivoire Ghana Liberia
Nigeria
Chad
Finding Out
Today’s temp prayer reminder Color each thermometer to show the daily temperature where you live.
The red line on each thermometer shows what today’s temperature is like in West Africa. If today’s temp ends with an even number, ask God to give the people of West Africa a strong desire to find out about Him! It today’s temp ends with an odd number, ask God to keep missionaries in West Africa safe. If your temperature is more than ten degrees lower, ask God to give the missionaries great ideas about ways to share God’s love. Day _______
Day _______
Day _______
Day _______
Day _______
Temp ______
Temp ______
Temp ______
Temp ______
Temp ______
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Finding Out Storying cloth photos
A Christian worker in West Africa teaches the Bible using a Bible storying cloth. It includes pictures of different Bible stories.
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Finding Out Storying cloth photos
The Bible storying cloth includes pictures of Bible stories starting with the creation of the world and ending with the return of Christ. This method of teaching the gospel is called “Creation to Christ.”
Finding Out
How Hot?
Frigid
Freezing
Chilly
Cold
Cool
Tepid
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How Hot?
Warm
Comfortable
Hot
Burning
Sweltering
Boiling
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Everyday Phrases
Here are some common phrases used in places of West Africa. Hello! (to one) Fofo! Hello! (to many) Wa fofo! How are you (to one)? Matu nu go? How are you (to many)? Matu wor go? How’s your family? Matu nu huo? How’s your health? Matu nu gaham baano? How are your children? Matu nu zankey? How is your work? Matu nu goyo? General responses: Fine. Banni samey. I thank God. Ey g’Irkoy saabu. My name is … Ey ma ... What is your name? Matu nu maha? Thank you. Fofo. Until tomorrow. Kala suba. Until next time. Kala hanfo. Until later. Kala nda tonton. May God bless you. Irikey ma nu albarkendi. Conversation:
Fofo Cephus. Hello Cephus. Fofo Sali. Hello Sali. Matu nu go? How are you? Banni samay. Fine. Matu nu huo? How’s your family? Ey g’Irikey saabu. I thank God. Matu nu gaham baano? How’s your health? Banni samay. Fine. Mata nu zankey? How are your children? Banni samay. Fine.
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