ROTATION.ORG WRITING TEAM

JESUS RAISES LAZARUS
MISSIONS

PASSAGE

Story: John 11:1-44
Key/Memory Verse: John 11:25

PURPOSE

Children will learn about hope from the story “Jesus Raises Lazarus” and discover ways to provide hope to others by collecting items to send to those in need.

Objectives for rotation

See Bible Background.

Objectives for Missions Workshop

Determine feelings of Jesus, Mary, and Martha
Look at feelings of others that have no hope
Understand why they would have no hope
Know what is like to have hope
Provide hope to others

PREPARATION

Review Bible Background.

Materials List

Bibles
Book: Water Bugs & Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children (Stickney, Doris and Gloria Ortiz Hernandez. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1997.)
Copy machine
Information on selected project
Materials needed to support the project
Paper
Pencils

Advance Preparation Requirements

Determine the project the group would like to do or can afford to do.

Obtain information about the agency or the organization that will benefit from the project.

Set a date, or dates, for collecting the items.

Prepare appropriate publicity for bulletins and newsletters with clear guidelines on the items requested by the agency.

This lesson suggests using “Action Packs” or “Blankets of Love” as the recipient of the project. If this is selected:

Obtain Action Pack Guidelines and make enough copies so they can be sent home with the children and/or shared with the congregation.

Print copies of the song from persecution.com.

Pick a few stories to share with the children from: http://www.persecution.com/basic/feature.cfm?ListOnly=yes ]Stories.

PRESENTATION

Open – Introduction

As the children arrive, distribute copies of the poem/song from the persecution.com website. Provide pencils and instruct some of the children to look for, and circle, words of hope and others to look for words of discouragement.

Share several stories from the website.

Ask the children questions such as:

How would you feel if you were in their place?

Do you think it would be easy or hard? Why?

How would you like to help these people?

Tell the students that later in the lesson they will have an opportunity to help these people, but first let us look at today’s Bible story.

Dig - Main Content

Begin by reading the story of Lazarus from John 11:1-44 in a Bible or a Bible storybook.

After the story, ask the children questions such as:

What feelings do you think Mary and Martha had as they sent word to Jesus about Lazarus being sick? Verse 3 -- Hope, sad

How about when Jesus didn’t come? Verses 5-7 -- Angry, mad, disappointed

How about after Lazarus died? Verses 21-22, 23 -- Sad, angry, disappointed, hope

How do you think Jesus felt? Verse 33 -- Sad

Why would Mary and Martha have hope after Lazarus died? Verses 23-29

Read the children the book Water Bugs & Dragonflies. Then ask the children:

What happened to the Water bug when it climbed up the lily stalk? (It became a dragonfly)

Why didn’t the dragonfly go back and tell his water bug friends what had happened to him? (It couldn’t, it was a dragon fly, no longer a water bug, he had another kind of body.)

Ask about how you would feel if someone you loved died?

Remember that some of the children may have had someone they loved die.

Allow them to share if they are comfortable, but do not push them if they are no ready to talk about it.

Ask if there are other ways in which people may feel they have no hope, for example:

Loss of friend, family member, pet

Loss of home, clothing

Accident, illness

How do you feel better after something bad has happened to you?

How can we provide hope to these people?

Let children come up with ideas, for example sending cards, making heals, helping around the house or yard, collecting clothing, giving money.

Ask the children if they remember the stories of the people told at the beginning of the lesson. Ask again:

How would you feel if you were in their place?

Do you think it would be easy or hard? Why?

How would you like to help these people?

Tell the students about the mission project in which they will be involved. It could be “Action Packs” or “Blankets of Love” for children in Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Share materials about the project.

Discuss the plan for collecting, packing, and sending the items.

Reflect - Closure

Gather the student back together as a class. Debrief with the student about lesson. Ask the questions such as:

How does it feel to know you are helping someone halfway around the world?

How do you think the people who receive these items will feel?

What other way can we help these people? Prayer, Sharing God’s love

Close with prayer.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Local Adaptation:

Find an area of need in your area, for example a family whose house burnt down, home that flooded, Katrina & Rita Hurricane relief, someone who has had a death in the family. Contact the individuals or groups to find out what they need and collect the items for them.

Adaptations - Younger Children

Color pictures for those you are helping.

Adaptations - Older Children

Write a note that is encouraging/hopeful to the person who may receive the gift. Remind the students that nothing related to the United States or Christianity can be mentioned, but we can provide hope with other words…

Hope for you
Caring for you
Loving friends

SOURCES

http://www.persecution.com/actionpacks/index.cfm

http://www.persecution.com/about/index.cfm?action=vom

http://www.persecution.com/about/index.cfm?action=timeline

http://www.persecution

http://www.persecution.com/basic/resources/pdf/IDOP_2003_ABCprayerguide.pdf

CONTRIBUTOR: Wendy Sempf