On to Rome

Our last Sunday in the "old" curriculum! It was a good way to wind up, with our two new families returning, and great participation by all in all the activities. Which were:

Our story:

Today we're going to take Paul to Rome. He has a centurion with him to guard him.	Introduce Paul, centurion (with sword & shield)
They need to go by ship. Here is the ship's captain, and the crew of sailors. This boat doesn't require rowing; it goes under sail.	Introduce ship's captain and crew (captain: blue hat; crew: sailor hats) Crew are all remaining kids. One adult holds sail (white cloth on stick)
The weather is less than ideal. They make some headway, but then the wind changes and they're blown back…	They all walk forward following the sail, then all walk backward. Repeat 2-3 times.
This really wastes a lot of time! They're not even halfway there yet, but they need to stop and take on some more provisions.	Everyone gets a grocery bag full of crumpled newspaper. Captain's bag includes packet of wafer cookies
Paul considers the weather and says, we've wasted so much time already, shouldn't we spend the winter here?	Paul says: Spend the winter here.
But the captain thinks he's just a bother. He says, we must keep going!	Captain says: keep going!
So they set out. And they go forward, and they go back…	Another round of forward and backward
Suddenly, the wind picks up! It's really getting dangerous!	Have sail and everyone weave around in all directions—up, down, side-to-side.
Try putting out the sea anchor!	Captain ties anchor rope to mast, throws cardboard anchor to adult on sidelines.
But they continue rolling up & down at the mercy of the waves. It's been more than ten days already! They've about lost all hope.	They continue weaving around.
But that night, an angel appears to Paul and says, don't be afraid. God has promised that He will protect not only your life, but the life of everyone else in the ship.	Angel with halo says: don't be afraid, you'll be safe.
The next day Paul tells the captain not to be afraid, because the God he serves has promised to rescue them all. He suggests they all eat something to keep their strength up.	Paul says: don't be afraid. God will rescue us. Eat something! Captain passes out cookies to all.
After they have eaten, they throw the rest of the food overboard to lighten the ship.	Everyone throws their grocery bags away from the group.
Suddenly—they see an island in the distance!	Everyone shades their eyes and points
Let's see if they can make it there--,arggh, no! We've hit a huge rock! The boat is starting to break up! Everyone needs to swim for the island!	Everyone stops dead. Sail falls down. They jump out and swim around.
The people of the island welcomed them kindly. But they were all wet and cold, so they needed to start a fire. They start gathering firewood.	Everyone shakes hands with all the adults. Start gathering sticks (tightly rolled newspaper) for fire.
Paul thinks this is a stick—but it's a snake! It bites him. The people think it must be God's judgment on him—that since he didn't drown God had to kill him this way. But then he just shook it off and was fine. The people were amazed. Paul was able to tell them about the God he worshipped who took care of him.	Paul gets one stick with snake head and masking-tape fangs which attach to his hand. He shakes it off. Everyone points to him. Then Oohs and Aahs.
They spent the winter on this island, and then another ship came along going to Rome, so they all got on that ship.	Adult picks up sail again, everybody lines up, they go in one smooth trip around room
When they get to Rome, Paul doesn't have to be in prison; he can rent his own house and just have a soldier guarding him all the time.	Paul sits in recliner, soldier stands beside him
So a lot of people came and visited him at his home, and he was able to tell them about Jesus.	Several come & sit on stools in front of him, he holds up picture of cross
The Bible doesn't tell us what happened when he finally saw the emperor after two years under house arrest. The history books of the Bible end with him still there. Then most of the rest of the Bible is made up of letters that Paul wrote to the churches he started. So next week, we are going to start over again and look at the historical stories, starting back from the creation of the world.

I couldn't get hold of a big enough inner tube for two people, so for our game, we just used a large hula hoop and said to pretend it was a life preserver. Kids were paired according to approximate sizes. Each pair got inside the hoop facing away from each other. They had been shipwrecked and needed to swim to shore. Each kid was supposed to try and head for the "shore" (masking tape line on floor) that he/she was facing. It was pretty hilarious. We had a couple of really strong and determined pullers, and at least one who cooperatively turned around and followed his partner to her shore.

For our craft, we made "3-D" pictures of sailing boats, stacking the layers with prepared "dots" of blu-tack.

Bible study was from Philippians 1:12-14, and 2 Cor. 1:3-4, about how if we trust God, He can use even our bad situations to bring blessing to others.