Joseph and his brothers are reunited

We began with a review of Pharaoh’s dream talking about the seven good years followed by the seven bad years.  So then started our story early in the bad years, which are being experienced in Canaan as well as down in Egypt.  Jacob (who’s getting pretty old by this time)

 

 sends all of his remaining sons except Benjamin down to Egypt to buy food.  To go down to Egypt in our new venue on the fourth floor, they all had to go down the elevator one floor, and then back up via the stairs.  Joseph recognizes them and gives them a hard time about being spies.  He gives them some food, but says if they ever want any more—and if they ever want to see this particular brother again,

 

they would have to bring their youngest brother to meet him.

                So, minus Simeon, they head back to Canaan: down the stairs to the third floor and back up the elevator.  Jacob is upset with the bargain they made, but eventually has no choice but to send Benjamin with his brothers, down the elevator & up the stairs…Simeon gets out of prison & Joseph plots how to get to keep Benjamin with him without revealing who he is.  He puts his cup in Benjamin’s bag of grain (actually sand; I figured hey, the kids aren’t fussy & this way I’m not risking spilling & losing pricey rice), and off the brothers go.  But before they get to the stairs, a servant (me) runs out and drags them all back to see who has stolen the cup.  Joseph says he must become his slave.  But then one brother says, please, our father loves his so much, it would kill him if he didn’t come back.  Please, take me for your slave instead and send him home.  Joseph was so happy to hear this.  His brothers had finally learned how to pursue things that make for peace!  So he tells them who he is, and tells them to bring their father back and settle in Egypt for the duration of the famine so that he can see they are all cared for.  So…down the stairs, up the elevator, grab Jacob, down the elevator up the stairs—and Jacob embraces his long-lost son.

                We talked about Joseph’s ups and downs again, and pointed out that if Joseph hadn’t gone down to Egypt, maybe he and his brothers would always have hated each other, but because of how it all happened, they are now friends again.  God wants all of us to have good relationships with our family members.  Each volunteer took one or two kids and prayed with them about their relationships with different family members that could be better.

                Then, since they’d already had a lot of exercise during the story, we did craft time before the game.  We made these paper-plate thingies (I don’t know what to call them) where you could turn the top plate and it would show through one hole, some needs we all experience (hunger, sickness, loneliness, need to know God), and through a second hole, the corresponding provision by God (food, doctor, group of friends, our church).  That was what it was supposed to mean, but our volunteer mom was interpreting it as, when we have this need, we meet it by…sigh.  Still made a nice craft, but not as related to the story.

                For our game we took our “grain”(/s of sand), and had a relay race by which the kids had to take small cupfuls (cut-down paper cups) at a time to see who could fill up their team’s tall glass first.  (It was a tie)