Blessed are They that Mourn

No pictures this week, I just keep getting too caught up in what’s going on!

For this week’s story, we first introduced King Hezekiah, a very good and godly king. (everyone applauds) But then he died and Judah ended up with Manasseh, whom no one liked. (boo, hiss) He put up the altars his father had torn down (he tapes a picture of an altar to the wall), and encouraged others to do the same (a couple more kids tape up altars). And he worshipped at the altar of the most horrible god of all of them (tapes up the word for evil (惡)over one of the altars. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to this god. (chooses “son,” leads him to the altar & dumps scraps of “fire” on his head) Finally, God punishes Manasseh and he is hauled off to prison in a far country (“soldier” with sword wraps a chain around his wrists and drags him around the room.

Manasseh now has two choices (kids hold up numbers 1 & 2). Number 1 (flip sign over): he can be upset with God, or number 2 (flip sign over): he can be upset with himself. Which one did he choose? Our Manasseh reached out without hesitation and chose number 2. Good choice! He knelt down and told God he was sorry for his sins. God had mercy on him and he was released from prison and restored to his kingship. (off with the chain, on with his crown) When he is king again, he lets everyone know that it is God’s mercy, and he quits worshipping any other gods (he & others tear down the altar pictures and tear them up).

For the game, we talked about mourning and crying until your hankie is soaked. Then everyone got a “hankie” (a small washcloth) & we put a basin of water in the middle of the floor (on a newspaper-lined shower curtain). Everyone raced to dip their hankies in the water and wring them out into cups, to see who could fill their cup the fastest.

For craft time, each person had a paper with three hearts drawn on it, and was given a little baggie with three different-colored hearts cut up into pieces & they were supposed to mend the broken hearts, like God does. It was kind of too hard though. I should have used colored paper that was white or some other color on the back, or at least scribbled on the back sides of the hearts before I cut them up. Kids couldn’t tell which side of the pieces was “up” so then had trouble fitting them together correctly. Oops. If there’s a next time--!

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Starting our unit on the Beatitudes. We explained that the parables we’d just finished learning were “made up” by Jesus to illustrate certain truths. But to illustrate each beatitude, we would use historical, true stories from the Bible.

The first story was about King Nebuchadnezzar, a man who needed to learn how to be poor in spirit.

We told how the Israelites had been so disobedient that God had to punish the whole nation by sending them into exile to Babylon. (“soldier” with sword drives everyone once around the room) Among them was a young man named Daniel (baseball cap) who loved God, but had to be exiled along with everyone else. The king of Babylon, a very powerful man, had a dream one night that was very troubling. He “told” the dream: He saw a huge tree (on flannel board). It bore lots of luscious fruit (kids stick flannel fruit on tree). All sorts of animals rested in its shade (kids stick on animals), and birds nested in its branches (kids stick on birds). But then an angel of the Lord appeared (child with halo) and said, cut down this tree! (Angel pulls off tree & sticks on stump). It is going to sit uncared for in the field for 7 periods of time, until it knows that God is the one in charge of the world!

Well, the king wanted to know what this dream meant, so he asked everyone. Daniel says, I know! He says, I am sorry to say this, but you are the tree, and God is going to cut you down and you will be abandoned by everyone for 7 periods of time, until you learn that God is in charge, not you. Daniel begs the king to acknowledge God now, and perhaps avoid this punishment. But the king just thanks him for his explanation.

A year goes by and nothing happens, so the king has forgotten all about the dream by now. But has God forgotten? No! So, one day the king is walking on the roof of his palace and exclaiming over how wonderful he is to have made Babylon so great. The angel appears and says, “That’s enough, King Nebuchadnezzar! You are going to be punished until you learn that God is the one who makes nations great!”

Immediately the king has something like a stroke and loses his mind. He is driven away from the palace (by the soldier), and lives out in the field. He has to eat grass like an ox (shredded seaweed). His hair (a mophead) and his nails (some great gorilla fingers I found at a dollar store not long before Halloween) grow grotesquely long.

Finally after seven years, he is restored to his right mind. Right away he acknowledges that God is indeed in control. And he is restored to his kingdom.

Our game was called, “How long until the tree falls?” We put a “tree” (some fake flowers in a vase) in the middle of a large cardboard circle laid atop about 15 building blocks. Kids took turns pulling blocks out from under the circle with a pair of tongs, trying not to be the one who made the tree fall. Played it twice.

For craft time (or “handwork”), we talked about how Nebuchadnezzar’s nails grew long because no one took care of them. But that some ladies grow theirs long on purpose, and paint them to look pretty. So the kids painted their mom’s nails.

There weren’t quite enough moms to go around, so I got my fingernails painted too. Wing Yan was convinced she was supposed to paint my FINGERS, so I helped as best I could to confine the polish to my nails. Good thing, too. I had bought a variety of tiny sample bottles, and the one she chose was full of glitter, which did not want to come off even with lavish application of polish remover. Still can see traces of it six days later!

I got to lead the Bible study again. A highlight for me was when we acknowledged that most of us are not quite so proud as King Nebuchadnezzar; by contrast we often feel stupid, useless, helpless, etc. I asked, so according to this truth that Jesus was trying to teach, do we need to overcome these things before we can enter the kingdom of heaven? One woman—one who usually doesn’t say a word—immediately spoke up and said, yes, we do. I said, a lot of people think that’s true, but what does this Bible verse say? Does it say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because when they overcome their poor self-esteem they can belong to the kingdom of heaven?” No! Jesus wants us to know that even though we might feel stupid and unlovely, we are still blessed, because He does love us, and welcomes us into His kingdom. Everyone got real quiet all of a sudden. “Salvation by grace” suddenly became a little more wonderful than they’d realized, I think. Precious moment!

Chinese New Year

Okay, here's the tassel fringe we did for January 22:
The following Sunday, we didn't have our regular program, just ate Chinese New Year snacks and chatted. A wonderful, needed break from preparation, for me! And without this chat time we never would have heard from dear Mrs. Ng that she had led her father to Christ before he died just a couple of months ago! Praise the Lord!

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Our final parable for this unit was the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. As is true for many of the parables, it is very short in the original, so we had to do some embroidery to make it more visual.

We began by introducing our Pharisee. Before we began, our storyteller of the morning asked, shouldn’t he have phylacteries or something? Great idea! We even happened to have one lying around from a long-ago craft time, so used that. Now this Pharisee was very zealous for God’s law. He would never take a bribe: someone comes up & waves a $100 bill at him (yes, we have them aplenty here; they’re worth around $12 US) and asks if he could help his business go smoothly. He gestures, No, No! Our Pharisee pursued justice. We had two sisters start arguing (they are good at this!), and he said to each in turn: you have some fault, and you have some fault. And had them shake hands. Next: he would never commit adultery. He chose a “wife” and then the two walked arm in arm, while another girl started blowing kisses at him. The script said he was supposed to cover his eyes, but instead he started blowing kisses back! Oops! We finally did get him to cover his eyes, but I don’t think he had any idea why. Our model Pharisee also fasts regularly: someone began passing cookies out to the other kids but when they were offered to him, he had to do the “No, No” again. I was proud of him for managing to do that! He does like his cookies! Finally, he tithes everything he gets. Someone gave him a bouquet of 10 plastic flowers. He cut one off and stuck it in a vase in front of the offering box.

Next we introduced our tax collector. This fellow, we said, had a hard time finding a really good job. (I stole this from the parable of the unjust steward). He had tried doing road construction—beating at the floor with a cardboard pickaxe—but he wasn’t strong enough (dumps the pick, wipes his brow). And he hated begging (going around the room with a tin cup labeled “alms”; no one gave him anything). Finally, he got a job with the hated Roman government as a tax collector. The salary wasn’t great, but he could easily supplement it by padding the tax bills. Which he didn’t feel real good about, but a guy’s got to live, right? (Changes label on cup to “income tax” and now everyone has to put in some coins.)

So now today is the Sabbath, when everyone goes to the temple. The leader asks if anyone would like to pray. Our Pharisee stands up and thanks God for keeping him holy, not like SOME people (points at tax collector). Our tax collector prays, too, but he doesn’t stand up or speak loudly. Simply hits his chest a couple of times and says, forgive me.

We ask everyone, which one of these prayers was more pleasing to God? Indeed, Jesus closed this parable by saying that he who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. We also held up I Peter 5:5, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Our game went really long, but I hope it was worthwhile. First, each person, like the Pharisee, had to say something they were really good at. Then we went around again but this time they had to say something they wanted to change in the coming year. Some kids needed a lot of coaching, but eventually everyone participated to some degree.

Craft was those long fringes that Pharisees like to have on their garments to show how pious they are. The only picture I took the whole morning was of the scarf with all the tassels attached. I’ll add that later when I get it uploaded…

The Good Samaritan

How can you not have fun doing this one? Because I wanted to emphasize the question that prompted this parable, we started by introducing Jesus and a lawyer. There were enough individual characters in this story that they all “needed” a prop to help keep them straight. Jesus wore the white vest we use for Him in all the stories. The lawyer, since he was so smart, got a graduation cap. He already knew the two most important commandments, which we held up for review, but he also knew they were hard to keep perfectly, so he was hoping to make it easier. So he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus replied with this parable.

There was a man (wearing a jacket) who needed to walk to the city of Jericho. On the way, suddenly some thieves attacked him! They stripped off his jacket, and beat him half to death—with balloons to help prevent things getting too real, ha! Then he was supposed to lie there on the floor, but it was easier to just let him sprawl in a chair. Soon along came a priest (in a red cloak) who looked at the injured man and walked widely around him. Next came a Levite, or “priest’s assistant,” in a necktie, who did the same thing. But then there came along a Samaritan—one of those punk guys a good Jew wouldn’t even talk to, wearing a sideways baseball cap and bouncing along on a stick donkey. He (she) took pity on the injured man and stopped. She took some bottles out of her carry-bag and poured some of their contents (air rather than wine & oil) on his arm & head & then attempted to bandage him up. She managed the arm but decided the head was going to have to be left as is. Then she helped him get on the donkey and led him off to one of the side rooms where they “spent the night.” Then in the morning, the injured man stayed inside (I think he would have stayed in there the rest of the morning if we hadn’t remembered to get him out when we started the game!) while the Samaritan came out. She gave a couple of coins to the innkeeper (in a bibbed apron) and told him to take care of him with that money, and she would bring more later if necessary.

When Kevin led this parable three years ago, he sent some photos of kids “bandaged up” in toilet paper. Looked like fun, but I thought it would be even more fun if for our game time the kids had to bandage up their parents! So that is what we did.

Then for a craft, we had collected ten different items that might be good to have in a first-aid kit. Each kid got ten small squares of paper with the name of one item per square; their assignment was to draw the items and put them all into a box in the middle of the table marked “first-aid kit.”

I was glad to have been assigned to lead the Bible study this time, as I wanted the chance to bring out something I had learned from this parable a few years ago. I think it’s important to notice that the parable was meant to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and not “How much must I do for needy people in order to fulfill God’s commands?” And did you ever notice that Jesus doesn’t make a point of criticizing the priest or the Levite? And here’s a question to ask yourself—could it be that neither the priest nor the Levite had any first-aid items with them? And as far as I can tell from the story, they were walking, not mounted. And another question—did you notice what the Samaritan did not do for the injured man? He did a lot, to be sure, but he apparently needed to get going the next day so he had to leave him in the hands of the innkeeper rather than stay and nurse him back to health. He didn’t have to do absolutely everything to be Jesus’ model neighbor. The real point of the story is that this man did not stop to worry about who it was who needed the help he was fully able to provide. I think we’re not expected to do everything for everyone. (Did you notice that this parable is directly followed by the story of Mary and Martha?) However, we are expected to do what we can for anyone.

Parable of the ten pounds

Our volunteers from Hong Kong got to lead this week, and they did a super job. For our story, did you ever notice that although the story talks about the master giving a “pound” (or, as we chose to say, one piece of silver) to ten of his servants, we only see what happened with three of them? So we said he gave the money to “some” of his servants, and made that number be three. Then they were to go multiply their money. Somehow a parent ended up being the first servant. She “decided” to make her money by buying some little stampers at 2 for a silver piece & then selling them for 2 silver pieces each. So on the first round she ended up with 4 silver pieces. She wisely decided to hang onto two of them—if she lost the rest, she still would have doubled her money—and just buy four more. Then she starts out yelling, who wants to buy my stampers? I cried, I do! So she comes over and says, the price has gone up, they’re up to 3 silver coins each! Ha! That wasn’t in the script, but I loved how she was getting into her role! Anyway, I said forget it & she had to sell them at 2 coins each so ended up with a total of, surprise surprise, 10 silver coins.

What about the next servant? He figured the market for stampers was getting saturated, so he spent his silver coin to buy a shoeshine kit (a shoeshine brush). Then he shined shoes for a silver coin per pair. So five different folks had to put their feet up for him to brush, & then pay him one coin each time. He was really enjoying himself, collecting all these coins for such easy work!

The third servant was so afraid to do anything with the money that her sister had to come help. Together they “decided” to take the coin and put it in a little bag that one sister could wear around her neck so no one could steal it.

Now the master comes back, and of course he praises the two industrious servants and scolds the third.

Since today the adults were not having a regular Bible study but were having a thanksgiving-for-the-past-year sharing time, I didn’t want the parable to end here with the impression that the kingdom of God was about making money! So our narrator held up the big ear again and said, let him who has ears to hear, hear! Just like these servants were given a silver coin each, we have all been given the gift of the gospel. (One of the servants then distributed to everyone a picture of a gift box with a tag reading “gospel”). Our Lord and master does not want us to keep it to ourselves either, but to multiply it by sharing it with others so that they too can be blessed.

For our game, just as one silver coin became many in the hands of the faithful servants, the job for each of the two teams was to take one large sheet of paper and tear it up so that it became many pieces. Everyone understood this one and participated willingly! The girls beat the boys, 180 pieces to 108, or thereabout.

We followed this same theme for the craft. A fan when closed looks like just one rectangular piece, but then you open it out and see it “become” five blades that together can make you feel comfortable on a hot day.

I had so much fun just watching everything that was going on, I forgot to take pictures of any of the action. But here at least are what the fans looked like:

The Friend at Midnight

This was a shorter and simpler story than some. We have two foldaway cots in a storeroom at the dorm/church, so to start out we introduced this fellow and his wife, and his two (doll) children, who were ready for bed. They set up the cots, boy on one cot, girl on the other, children in between and all covered with a large blanket. Then we introduced his friend who would like to go to bed herself, but couldn’t because another friend (two friends; the one wouldn’t cooperate without her mom accompanying her) had just arrived after a long journey (two trips around the room). Were they hungry? Yes. So since she had nothing in the house to serve them, she went to her neighbors’ for help. Of course in the parable it’s the husband who does all the interaction with the persistent knocker, but our “husband” was enjoying the nap break too much, so our “wife” (the drama queen) did all the talking, and played it up quite well. But of course eventually got up and got some bread for the knocker.

What kind of game requires persistence? A tug of war! If you give up & stop pulling, your team loses!

For craft we made hourglasses out of cut-up & taped-together water bottles. I wouldn’t try and boil an egg by them, but they were fun to play with anyway!

Bible study was interesting. Trying to get them to imagine how they would react in the sleeping friend’s shoes was a little hard. “Wouldn’t happen. They could just go to 7-11.” Then when I asked if anyone knew why Jesus told this parable, the immediate response was: “To teach us that we should help friends in need even if it’s inconvenient.” So if we learned nothing else, we learned that Jesus was trying to teach us to be persistent in prayer. We used an object lesson as part of the Bible study. We re-wrote the parable, having one of the women come and knock on the door and ask for three loaves of bread. I said, okay, hang on…went and got a basket and put three small rolls in it. Looked at it and said, if her friends are hungry, this bread isn’t going to be enough. Let me at least put some butter in with it…and some jelly. Let’s see, what else? Here are some leftover chicken wings from last night…they should have some fruit…oh, and my wife bakes such delicious cookies, let me get some of those…okay! At this point we had the woman at the door say,” I give up, she’s not going to give me anything,” and leave. So then I go to the door with this basket of goodies and—hey where did she go? Point being, sometimes answers to prayer take time because God is planning something better than we imagine. Don’t give up or you might miss out!