Author Archives: Lisa Jones

End of school year – the holiday starts here!

Aim:

To help the children to grasp that God, who is greater than we can ever imagine, knows all about us and watches over us wherever we go.

Bible base:

Psalm 139:9-10

You will need:

  • An outline of Britain – on an acetate, or drawn large if an OHP is not available
  • A globe
  • Marker pens
  • A road map of Britain (with index!) in case you need to look up any destinations
  • A suitcase containing some of the things you would take on holiday
  • A large sign, which will fit in the case, saying ‘God’

Preparation

Know your geography!

Presentation

Introduction

  1. Who is excited about finishing school for the summer? (Be sure to let the staff say so too!) Who is going away on holiday? What will they take with them? Show the things you’ve packed.
  2. Ask for the names of some of the places people are going to and mark them on the map with that person’s name. Be sure also to mark on those who are having their holiday at home. Point out foreign destinations on the globe. How will they get to where they are going?

Story

  1. Talk about some of the people in the Bible who went on long journeys – Abraham going to a new country; Joseph going as a slave into Egypt; Moses leading the people to God’s special land; Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to safety in Egypt when he was a baby; Paul going on long journeys to tell people about Jesus. Each one knew that wherever they went, God was with them.
  2. Read the verses from Psalm 139. ‘If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me’. (Psalm 139:9-10, Good News Bible)

Application

Show the ‘God’ sign from your suitcase. We can’t see God with our eyes or hear him with our ears or feel him with our hands – but he will be with us always if we ask him to be, just as he was with these people.

It doesn’t matter where we go in the world: God is so great that he can be everywhere with anyone.

When we come back to school next year from summer holidays, when we go to new classes – or even new schools – God will still watch over and care for each one.

Prayer

Say a short prayer thanking God for holidays at home and away, and, if appropriate, asking him to be close to children who are going to a new school.

Song suggestions

The Bible – Bookshelf

Aim:

To explain to the children some of what the Bible contains.

Bible base:

The Bible

You will need:

  • Three sets of ‘sandwich-boards’ drawn to look like a Bible, a road atlas and a book of fairy stories.
  • Three adults to read these different parts, plus a leader

Preparation

Make the sandwich –boards from cardboard so that they fit over the shoulders of the wearers.

Presentation

Story

‘Bible’ should stand in the centre. ‘Road Atlas’ enters, making car noises, and bumps into Bible.

BIBLE: Ouch! That was a nasty bump. Who are you? What are you doing on this shelf?

ROAD ATLAS: I’m a Road Atlas – can’t you tell? (more car noises) I’m very important – you’d be lost without me. My maps can get you anywhere you want to go, (names some local places of interest). I can take you to see your Granny if she lives a long way away; I can get you to places at the other end of the country. Don’t ever set off on a journey without me! AND I’m on special offer at WH Smith’s this week. So there! (Exits)

BIBLE: Sounds interesting, but I’ve got maps in me too, although not of this country – they’re of somewhere a long way away, but very special. Now who is this coming along the shelf?

(Enter Fairy Stories.)

FAIRY STORIES: (reading Bible’s cover) The Bible..I guess you’ve not been read for a long time! I’m out every bedtime – I’m their favourite book! I’m full of adventures – The Little Mermaid, The Tin Soldier, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes…exciting stories about important people and important things. AND I’m full of pictures! (Exits.)

BIBLE: I didn’t like to interrupt, but I’m full of stories too – only mine are true! They are exciting stories, full of adventure, about special people and important things. Other books come and go, but I’ve been around a lot longer than those two. In fact I’ve sold more copies than any other book that has ever been written. God helped lots of different people to write me, and they all tell the most important story ever: that God loves people very much. Look – someone’s come to read me! (Exits)

Application

LEADER: The Bible is a very special book from God, just as we heard. It has lots of different sorts of stories in it.

Who has got a Bible at home? Who has read the Bible? Which stories do you know that are in the Bible?

Show where in the Bible are some of the stories that they mention, or some very well known ones, eg Noah in Genesis 6-9; David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17; Jesus’ birth in Luke 2; the lost sheep in Luke 15.

You may want to use a children’s Bible that includes colour drawings.

Prayer

Thank you, God, for all the different stories in the Bible and for all the things that they tell us about you.

The Sick House – Jesus heals many people

Aim:

To show that Jesus loves and cares for everyone.

Bible base:

Luke 4:38-40. Jesus heals many people.

You will need:

  • Dressing-up clothes for each character – you may be able to borrow some suitable biblical-style clothes from a local church, or use material draped and tied at the waist. You will need to dress Jesus, Peter, his wife, his mother-in-law, and other ill people who came to the house.
  • You may also want some pictures of houses in Jesus’ day.
  • A roll of lining paper

Preparation

  • Prepare the ‘street on a roll’ if you are using it and draw or find some pictures of appropriate houses. See How to Cheat at Visual Aids, published by Scripture Union, for some ideas.
  • Work out how you will re-tell the story.

Presentation

Introduction

  1. If this is to be the first of a series of stories, show pictures and talk a little about what the houses were like and how they were different from those in which we live.
  2. Ask the children who would help them if they were ill. That would usually be the same for people in Bible times, but not on the day of this story, because this was the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the Jews’ special day of rest, when nobody did any work.

Story

  1. Ask the children to listen carefully as you read the story from the Bible because afterwards some of them will help to tell it again. Read the story from a modern translation of the Bible, such as the Good News Bible or Contemporary English Version.
  2. Ask how they think the different people would have felt, and what they might have said.
  3. Choose children to dress up for the different parts; then re-tell the story of the sick house in your own words (or ask the children playing parts to say words if they are able to).

Include these things:

Jesus was interested in everyone who came to Peter’s house and he had time for all those who came to be made better.

And he made them better too, even though he wasn’t a doctor!

People must have wondered who this special man was.

Application

Still today, Jesus loves and cares for people who are ill and for their family and friends who are worried about them.

We can ask Jesus to help people who are ill and pray for those who look after them.

Ask which people today help ill people to get better.

Prayer

If appropriate, ask the children to think of anyone they know who is ill. During a short prayer that you say, asking God to help them to get better, have a moment of silence when each child can say quietly in their head the name of that person.

Say a prayer to thank God for people who help us when we are ill. If the school has a nurse, mention him/her by name.

Song suggestion

Jesus’ hands were kind hands, 134, Junior Praise

I matter – Jesus cares for everyone

Aim:

To show the children that each one of us matters as individuals.

Bible base:

The Gospels

You will need:

  • A selection of hats or costumes for different jobs, eg a white coat (doctor), police helmet, tweed hat (farmer), book (teacher), clock (for someone who does not have a job but has time to fill), teddy bear (child), dustbin liner (refuse collector), duster (cleaner or someone who does housework)
  • You may want to have some pictures for the story at the end

Preparation

Familiarise yourself with stories from the gospels which show that all sorts of people mattered to Jesus. (See example in Story.)

Presentation

Introduction

  1. Ask the children who they think is the most important person in the room. (They will probably name the head teacher.)
  2. Invite some children up to the front to wear or hold the costumes and props.
  3. Talk to the children about the different jobs these people do.
  4. Ask who they think is the most important, and why.
  5. We sometimes think that some people are more important than others because of the jobs they do. When Jesus lived on earth as a man he thought that everyone was important. He had time for rich people and poor, for people who were ill and those who were well, for the old and young, for those with jobs and those that begged on the streets. Everyone mattered to Jesus.

Story

Go on to tell short narratives from the gospels which illustrate this, for example:

Jesus had time for everyone. He had meals with rich people like Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who was rich because he cheated people. Jesus went to his house and, because Jesus became his friend, Zacchaeus gave away the money he had stolen.

But Jesus also saw a very poor lady put all the money that she had in an offering box at the temple, and he praised her for doing that. Jesus spent a lot of time making ill people better, like the man whose hand wouldn’t work, or people who were blind. But he also spent a lot of time listening and talking with people about God, like the 5,000 people who went to hear him one day.

Jesus helped an old lady who was his friend’s mother, when she was ill, and he did the same for a twelve-year-old girl who was dying, when her father came to ask for help.

Jesus talked to people as they were working, like Peter and Andrew the fishermen, and he stopped to talk to people who had no job, like Bartimaeus, who was blind and had to beg for money.

Everyone mattered to Jesus!

Application

Tell the children that today, everyone still matters to Jesus. Jesus cares about each and every one of us here, and about each and every person in the world.

Time to reflect

  1. Encourage the children to be still and close their eyes.
  2. Ask them to think about how each person is important to Jesus, no matter what age they are, how they look, what they can or can’t do.

Prayer

Invite the children to join in the following prayer or a similar one by saying ‘Amen’ at the end:

Dear Jesus, thank you that you had time for everyone, for poor and rich, for sick and well, for young and old alike. Thank you too that we all matter to you today and that you love each and every one of us. Amen.

Jesus always listens – Nicodemus

Aim:

To help the children understand that Jesus listens when they talk to him. He is happy to hear their prayers.

Bible base:

John 3:1-21. Jesus and Nicodemus.

You will need:

  • A collection of objects that make some kind of a noise, eg a cup and saucer, an alarm clock, an egg timer (wind up kind), a hand bell, a radio, etc (try to include the radio or something else with words – a cassette player, a talking toy!)
  • A deep box for your objects, with a hole made in one side, large enough for your hands to go through.

Presentation

Introduction

1. Start the assembly with a listening game.

  • Ask the children to listen very carefully to the things in your box, ensuring that they cannot see over the top into the box.
  • Put your hands into the back of the box through the hole. Make a noise with each object in turn.
  • As the children guess the objects correctly take them out of the box. Leave your ‘speaking’ object until last. See if the children can actually make out some of the words being said.

2. Talk to the children about whether they are good or bad listeners. There are times when it is important to listen. Talk about what if feels like when people don’t listen to you properly at all.

Story

THE SECRET VISITOR:

We read in the Bible about a time when a man came to Jesus wanting Jesus to listen to his questions and to answer them.

Tell the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night (given below). Emphasise how much Nicodemus wanted to talk to Jesus and how willing Jesus was to listen.

Nicodemus was a teacher. He had heard a lot about Jesus, and wanted to talk to him. But he didn’t want people to see him – so he came after dark.

‘We know you’ve been sent by God,’ Nicodemus began. ‘No one could do the wonderful things you do without God’s help.’

Jesus knew the questions in Nicodemus’ mind.

‘You are a great teacher,’ Jesus said. ‘But you still have lessons to learn. You want to please God. But being good isn’t enough. You must be born all over again to enjoy God’s kingdom.’

‘What do you mean?’ Nicodemus asked.

‘You need a fresh start, a whole new life,’ Jesus answered, ‘the life I have come to bring. You see, God loves the world so much that he has sent his Son. Everyone who puts his trust in me can have this new kind of life.’

Outside it was dark. Inside the house, the lamp shone.

‘God’s light is shining in the world,’ Jesus said.

‘But people would rather live in the dark because the light shows up the wrong they do.’

(Story from ‘The Lion Children’s Bible’, retold by Pat Alexander. Used with permission.)

Application

  1. Ask the children how Nicodemus must have felt as Jesus sat and listened to him.
  2. Remind them that Jesus still listens when we talk to him in our prayers. He is so wonderful, he knows what each person has said even if they say it at the same time. He listens wherever we are and always answers us.

Song suggestion

Prayer is like a telephone, 448, Junior Praise

God always answers prayer – Peter

Aim:

To show the children that prayer is answered.

Bible base:

Acts 12:1-11. Peter is set free from prison.

You will need:

• ‘Doors’ visual aid.

Preparation

  • Make the visual aid by photocopying the pictures on to A4 thin card or, if possible, enlarging them to A3 size.
  • Cut the doors on illustrations 1-3 so they open. Then stick all the pictures on top of each other starting with the picture of Rhoda at the bottom, then the three doors in order of size so the largest door is on the top.
  • Have all the doors closed to begin with, so you can open them one by one as you tell the story.
  • You may like to colour the illustration.

Presentation

Introduction

  • Begin by asking the children who helps them when they are lonely, frightened or worried?
  • Do they talk to anyone about their fears?

Story

  1. Ask the children to help you tell a story about some people who talked to God when they needed help.
  2. Whenever you say ‘pray, prayed, praying or prayer’ they are to say, ‘Hello Lord’.
  3. As you tell the story use the ‘Doors’ visual aid to show Peter’s escape, and allow the children time to join in the response ‘Hello Lord’ but not waiting for them if they get too caught up in the story!

Peter hung his head and tried to get some sleep. It wasn’t easy to sleep sitting between two soldiers with both hands chained. He knew his friends were praying (‘Hello Lord’) for him but what could God do now. Suddenly, just when Peter had managed to doze off, he felt someone shaking him. ‘Get up Peter. Fasten your belt, put your cloak and shoes on and follow me.’ There before him stood an angel! Peter thought he was dreaming!

Then another strange thing happened. As Peter followed the angel they walked straight past the soldiers on guard and the cell door just opened in front of them. (Open first door of visual aid.) Then the same thing happened as they reached the very outer door of the prison itself. (Open next door.) and Peter found himself out on the street. He looked round and the angel had disappeared!

Peter’s first thoughts were of his friends praying for him. (‘Hello Lord’) He set off into the darkness to find Mary’s house where they usually met. When he reached the house he knocked at the door and waited. Eventually a servant girl named Rhoda peered cautiously round the door, (Begin to open the last door of your visual aid.) ‘Who is it?’ she whispered. ‘It’s me, Peter, let me in,’ came the reply. ‘But Peter’s in prison, that’ why we’re all here praying for him,’ (‘Hello Lord’) said Rhoda. ‘But God’s answered your prayers (‘Hello Lord’). He sent an angel to help me escape,’ explained Peter.

‘That’s wonderful,’ said Rhoda, and before Peter could get inside she’d shut the door and run upstairs to tell everyone the news. Poor Peter had to go on knocking until someone actually believed Rhoda and she came downstairs again to let Peter in! (Open last door fully to reveal Rhoda.) Everyone listened carefully to Peter’s story and then they thanked God for answering their prayers (‘Hello Lord’) in such a wonderful way.

Application

  1. Ask the children what they think Peter’s friends might have asked God to do for him.
  2. Sometimes God does far more than we can ever imagine, and answers our prayers in amazing ways.
  3. Sometimes God says ‘no’ to what we ask him for. We may not understand why; we have to trust that he knows what is best.
  4. One thing we can be sure about is that God always hears our prayers and answers them, even if the answer is ‘no’ or ‘not yet.’

Prayer

After this story it may be appropriate to ask the children to think of something specific that they can ask God about – either for themselves or something that is topical locally or at national news level.

Song suggestion

 

Danger in the Den – Daniel

Aim:

To help the children understand that God is always with them in whatever situation they may find themselves.

Bible base:

Daniel 6

You will need:

  • Some photos of personal friends (as large as possible)
  • A few simple props to help your acting volunteers, for example a crown for King Darius, a card headband with Percy written on it, a rug, etc

Preparation

Look carefully at the story in Daniel 6 and at the script, noting the places props will be used.

Presentation

Introduction

  1. Show the children your photos. (Those nearer the back could have a closer look later if they are unable to see.) Tell them why you enjoy being with your friends, how they may have helped you when in difficulty and about things you have done together.
  2. Point out to the children that however special your friends are, they can’t be with you all the time and they can’t always help you.
  3. Explain that Daniel, a man we read about in the Bible, found out there was only one special best friend who could always be there and always help.

Story

Choose a few volunteers to act out the story as you tell it using the props where appropriate.

A long time ago in a distant land,

many hundreds and thousands of years ago,

there was a man called Daniel,

and a great king called Darius.

Daniel had worked for the king all his life but unlike many other men at the palace he always spoke the truth.

Also Daniel knew that God was wise, strong, loving, the greatest.

Every day, morning, midday and evening he would talk to God like a friend,

tell him about his day,

about problems at the palce,

what sort of mood the king was in,

anything and everything

and God listened.

King Darius admired Daniel and listened to everything he said carefully.

Daniel always spoke the truth

and because God had give him good advice,

he was always having brilliant new ideas.

The king always took notice of what Daniel said

and the other important people in the palace became more and more annoyed.

‘Who does he think he is?’

‘He makes us look stupid!’

‘I hate him.’

And they began huddling together in corners of the palace grounds, trying to come up with some idea about how to get rid of Daniel.

Eventually one man, Percy, came up with a cunning plan. Although King Darius appreciated Daniel’s honest approach, he was very vain and liked people saying nice things about him.

One morning, when Daniel was out seeing to some important business for the king, Percy went into the royal apartments, threw himself down on the Persian rug and said,

‘O Great and Wonderful.

I can hardly bring myself to breathe in the presence of your majesty.

Please allow me to grovel at your feet.’

‘Certainly, dear boy,’ said the king.

‘Your majesty’ Percy continued, ‘the people know you are handsome, strong and very wise.’

The kind smiled. ‘Do they?’ he said.

‘But perhaps they do not know quite HOW WONDERFUL you are.’

The king frowned. ‘Don’t they?’ he said.

Why don’t we make a new law which says the people can only pray to you and to no one else for the next thirty days?’

‘Excellent, excellent,’ said the king. ‘Let’s do it.’

Percy grinned sneakily, bowed and left the throne room.

And so it turned out that by the time Daniel came back to the palace, a new law had been written and sealed by the king and was to be enforced by a whole division of palace guards. Daniel heard about this new law as he reached the palace gates.

The king welcomed him as usual.

He told Daniel of the new law he’d devised by himself without Daniel’s help.

‘Congratulations, my lord king,’ said Daniel. ‘Tell me about it.’

So the king told him about the law and the people having to pray to him alone.

‘Aah,’ said Daniel, ‘and what will happen to those who disobey?’

The king told him that Percy had come up with a good idea.

‘Oh,’ said Daniel.

‘The new law says that anyone praying to someone other than me will be thrown into a pit of lions.’

‘Oh dear, oh dear,’ said Daniel softly.

And he kept saying this to himself as he went home, talked to God and climbed into bed.

In fact he kept on saying this to himself even in his sleep – a sleep troubled by dreams of bright eyes, golden manes and very large teeth.

The next morning, everyone started praying to the king, but Daniel talked to God instead.

At mid day, everyone still prayed to the king, but Daniel talked to God instead.

In the evening when everyone else was praying to King Darius, Daniel was talking to God.

All the people were too afraid to disobey the king.

But Daniel could not desert God, his oldest friend.

Of course, this is what Daniel’s enemies wanted.

Percy and a few friends had sneaked round to Daniel’s house to spy on him.

Daniel made no secret of what he was doing.

He sat by the open window, talking to God, as usual, like a friend.

After they saw this, his enemies went and told the king that Daniel was still praying three times a day. The king looked very serious and sad when they told him what had happened, but had to agree that Daniel had broken the new law. Daniel was arrested and bundled off to the king.

Daniel said, ‘I’m sorry for disobeying you, my lord king, but God is too good a friend to give up.’

The king understood, but Percy reminded him the law had been broken, a law written and signed by the king himself.

The king said to Daniel, ‘May your God rescue you!’ and Daniel was put into the pit where the lions lived.

The entrance was sealed and the king went back miserably to the palace.

All night King Darius walked up and down in his dressing gown.

In the morning the king was at the entrance to the pit at first light.

‘Daniel, Daniel,’ he called ‘Was your God able to save you?’

‘Yes, your majesty,’ said Daniel, ‘God sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths. They did not harm me at all. Isn’t it wonderful? I knew God wouldn’t let me down.’

The king was overjoyed to hear his friend alive and gave orders for Daniel to be pulled out of the pit. The lions roared ferociously but everyone could see that Daniel had not been hurt at all.

The king said, ‘My dear Daniel, it is wonderful. This just goes to show that GOD IS THE BEST FRIEND TO HAVE after all.’

Application

  1. Talk about Daniel’s feelings when the law was made, when he was in the lion’s den, and when the lions didn’t hurt him.
  2. Make the point that God is with us, as he was with Daniel. We can trust him to help us if we ask him.

Carmel Competition – Elijah

Aim:

To help the children understand that God is the only God, the greatest, and he’s real!

Bible base:

1 Kings 18:1-40

You will need:

  • Some items which the children are likely to choose between, for example, an apple and an orange, a football and a book, some Smarties and a tube of fruit pastilles.
  • A few simple props for the story, for example, a crown for Ahab, a cloak for Elijah, a bucket etc.

Preparation

Familiarise yourself with the story from 1 Kings 19 and look carefully at the script so as to know how to use your volunteers.

Presentation

Introduction

  1. Discuss with the children times they have made decisions. Are there times when it’s difficult to make up your mind?
  2. Show the children your items which they may have had to choose between.

Background

  1. Explain to the children that God’s people the Israelites had many bad kings. Probably the worst king was King Ahab, and his wife Jezebel was even hastier than him!
  2. Ahab did not care about God. Jezebel worshipped a false god called Baal and soon the people were so confused that they could not make up their minds about God at all.
  3. God had already sent one message by his special messenger Elijah to try and make Ahab listen. There had been no rain for three years, Ahab was in a foul mood and God sent Elijah to Ahab again.

Story

Choose some volunteers to help you tell the story:

a king Ahab, an Elijah, a few prophets of Baal, all the other children in the assembly will be the crowd watching the competition which takes place.

Story script:

When Ahab and Elijah met, Ahab was so angry he could hardly keep still. (Have Ahab and Elijah standing facing one another, Ahab shaking with rage!)

He was twitching and shaking with anger.

‘You have caused this trouble!’ Ahab shrieked, his voice shrill and squeaking.

‘No, it’s not me,’ said Elijah. ‘You have forgotten to take any notice of God. Now he is going to show you something more about himself.

Get all the people to Mount Carmel.

Get all the prophets of Baal together.

Collect everyone in one big crowd.

There’s going to be a competition.’

Soon, a huge crowd of people were gathered and 450 prophets of Baal, all ready for a big competition.

(Elijah faces the rest of the children.)

‘Listen,’ said Elijah to the people. ‘You’ve got to make up your minds who you think is real. You can’t be on God’s side and Baal’s side. You’ve got to choose.’

But the people said nothing.

They had heard there was a competition coming and they wanted to see it.

‘OK’, said Elijah, ‘bring out two bulls.’ The people obeyed. Normally bulls were burned as a sacrifice to God to show respect and honour, like a kind of present.

(Ask a volunteer to mime bringing out the sacrifice.)

‘The competition will be to see which god brings down fire to burn the sacrifice,’ said Elijah. ‘Do you agree?’

The prophets of Baal stamped and shouted and whooped and made a great noise.

(Prophets of Baal stamp, shout, whoop, etc.)

‘Is that a yes?’ said Elijah.

‘Yes!’ they roared.

(Prophets and Elijah mime appropriately as the story continues.)

The prophets put the large piece of meat on a pile of stones and started to pray.

‘Baal, hear us! Baal hear us! Bring fire – and make it hot!’ (Prophets could say this after you.) But nothing happened.

So they yelled, ‘Baal hear us! Baal hear us! Bring fire and make it snappy!’

But nothing happened. ‘Perhaps he’s out with a friend? Or shopping? Or on the loo? Suggested Elijah, smiling.

The prophets of Baal went crazy: dancing and leaping and screaming.

But nothing happened.

Hours passed.

Elijah said very quietly to the people, ‘Gather round.’ And they did. He built a pile of twelve stones, put on the wood and put the meat on top. Then he asked for a spade. He dug a deep ditch round the stones and asked for a bucket of water.

‘Water?’ said the people. ‘He’s definitely crazy.’

Elijah poured water over the meat. Splash!

‘Doesn’t he realise?’ said a little old woman, ‘It’ll never cook like that.’

Elijah poured on water a second time. Splash.

And a third time. Swoosh.

Water trickled down into the deep ditch. ‘When God wins this competition,’ said Elijah, ‘it will NOT be by chance.’

‘Now God,’ he said, ‘show these people that you are alive, that you are the greatest, that you are the only God, that you are the REAL THING.’

Then God sent fire – it licked up the water like a hungry beast. Flames roared round the stones, the wood, the meat and leapt red and yellow into the sky. When all the people saw this they jumped up in surprise.

‘Wow!’ they yelled. ‘It’s amazing.’

Then they knelt down.

‘It’s true. God is the only God, the real thing. God is the greatest.’

Time to reflect

Ask the children to think about the story they have just heard and seen.

Ask them to think about what they will decide or have decided about God.

Prayer

Invite the children to join in the following prayer (or similar) by saying ‘Amen’ if they wish to:

Dear God, help us to know that you are real and with us even though we can’t see you with our eyes, hear you with our ears or touch you with our hands. Thank you that you are the one true God, the greatest, the real thing. Amen.

Nicky Cruz

God cares about us – gangs in New York

Other themes:

peer pressure, self-esteem

The Problem

Here’s something to think about. Listen to this.

Michelle sat gazing into her bedroom mirror. A miserable face gazed back. She spent a lot of her time like this, perhaps checking she was really there. For no one at school seemed to notice her, not as much as she wanted anyway. And she didn’t have much in the way of friends.

“You,” she said to her reflection, “could disappear one day and no one would notice.”

She saw a tear squeezing out from under an eyelid so she turned to get a tissue. Her eyes fell on her pop magazine. The new girl group, Blaze, was on the cover. Her favourite was Kim, the one on the left with the big, dangly earrings. Bet she got noticed, thought Michelle.

And then the idea came. Could she do it? Course. She’d have to go the whole way. Hair cut really, really short, big earrings and what else? She looked at the picture again. Long pink socks. They’d look odd with the school uniform, but that was the point.

The teacher would tell her to get back to normal, of course. But…yeah, she could be a bit cheeky, say, “No, why should I?” Yeah, that’d get her noticed. Not so cheeky that Mum would get called in, of course, just enough to build up a bit of a reputation.

Yeah, the new Michelle – Michelle the Cool, Michelle the Star.

Now think:

Will Michelle’s plan get her more friends? Will it make her happy? Is there a better way?

(You could discuss this or pass on to the main story.)

The Story

Our true story today, about Nicky Cruz, is quite different from Michelle’s, but deep down they have a similar problem. It opens in a school…

Nicky just couldn’t stand it any more. If the teacher couldn’t keep order, he’d do it. And he’d do it his way. This other boy in his class was a pain. So Nicky would teach him a lesson. Before anyone could stop him, he’d lifted a chair high in the air and brought it crashing down on the boy’s head.

When the Headteacher threatened to phone the police, Nicky shouted back, “Do it and I’ll kill you.” Then he stormed out of the school.

It was the same wherever he went. He just seemed to boil over. Even when he was young, back home in Puerto Rico, he’d been trouble. His parents couldn’t wait to see the back of him, so when he was fifteen he was pushed on a plane to New York to go and live with his brother Frank.

But just as school couldn’t control him, nor could Frank. Nicky couldn’t stand anyone telling him what to do. So he left.

Now he was on his own, angry with the world, but also lonely and frightened. He wandered the streets, no place to go, no friend to call on, no money to spend. He felt the icy wind come howling down between the rows of skyscrapers, felt it stir up the rotting litter in the streets and throw it at him to torment him. He saw figures slumped in alleys, drunk, asleep…or worse. He glimpsed faces looking down at him from lit windows, then turning away. They weren’t interested in him.

He was shivering now, he needed a room badly. So – he mugged someone in the street for the rent money. Well, if he didn’t help himself, who would? Who cared about Nicky? No one ever has, he thought, no one.

Then one day, while he was just mooching about, he saw them, a group of lads, dancing in the street to music, laughing. They were wearing black jackets with two blood-red Ms on the back. Nicky gazed at them until they shouted over, “This is Mau Mau territory. You don’t belong here. Get lost, man.”

No, no one wanted him.

Then he saw them again, at a party he’d drifted into. The Mau Mau gang. He pleaded to join. The leader told him, “You understand, if you join, it’s for ever. If you try to leave, we’ll kill you. But are you tough enough to be a Mau Mau? There’s a test. Five of us will beat you up. If you survive, you’re in.”

Nicky survived, just. He came round from the beating with a broken nose, blood everywhere. But he was in. That’s what mattered. He belonged.

Over the next few weeks the Mau Maus, and there were over a hundred of them, were involved in murders, robberies and gangland fights. And Nicky was up there at the front, always ready to be more vicious, more reckless than his mates.

After six months he was elected leader of the gang. He’d made it – people noticed him now: now he was more important. “I ain’t afraid of nothing or no one,” he boasted.

But, deep down, he was still the same angry, lonely boy. And he was afraid. Afraid of the scary nightmares he kept getting, afraid of losing his tough reputation, afraid of what he was becoming. All the admiration, all the power, and he still wasn’t happy.

Then he got an invitation to this Christian meeting. All the gangs did. Nicky refused to go, but someone asked, “Why? You afraid?” So he had to go.

To start with, the meeting was like a wild party. Members of different gangs were yelling at each other, some were disco dancing to the organ music, others were laughing or whistling. Then the preacher announced there’d be a collection and that the Mau Maus would come round for the money.

Yeah, thought Nicky, we’ll collect it all right, then we’ll run!

But when they’d collected the money, Nicky told his gang, “We’re taking it to the preacher.”

“What? You crazy, man?” But they knew not to argue, not with Nicky.

As Nicky sat down, he thought, Crazy? Yeah, I was crazy, but before, not now. For he’d just done something right and it felt good, better than all the bad things he’d done. For the preacher had trusted him, that hadn’t happened before.

And in the hush that came over the hall, he listened to the preacher say, “God loves you. He wants to forgive you. He wants to change you.” And Nicky realised that he did want to change. So that night, in front of his mates, Nicky walked to the front to become a Christian, to become the person God made him to be.

And he was changed. When later he was stabbed, he didn’t want to take revenge. And he left the gang. It was dangerous but he did it.

Now he began to use his energy for good, saying to all the gangs he saw on the streets, to the drug addicts, to those at the bottom of the heap, “You can be changed. You’re loved. You can be the person God made you to be.”

He worked with a group which ran a centre where people could come and stay for a while, find someone to talk to, be helped off drugs – a place of safety and friendship. Nicky felt good belonging to a group which helped rather than hurt. Before, he’d just thought about himself – what do people think of me? And he was miserable. Now he was thinking of others. And he was happy.

And he no longer had to show off, to prove he was tough and cool and hard.

For he knew at last that someone cared about him. Now he could be himself.

Time of Reflection

Think for a second: do you ever do things to get noticed? Show off a bit? Get a bit silly? You probably wouldn’t do the things Nicky did, but do you ever pretend that you’re tougher or smarter than you really are? It’s good to remember that God loves us just as we are. We don’t have to pretend to him. Just take a moment to think about this.

Bible Bits

Jesus tells us how valuable we are:

“Not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent…So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29,31)

And God tells us that he, at least doesn’t worry too much about the image:

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Prayer

Thank you, Father, that we’re all important to you, that we don’t have to show off or do silly or bad things to get your attention. Amen

Variations on a Theme

Pupils could create short sketches called, “Look at me, everyone!” about how showing off doesn’t always have the desired effect. Take care that the atmosphere is right for THE STORY.

Alternatively, the story of David’s anointing in 1 Samuel 16 could be acted out, showing how the tall, handsome ones got nowhere.

Run Baby Run, Nicky Cruz, is published by Hodder and Stoughton.

Quiz Questions

  1. How old was Nicky when he arrived in New York?
  2. Why did he run away from school – and his brother?
  3. How could you recognise a Mau Mau?
  4. Why did Nicky want to join the gang?
  5. Even as gang leader he was afraid – of what? (One thing)
  6. Of what else?
  7. Why did he go to the Christian meeting?
  8. Why did he not run off with the collection money?
  9. How did he prove he was a changed man? (One thing)
  10. How else did he prove it?

Martin Luther King

Inequality isn’t right! – racism in the U.S.

Other themes:

slavery, bullying

The Problem

Listen to this and see what you think.

Simon leaned across the table and, making sure the teacher couldn’t hear, said, “Hey, Mani, or whatever your name is, is it true that where you come from your tribe’s only got one brain between them and you have to share it round? Eh?”

Mani, who’d only been in the class a few days, ignored the insult and got on with his work in silence. But then the teacher called him up to read.

“Oh, Mani, or whatever your name is,” – Simon said that every time – “get him to teach you to speak proper English, will ya?” He turned and nudged Amjid sitting next to him.

Amjid knew what Mani was going through. It had only stopped for Amjid when the bullies learnt they weren’t getting anywhere. Then they’d given up – and eventually he’d been accepted. But it had been rough.

Now Amjid had a choice. He longed to tell Simon to stop getting at Mani, but it was so much easier to go along with it. If he got on the wrong side of Simon and the gang, perhaps they’d start on him again.

Now think:

What should Amjid do? The easy thing, or the hard thing?

(You could discuss this or pass on to the main story.)

The Story

James and Betsey gazed down at their new baby. “Isabella,” murmured Betsey, “my Isabella.”

“Not your Isabella,” whispered James fiercely. “The master’s Isabella. She belongs to him. Nothing belongs to slaves like us.”

Betsey signed. She knew he was right. They were black slaves on a farm near New York in 1800 and that meant they were not even regarded as people, just property, to be bought and sold. She remembered how two of her children had been taken from her years before, literally carried from the slave house and driven away. The master had sold them, and she knew she would probably never see them again.

Betsey began to cry at the memory of it. For she was not “property” – she was a person, and people have feelings. And when your children are taken from you, it hurts, it really hurts.

However, the master liked Isabella, or Belle as she was known, for she grew up tall and strong, and able to work hard, and that was what mattered to hm. For the moment she was safe.

But when she was about your age, the master died and the new owner decided to sell at auction some of the property – including Belle. She was sold to a shopkeeper who beat her, then to an innkeeper, then to a farmer. And all the time her hatred of white people grew and grew – she used to pray that God would kill them all.

Eventually she married, another slave of course, and had five children.

Then a law was passed: older slaves were to be freed. Free? Belle could hardly believe it. It was too good to be true, surely.

And it was. Her master refused to free her at the promised time. She was so angry she ran away, even though it meant leaving her family. Some friendly people took her in.

It was there that Belle met with God. She suddenly became aware of him all around her, and ashamed of the bad feelings which had built up in her heart. And she understood what Jesus had come to do, to clean away all this anger and hatred. She let him come into her life. It changed her for ever. The bitterness against white people just slipped away.

She started to go to church and was astonished how she was treated – as a person. Later on she managed to visit her children – her husband had died – but there was nothing she could do for them.

So she moved to New York and began work as a maid. But she wasn’t satisfied. I may not be able to read or write, she thought, but isn’t there something I can do for God, perhaps something to help those still in slavery?

And God told her what she could do. She could become a travelling preacher, go and tell the world how slavery was wrong, that it wasn’t what God wanted. What? she must have thought – a black woman telling white people to change their way of life?

She made her decision. She chose not the easy thing but the hard thing. She would go. But she would take a new name – Sojourner Truth. A sojourner is someone who does not stay in one place for long, so that fitted, and Truth because Jesus said, “I am the truth”, and she’d be speaking for him.

Other people, both black and white, were trying to put an end to slavery too. Some told slaves: “Rise up against your masters!” Sojourner would have nothing to do with this. Violence was not Jesus’ way. She went instead to white people to reason with them, to try and change their attitudes.

Her message to a world that looked down on black people, especially black women, was: “Aren’t I equal to anyone of you in God’s eyes? So why do you go against God?”

She was a born teacher. When she spoke, in meeting halls or in the open air, people listened all right. She was very tall, taller than most men, and had a quick, lively mind and a great sense of humour. And how she knew the Bible!

Of course, many jeered at her, some even threatened her life, but she understood – they’d been brought up to look down on black people, so she could forgive them.

She continued travelling and speaking until she was in her eighties. She had seen many changes in that time. For example, President Abraham Lincoln had taken up the cause of black people and passed a law to ban slavery. This was wonderful but in some states slave owners defied the law. Freed slaves were taken captive and dragged to states where slavery was still practised, and their children were carried off to become unpaid factory workers.

So Sojourner went on fighting. She longed for her country to honour God and treat all people fairly. Black people, she argued, have worked hard to make America rich, they should have rights the same as anyone.

Sojourner died in 1883. Both black and white were proud to have known her, glad she had brought them closer together.

Slavery was eventually stopped altogether, but the battle for equal rights had a long way to go. In each generation there were those who pleaded for justice for all, perhaps the most famous being Martin Luther King. He was a black Baptist minister in Alabama, one of the southern states. He felt that God wanted him to do something for his fellow blacks, who were not allowed, for example, to sit on certain seats in buses or in restaurants, their children not allowed to go to certain schools. So in the 1950s and ‘60s he organised peaceful protests.

For his trouble, his house was dynamited and he was arrested and sent to prison seventeen times. But he kept on, pleading with white people for justice, pleading with black people not to let their anger boil over. In Washington in 1963, 200,000 people, black and white, came together to march through the city for equal rights, and to hear Martin speak. It was a great occasion.

He just longed for all human beings to be treated equally. But some people hated him just as they’d hated Sojourner Truth. And five years after he spoke to that crowd, Martin Luther King was murdered.

But he had accomplished so much. Like Sojourner, he had brought people of different races closer together, taught them to see they had an equal place in the heart of God.

Time of Reflection

Have you ever looked down on someone because they were different from you in some way? Perhaps in the way they looked or the way they spoke, or because they were younger than you, or because they were very old, or because they had less money? Jesus never looked down on anyone, whatever their race, or appearance, or age – he treated them equally. Do you?

Just take a moment to think about that.

Bible Bits

In the Bible it says:

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“…to be peaceful and friendly, and always…show a gentle attitude towards everyone.” (Titus 3:2)

Prayer

Help us, Lord, to treat everyone, whatever their race, whatever their age or appearance, as you did, with respect. And if we’re the one being ill-treated, help us not to be violent, but to tell someone and be ready to forgive. Amen

Variations on a Theme

The children could act out a series of stories from the Gospels showing how Jesus treated people equally – regardless of race, age, whatever, and how he did not meet violence with violence.

Eg. Attitude to the foreigner: Matthew 8:5-13

The child: Luke 9:46-48

The disfigured: Mark 1: 40-42

The bullies: Luke 22: 47-51

Or you could think more about slavery in the world today, especially the forced labour of children.

Quiz Questions

  1. What was Belle’s real first name?
  2. What did her parents think might happen to her?
  3. Why didn’t the master sell her?
  4. Later, why did she run away?
  5. Being a Christian changed her attitude – how?
  6. Why was she not satisfied as a maid?
  7. Why did she talk to white people and not black?
  8. Which president banned slavery?
  9. In which state was Martin Luther King a minister?
  10. What happened in Washington in 1963?