Children @ Risk Prayer Week
“Sunday School” Lesson
“Hey Stranger,
Hey Neighbour”
A lesson with games and drama
We Are Learning That (WALT)
- God loves everyone
- Jesus taught his followers the 2 great commandments of loving God and loving your neighbour. He told a story to help us understand what it means to love your neighbour.
- As Jesus followers, we can think about ways to show love and care to our ‘neighbours’ (This week’s focus= Children@Risk in NZ who are having a hard time)
Scriptural Background: The Good Samaritan Luke 10: 25-37
Jesus explains that to love God with all your heart mind soul and strength also means showing love and care to others in need- even those who are different from us.
- The man on the road needed help- everything gone – he had no hope.
- 3 came by but only one stopped to help (the most unlikely too!)
- The Samaritan saw the injured man, took pity on him, dressed his wounds, provided transport to the extra support (innkeeper) paid for accommodation, food.
- The Samaritan did all he could – used his resources and asked others too
- The Samaritan made a difference – he offered life and hope.
1 John 3:16-18 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth.’
Resource: Organize for the song/PPT‘Hey Stranger, Hey Neighbour’ to be shown in church as an introduction to this prayer week for ‘Children @ Risk’
Could show PPTagain (teach chorus) at the end of the lesson
INTRODUCTION:
In (name of children’s group) we often talk about how much God loves us all, no matter what we look like, what we like to eat and wear, where we go to school and who we live with at home. It’s good to get together on Sundays and sing and praise God for His love. But Jesus also reminds us in the story we are going to have today that loving God also means living that our in practical ways, like loving our neighbour. Who is our neighbor? (Anyone who needs our help) This week we are thinking especially about children in NZ who are our neighbours and ways we can help them.
GAMES
1/ Do You Love Your Neighbour?
This is a sitting down on chairs circle game.
Instructions: Everyone sits in a circle on chairs. One person does not have a chair, and stands in the middle of the circle. This person chooses someone in the circle and asks them “Jill (name): Do you love your neighbour”? If Jill says “No”, then the people either side of Jill, have to swap chairs, before the person in the middle can sit down in one of their chairs. If the answer is “Yes”, then everyone has to swap chairs.
The aim is for the middle person to get herself onto a chair. If she succeeds then the person whose chair she’s taken must go into the middle and ask someone ‘Do you love your neighbour?’
2/ Robbing our Neighbour or Helping them out (2 versions of ‘Rob the Nest’)
Equipment: 5 large plastic plates (or hoops or mats) 16 plastic spoons (or beanbags, pegs or balls)
Instructions:Children are divided into 4 even teams, one in each corner of the space. These teams are each given a plate and line up behind it.
At the centre of this square is 1 main plate with 16 spoons on it.
The aim is for the teams to be the first with 5 spoons on their plate. First team member runs up to the centre plate and collects ONE spoon, runs back puts it on the plate and tags the next player in the team who does the same etc. Once the spoons are removed from the central plate, team members are allowed to steal spoons from other teams. Same rules of ONE player from a team at a time still applies.
After a team has 5 spoons on their plate they call out ‘Five’’
Giving away version:How could we play this game again so that it wasn’t about grabbing but about giving? (Chn make suggestions) Here is one way: Give each team 4 spoons each (total of 16) and no centre plate. First team members run to another team and gives one spoon away. Keep going, one player per team, until there are no spoons left on your plate. Call out ‘Good Neighbour!’
Questions
- How did it feel when people kept stealing the spoons?
- Did it feel different to be giving away all your spoons to help your neighbourinstead of trying to steal them from them?
- Is it frustrating when we try to help and it doesn’t work out? (Not that simple to offer help)
DRAMA- The Good Samaritan- impromptu play
Children love drama and by having some simple props and labels hung around the neck it makes this story really easy to act out. Choose characters and give brief instructions (e.g. Robbers only pretend ‘beating up!’ Donkey needs to work out a way to carry safely.)
Narrator needs to be a competent reader. Simple action instructions are given as the story goes along by the director. (One leader could do both roles)
Resources:
- Cardboard labels worn around neck for characters in the Good Samaritan story- name on one side, a short sentence of script on other side (easy to read after a quick practice) E.g.
The man: (no words)
Robber: Ah good! Here comes someone on his own.
Robber 2: Let’s beat him up and take his stuff!
Priest: I can’t stop and help. I am too busy
Levite: This looks serious but I don’t want to get involved.
Samaritan: This person is hurt, I will stop and see what I can do to help.
Donkey: (no words!)
Innkeeper: (no words)
- A few other props and costumes if desired- but not necessary. Eg some clothing and belongings for man which can be ‘robbed’; Bible for priest, candle or book of law for Levite, donkey mask and rug for back, bandages, coins.
Script for Narrator:
Introduction: One day a man who was well-educated in God’s laws asked Jesus a question. He wanted to know what it would take to live forever with God. Instead of answering the question, Jesus asked the man what the Bible said. The man replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ Also, ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’”
Jesus told the man that his answer was right. Then the man asked another question. He wondered who his neighbour was. To help the man understand, Jesus told this story ….. (Read/tellas from Luke 10:30-37 Good News Bible.)
There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho (MAN walking along) when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. (ROBBERS speak then act out a pretend beating up, and run off with the man’s belongings)
It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. (PRIEST stops, looks, says his words, walks on)
In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. (LEVITE stops, looks, says words and walks on)
But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. (SAMARITAN with donkey following stops, looks, says words, kneels down beside and acts out the rest as the narrator continues) He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. (Pause for all this action)
The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the INNKEEPER. (Mime while narrator speaks) ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’”
36And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?”
37The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.”
Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW UP
After acting it out, all sit down and recreate several of the scenes in freeze frame one at a time with those actors going back into position. Look at the scene, listen to the words that were spoken again and ask children for suggestions oftoday’s contexts where similar words and actions may happen.DISCUSS what we could do to be a good neighbour to children at risk in these situations?PRAY together a short prayer- after each scenario or at the end of the discussion.
Scene 1: Robbers = bullying scenario at school. Where a child is often alone and gets picked on by others who think they are bigger and stronger.
DISCUSS: How could we care?
PRAYER: Dear God, we pray for children who are alone or bullied at school. Help us to be friends to those who are on their own and to show good ways to play and be friends. Help our schools to be safe places for everyone.
Scene 2: Priest and Levite = too busy or not caring enough to get involved. What happens when we see or read news items about children in poverty, family violence in NZ?
DISCUSS: How could we care? (Some discussion and move on to Scene 3 for more answers)
Scene 3:Samaritan= offered practical help. Sometimes we can do this too when we hear or see children @risk in NZ with not enough food, no shoes or enough warm clothes – donate food or clothing, offer friendship, listen.
DISCUSS: Can we care in some of these ways? Does the church already do some of these things? Can our group/families do something more? (1x a year or more often)
PRAYER: Dear God, we pray for children in NZ who don’t have all the good things we take for granted. We ask that you bless those who are hungry, while we have plenty to eat; for those who live in cold houses when we can just put on a heater or snuggle down into a warm bed; for those who don’t have shoes or enough clothing when we have a choice of what to wear every day. Help us to do all we can to help them.
Scene4: Samaritan asked the innkeeper (who had different skills) to help too.
We can’t do everything but we can do something and work with others who help too.DISCUSS: Who do we know who helps?
PRAYER: Dear God, we thank you for Presbyterian Support and other helping groups who do LOTS to help needy children and their families in NZ. Thank you for thefood banks, buddy programmes, Guardian Angels, Family Works counsellors and Social Workers in Schools. Help us to keep on praying and to do all we can to bring hope for many children and families in NZ.
Show PPT again, teach chorus of ‘Hey Neighbour, Hey Stranger,’ so children can sing along, light a candle and pray. (If you didn’t pray after each of the scenarios)
Activity/craft ideas
Children could make cards to go out with food parcels when they are delivered
Here is a gathering of links to LOTS more ideas that relate to this story
Take home activity:
Send home the Prayer Card (download from the link on the Kids Friendly Website) with the children. There are instructions for each day of the week. Show them the square cut outs they may paste onto each day after they’ve prayed. It doesn’t matter if they do them in order, or if they do two one day and none the next. The emphasis is on encouraging children and their families to pray together and think about ways to love God’s people. If there is time, read the poem on the back together.