WORLD VISION Gift Catalogue

WORLD VISIONGift CatalogueCanada’s most meaningful gifts

Sunday School Lesson plans

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Note to Pastors and Sunday School Teachers

Dear Pastor or Sunday School leader,

These interactive Bible lessons were designed to help children between 5 and 8 years old understand God’s heart for people in poverty. The lessons can be used individually but work best as a three-week series. They are suitable for any time of the year.

Each lesson includes: • a Bible story • a memory verse• a story about a child in poverty in another country • activities and object lessons that get kids thinking about poverty, generosity,

and how they can help others

We hope that along with the World Vision Gift Catalogue Group fundraiser, these lessons will get kids motivated about sharing what they have as an expression of thankfulness and love to God for all He has given them.

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Lesson 1: God Multiplies Our Generous Gifts

Purpose of the Lesson

To encourage kids to be generous toward people who are poor because they know it pleases God.

Materials

• blank paper• pencil crayons or crayons• World Vision Gift Catalogue • A Bible

Optional Materials

• 5 dinner rolls or bagels• knife to cut the bread• basket to distribute the bread

Preparation

• Read the lesson over. Make any adjustments to suit your group. • Read John 6:1-13 so you are familiar with it.• Write the memory verse (Proverbs 22:9) on a large piece of paper, on a black board, or on an

overhead so that the kids can see it when you say it.• Photocopy or write the memory verse on the paper that the children will be drawing on.

Preparation in Prayer

Kids are often naturally generous. Pray that they will live generously now and in the future. Ask God to lay a foundation of trust in Him that will lead to a life-long attitude of open-heartedness toward people who are poor.

Introduction (5 min.)

Put your hand up if you have visited a farm.

1. What kind of animals did you see on the farm? (Let a few kids talk about types of animals).2. Who can make the sound of a sheep? (everyone try)3. How about a cow? (everyone try) 4. Who can make the sound of a rooster? (Let one child try.)

Good work. Now I need everyone to be quiet as a mouse sitting in a barn while I tell you the rest of the story.

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Story (8 to 10 min.)

Today, I’m going to tell you about a small village called Roxas, in a place called the Philippines. Forty-three families in Roxas received a wonderful gift thanks to generous people from Canada

Armando and Placeda Mesias were one of those families. With six children to take care of with what little they had, three of the children were malnourished and underweight. They did not have enough money or food to keep all their children healthy. Imagine if your parents didn’t have enough money to buy food for you. How do you think you would feel? (Let the children answer)

One day, World Vision came to the Mesias family to give them 20 hens and roosters. Does anyone know what a hen is? (Let children answer: A girl chicken). And can anyone tell me what a rooster is? (Let children answer: A boy chicken).

World Vision was able to give this gift of hens and roosters because of Canadians who wanted to share God’s love. They made a donation from the World Vision Gift Catalogue so that people like the Mesias family and other families in Roxas could be blessed with God’s love.

These chickens were a blessing for the Mesias family. With these chickens, Armando and Placeda were able to provide food for their children. The chickens provided the Mesias family with meat and eggs for the children to eat. They can also sell the chickens and eggs for money to buy other things that their children can use like books and pencils for school. Now their children are healthy again thanks to God’s love.

But that’s not where the story ends. What happens when you have a hen and a rooster? Yes, you get baby chicks. Mother chickens can lay up to 150 eggs a year, which can hatch into little tiny baby chicks.

The Mesias family raised more chickens. Their chickens had 20 little chicks. The Mesias family agreed to give some of them back to World Vision. These chickens will be given to other poor families near the village of Roxas so that they too will have extra food for their families.

Many of the families of Roxas gave more than 200 chickens back to World Vision. World Vision has since given those chickens to families in need to help their children with the food they need in order to grow big and strong. And then they can give chickens back so that even more families will be blessed with God’s love.

Placeda says, “ I am happy to give back (the chickens) because (they) helped me and I want to share it with others.”

Let’s do an activity that will help us understand how the gift of hens and roosters is multiplied.

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Object Lesson (5 min.)

Can I have 2 volunteers come up to the front? I need one boy and one girl.

Okay let’s pretend you are the father chicken and you are the mother chicken. Every year the mother and father chicken can have a lot of babies. Let’s say 2 for now.

I need two more volunteers. You two can stand up where you are.

And the next year they have two more babies. I need two more volunteers. You stand up where you are.

And the next year they have two more babies. Two more people can stand up.

And then their babies start having babies. Okay now all of you can stand up.

And before you know it there are a whole lot of chickens supplying a whole lot of eggs and meat. And it all started from one mother chicken and one father chicken. You can see how the gift of hens and roosters can be multiplied.

Everyone can sit down now.

Bible Story (5 min.)

I have another story to tell you. It’s from the Bible in the book of John. (Read John 6: 1-13)

Bible Story Discussion (10 min.)

1. How many people followed Jesus out on the hill? (5,000 men plus women and children, so probably at least 10,000 people)

2. I want everyone to stand up for a minute. Look around at this group. There are about 20 kids here this morning (insert your actual number of kids). There were more than 250 times as many people there that day. That’s more than all the people in your school and more than all the people in our church.

3. How many buns and fish were there? (five loaves and two fish)

(Optional Object Lesson)I have five dinner rolls here. I am going to cut them up so you can each have a piece. (Keep cutting the buns as you ask more questions. Put the pieces in a basket. Hand the basket around the class and have each child take a piece.)

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4. Do you think that would be enough to feed this whole class?

5. Who did the loaves and the fish belong to? (That’s right a boy. It was his lunch).

6. What would you do if you were at school and everyone was hungry but you were the only one with a lunch?

Well this boy decided to trust Jesus and give his lunch away so more people could have something to eat. He was being generous.

7. What did Jesus do with the boy’s lunch? (He did a miracle and multiplied the lunch)

8. How many people were able to eat? (Everyone. So about 10,000 people.)

9. Did everyone just get a crumb to eat? (No everyone had more than enough. You know this because there were 12 baskets of leftovers. That means people stuffed themselves until they couldn’t eat anymore and there were leftovers.)

You may be wondering how you can help people who are poor. You may think that “I’m just a kid. What can I do?” But God doesn’t ask us to do it all. He asks us to give what we can and then He does the rest.

The Canadians who gave hens and roosters were generous just like the boy in this Bible story. They gave money so that families in the Philippines could receive chickens. And God multiplied the chickens through the ordinary miracle of birth. When we’re generous God can multiply what we give and supply for other people. When we give we get to join God in His work and He blesses us

Memory Verse (4 min.)

Our memory verse tells us:

“The LORD blesses everyone who freely gives food to the poor.” Proverbs 22:9 CEV (You can point to the words at the front as you say them.) Have the kids repeat the verse with you.

Offering (2 min.)

This month all of you will get a chance to be generous and to help other kids and their families like the Mesias family. We are going to be collecting money to buy ________ for a family in _______from a very special catalogue. (Fill in the details of what gift you are raising money for.) It’s called the World Vision Gift Catalogue and inside, there are lots of gifts we can buy that help many children,

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families and their communities be able to look after themselves. (Use poster to show how your group’s gift will be used and explain the importance of the item. Refer to the description in the catalogue).

So please remember to bring your money in and put it ________________. (Give the specific details of your offering project.)

Prayer (2 min.)

I’m going to close in prayer before we start our craft activity.

Suggested Prayer: Father, thank you that we can trust you to provide for our needs. And thank you that because we trust you, we can give generously to people who are poor. Please multiply our gifts by your power.

Craft Activity (10 - 20 min.)

Now you will have a chance to draw a picture of one of the things you heard about in our stories. You could draw Armando and Placeda with their children. Or you could draw the hens and roosters they received. Maybe you would like to draw the boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. Or you could draw Jesus and the disciples giving out the bread and fish.

The memory verse will be on the back of your page.

Total approximate time: = 50 to 60 minutes

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Lesson 2: Sharing With People in Need


To encourage kids to share what they have with others.

Materials

• A box of crackers• A package of cookies or flavoured mini rice cakes • A box of Smarties or other peanut-free candy • Enough pennies and nickels for each child in the class • A Bible

Preparation

• Read the lesson over. Make any adjustments to suit your group. • Read Ruth 2:1-22 so you are familiar with it.• Write the memory verse (Luke 3:11) on a large piece of paper, on a black board, or on an overhead

so that the kids can see it when you say it.• Put crackers on a plate on a table. In front of the plate, place a piece of paper folded into a tent card

(v shape) with a penny taped onto it.• Put flavoured rice cakes or cookies on a plate on a table. In front of the plate, place a piece of paper

folded into a tent card (v shape) with a nickel taped onto it.• Place a box of Smarties or other candy on a table. In front of the box of candy, place a piece of

paper folded into a tent card (v shape) with a dime taped onto it.

Note: If you have a large group, you may need two plates of crackers and cookies and two boxes of candy on two separate tables so that the one table isn’t too crowded.

Preparation in Prayer

Sharing can be hard work. Pray that the kids begin to value others more highly than themselves. Ask God to help them be generous toward people in need as well as to friends and family.

Introduction (5 to 8 min.)

(Greet each child as he or she enters the classroom and give him or her a penny a nickel or a dime. Instruct the children to put the coins in their pockets for a special activity later. Have extra coins available in case a child loses the coin during the lesson. When all the children are seated, begin the lesson.)

1. What would you do if you had two donuts and your brother or sister didn’t have any? Would you share a whole one with him or her? Or would you give away half of one and keep the rest? Or would you eat both of them? (let some kids answer)

2. Can you tell me about a time that someone shared with you? (let someone tell a story) How did it make you feel when someone shared?

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3. Does anyone have a story about a time that you shared with someone? It doesn’t have to be food; maybe you gave someone a bicycle, or some clothes, or something else. (let a few kids share)

Today we are going to be talking about sharing what we have with others. In the book of Luke in the Bible it says “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.” (Luke 3:11 CEV)

I’m going to tell you a story about a family that received a gift from some generous people in Canada.

Story (5 min.)

Five years ago, 11-year-old Mariama’s father died. Her mother Assanatou was left to take care of the four of her seven children who still live with her. It has been hard for Assanatou to provide enough food for her family and to pay school fees for her children without help from a husband.

Just like in our story last week, Mariama’s family received a mother goat from people living in Canada. This goat and its babies have helped the family survive.

Mariama lives in a country in Africa called Senegal. A few years ago, there was not enough rain in Senegal to help the crops grow. The family grows nuts, as well as two grains called millet and maize. Normally they harvest the crops in the fall and then store enough food to last until the next year when they can harvest more food.

A couple years ago, there was not enough food stored to last until the next year. Assantou borrowed food and money from other people. This helped her family survive for awhile but then the others ran out of food and money to lend her. Assantou sold one of her baby goats. With the money, she bought rice to feed her family and paid for her kids’ school supplies. Mariama was sick at the time; the money from selling the goat also paid for the medicine she needed to get better.

Even though Mariama’s family didn’t have very much themselves, they shared what they had with others. Their mother goat kept having babies every year. Do you know what they did with one of the babies? They gave it to another needy family in their country. Mariama’s family had two goats—not two coats—and they shared one with someone who didn’t have any.

Story Discussion (5 min.)

1. Does anyone remember why Mariama’s family was poor? (because her father died) 2. What happened in Senegal that made it even harder for them to survive? (no rain) 3. What did Mariama’s mother, do to get enough money to buy rice and pay for school supplies? 4. Who gave Mariama’s family the mother goat?5. How can a goat help poor families in other countries? (provide meat to eat, milk to drink and sell,

baby goats can be sold also)6. What did Mariama’s family give to another family in need?

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God used the generous gift of people in Canada to provide for this family and they in turn shared what they had with others in need.

Object Lesson/Activity (10 min.)

Now it’s time to take out the coin I gave you. We’re going to do some shopping. Stand up if I gave you a penny. (Hold up a penny.) A penny is worth one cent. You can sit down for a minute.

Stand up if you have a nickel. (Hold up a nickel.) Who knows how much a nickel is worth? How many pennies does it take to equal 1 nickel? Can I get 5 people who have pennies to stand up? Great, now you can all sit down.

I gave one person a dime. Stand up if you have the dime. How much is a dime worth? So how many pennies would it take to make 1 dime? Can I have 10 people with pennies stand up? Okay now the 10 people with pennies sit down. How many nickels does it take to make a dime? Can I get two people with nickels to stand up? Okay now all of you can sit down.

Over here, I have a table with a plate of crackers. The crackers cost one penny. On this plate, I have cookies (or rice cakes) that cost 5 cents each. And over here I have a box of Smarties that costs 10 cents. Slowly, I would like you all to come up and shop. After you buy something, you can go back to your seat and eat it. (Use a line if you need to but let the kids interact in case any of them think of working together to buy a larger item that they can share.)

Object Lesson Discussion (5 min.)

1. How did you feel not being able to buy what you wanted? (have a few kids share) 2. Did anybody work together with other kids to buy something they wanted? (10 kids with a penny

could have bought the Smarties, or 2 kids with a nickel) 3. Did any of you with a nickel or dime buy something and share it with the people around you? Why

or why not?

In our world, some people can barely afford what they need and they definitely can’t buy what they want—just like the kids in our game who had pennies. Others can afford a little more—like the children with the nickels.. In our country, many of us are like ______ (name of child with the dime) who had the only dime, because we have everything we need and more. Since we have so much, let’s share generously with others

Next I’m going to tell you a story from the Bible about rich man named Boaz who shared generously with some poor women named Naomi and Ruth.

Bible Story (3 to 5 min.)

God Provides for Naomi and Ruth (Read Ruth 2:2-3;8-18 from a child-friendly Bible)

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Bible Story Discussion (4 min.)

1. Why were Naomi and Ruth poor? (because their husbands died) 2. Who helped them? (Boaz) 3. What did Boaz give Ruth? (grain, lunch, water) 4. Who did Ruth share with? (Naomi)

Boaz was a rich man. He didn’t have to share with Naomi and Ruth but he did. He was generous as he shared grain and water with them. He also protected them. It pleases God when we are kind to people who are poor.

Memory Verse (10 min.)

Our memory verse tells us how to be generous: “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.” Luke 3:11 CEV

We are going to do a scripture symphony to help us memorize this verse together. I am going to break you into 6 groups. Each group will have a phrase to memorize. At the end, just like a conductor, I will point to your group and you will say your phrase. Then the next group will say their phrase and together we will create the whole verse.

(Break your class into 6 groups. Give each of the groups a phrase of the verse to memorize. See the underlined phrases above.)

Group 1, your phrase is “If you have two coats.”Group 2, your phrase is “Give one to someone else.”Group 3, I want you to memorize “Who doesn’t have any.”Group 4, “If you have food.”Group 5, “Share it with someone else.”Group 6, you have the easiest bit telling us where this verse is found in the Bible, “Luke 3:11.”*Now when I point to your group, I want you to say your phrase. Group 1 (point to them and help them say the phrase). Group 2 (point to them and help them say the phrase). Group 3. Group 4. Group 5. And finally Group 6.

Let’s try it again. (Do it a few times until the group remembers their phrase and the whole “orchestra” sounds decent.)Does anyone think they can say the whole verse? (Let a few kids try).

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Offering (2 min.)

Remember that this month we will all get a chance to share what we have with people who are poor. We are collecting money to buy ________ for a family in _______from the World Vision Gift Catalogue. (Fill in the details of what gift you are raising money for.) This gift will help families like Mariama’s to provide for themselves and even to give to others. (Use poster to show how your group’s gift will be used and explain the importance of the item. Refer to the description in the catalogue).

If you remembered to bring your money put it ________________. (Give the specific details of your offering project.) Collect the offering.

Prayer (1 min.)

I’m going to close in prayer.

Thank you Lord for giving us so much. Help us to be generous with our friends, family members, and with people who are in need. Amen.


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Lesson 3


To help kids be thankful for clean water and for the other blessings God has given them. To foster generosity toward others out of this thankfulness.

Materials

• A Bible • A grape and a raisin

Preparation

• Read the lesson over. Make any adjustments to suit your group. • Read Exodus 17:1-6 so you are familiar with it.• Write the memory verse (Matthew 10:8b) on a large piece of paper, on a black board, or on an

overhead so that the kids can see it when you say it. Preparation in Prayer

Pray that the children will get a picture of God’s generosity toward them and that this will encourage them to give to others.

Introduction (5 to 8 min.)

Today we are going to be talking about the importance of water. Did you know that more than 70% of your body is made up of water? That means that if I was completely empty and you poured water into me, this much of my body would be full of water (point to midway up your chest to indicate 70%). That’s a lot of water!

God created our bodies to need water. When we get enough water, our bodies function well and we are healthy.

What happens if you don’t get enough water to drink? (let kids answer)Yes you get thirsty. Sometimes you get a headache if you don’t get enough water. You may also get sleepy and start to feel ill. When you’re really thirsty your skin gets all dry, it’s hard to go to the bathroom, and your body stops functioning.

Object Lesson

Did you know that a grape and a raisin are the same fruit? (Show them a grape and a raisin) What happens to the grape that makes it a raisin? (let kids guess)That’s right it dries out. Without water, you might start to look like a raisin.

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Lesson 3

Did you know that people can’t live without enough water? How long do you think a person could survive without any water? (let kids guess)People can go without food for a whole month but you would only survive one week without water.

God has blessed our country with lots of water. We get water from taps in our houses. But where does the water come from before it goes to your house? (let kids guess)

It comes from the ground or from a nearby river or lake (talk about the situation in your local community if you know it). Most water that is good to drink comes from underground.

In Canada, we have as much clean water as we need to stay healthy. Many people in other countries don’t have enough clean water. I’m going to tell you a story about a girl in a place called the Democratic Republic of Congo who got sick from drinking dirty water.

Story (4 min.)

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country in Southern Africa.16-year-old Chantal lives in a town called Likasi. She remembers getting sick from drinking dirty water. The water made her very tired and she threw up. Chantal’s parents and her seven brothers and sisters have all gotten sick from the water.

There is a river near their home where they can get water. Unfortunately, people take baths, wash their clothes, and wash their dishes in the river. This pollutes the water making it unsafe to drink.

Can you imagine drinking the water from your bathtub after you have taken a bath? But if you have no water, except dirty water, you still need to drink it to survive.

There were also many old wells in Chantal’s community. A dusty, metal cover protected the opening of one of the old wells. Villagers used pieces of rope and cloth tied together to lower a pail into the well to get water. The problem was that the rope sat on the ground when it was not being used. On rainy days, when the pail was lowered into the well, chunks of mud would fall from the rope and make the water dirty. Germs got into the water and made the villagers sick.

Some people from Canada heard about the problem and donated money so that new wells could be dug. The new wells drew water from deeper underground where it is clean and safe to drink.

Chantal goes to one of these new wells 7 times a day. She carries the water home in a pail. Her family uses the water for drinking, cooking, washing themselves, and washing their clothes. She doesn’t mind the hard work of carrying the water because she’s so happy the clean water won’t make her family sick when they use it. Everyone in Likasi now has safe, clean water.

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Lesson 3

Story Discussion (4 min.)

1. What made Chantal sick? (drinking dirty water) 2. How did the water in the river get dirty? (people taking baths, washing dishes and clothes in the

water)3. How did the water in the old well get dirty? (from mud falling off the dirty rope) 4. Who donated the money for new wells? (Canadians)5. How did the new wells help the community? (provided clean water from deeper underground) 6. What do the people of Likasi use the clean water for? (drinking, cooking, cleaning, etc)

God provided clean water for Chantal and her community through the gift from people in Canada who wanted to help.

Object Lesson/Activity (8 to 10 min.)

(Let the kids walk around the room for this exercise). We’re going to pretend we live in a desert. I want you to walk around the room without talking to anyone else or touching anyone else. Pretend it’s really hot in the desert. Show me with your body that it’s hot. Think about what you would be doing to cool yourself down, how fast you would be walking. Now you are getting thirsty. How does your mouth feel when you are thirsty? Is your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth? Are you starting to get a headache? Show me with your body that you are thirsty.

You have a special water detector in your pocket. It starts to beep. Take it out of your pocket. You can make the beeping noise if you want to. Your detector leads you to some water in a dirty old shoe. You want to drink it but you are afraid it will make you sick. You take a small sip because you are so thirsty. Then you spit it out.

Your water detector starts going off again. The closer you hold the water detector to the ground, the louder the beeping gets. You realize that if you are going to survive you are going to have to dig a well. Without talking, you can ask a friend to help you dig a well. Two or three of you can dig a well together. Start digging the sand. Are you getting closer to the water? Is your water detector beeping louder? Keep digging.

Now you finally found water. Lucky for you, there is a bucket in the desert. Lower the bucket down into your well just like Chantal had to do in our story. Don’t forget to attach a rope to the bucket. You all dug such deep wells, you are going to need a rope. Now pull the bucket back up. Remember water is heavy. Show me with your body how heavy that bucket is. Take turns pulling the bucket up. Remember not to let go of the rope when you are passing it to your friend.

Okay now the bucket is finally at the top of the well and you can all take a drink. You’re really thirsty so remember to drink a lot—just save some for your friends.

How do you feel now? Is your headache gone? Do you have more energy? Show me with your body that you are feeling better after drinking the water.

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Lesson 3

(Feel free to ad lib in this exercise. Walk around the room and comment on interesting things that groups are doing as they dig their wells.)

You all did a great job. Now I want you to sit down and we are going to hear a story about some people in the Bible who were very thirsty in the desert.

Optional Snack Time (10 min.)

After all your hard work in that desert we are going to have some water and a snack. (Serve the children water, grapes and raisins)

Bible Story (5 min.)

God’s people, the Israelites, had been living in Egypt. With God’s help, Moses led them out of Egypt into the desert where they travelled around for 40 years. As you know, there’s not much water in the desert so the people started to get thirsty. There were thousands of Israelites travelling together plus they had their animals with them. They had no idea where they could get enough water for everybody.

This is what the Bible tells us in Exodus Chapter 17.(Read Exodus 17:1-6)

Bible Discussion (3 min.)

1. Why were the people so upset with Moses? (because they were thirsty and afraid) 2. Who did Moses ask for help? (God) 3. How did God provide water for the Israelites? (from a rock when Moses struck it)

God loved Moses and the Israelites so he provided water for them in the desert. He did a miracle to provide the water for the people. But many times God also provides through people, people like the generous Canadians who donated money so that Chantal, her family, and her community could get clean water from new wells.

Memory Verse (5 to 8 min.)

When it comes to water, our country is very, very rich. We are blessed to have so much clean water to keep us healthy. The clean water we have is a gift from God.

In the Bible it says “Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8b

That is our memory verse for today. To help us remember the verse we are going to do some actions.

When you say, “freely you have received,” put your hands up in the air and wiggle your fingers as you

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Lesson 3

bring your arms down as if you are making rain. This will help us remember how generous God has been with us when it comes to water and the many other things he has given us.

When you say, “freely give,” put your hands together at your chest and then move them away from your body and spread them out as if you are giving something to someone.

Let’s try it together.

“Freely you have received…” (with rain action)“Freely give.” (with giving action)

Who thinks they can do it? (let a few kids demonstrate it.)

Offering (2 min.)

This is the last week that we are collecting money to help ________ in __________. (fill in the details of your offering project). If you have money with you to donate, please put it ______.

Thank you all so much for trusting God and being generous as you have given toward this project. It is exciting to think that God is using us to provide for people who are are in need. Our project is over, but you can continue to give to people who are poor for your whole life. Talk to your parents about it and tell them you want to find more ways to give and to help.

Closing Prayer (1 min.)

We thank you God for the privilege you have given all of us to live in a country like Canada. Thank you for the many blessings you have so freely given us—including clean water. Help us to freely give to others. Amen


Documents

WORLD VISION Gift Catalogue