christian lesson plans for all ages - children's defense · pdf fileluke 8:40-56.) if...

Christian Resources for the Children’s Sabbath

The following Christian Lesson Plans are designed for a one-hour class. They may be used in avariety of ways:

• Use the lesson plans instead of your regular curriculum on the Children’s Sabbath. • Incorporate parts of the lessons into your regular curriculum. • Use the lessons during a special Children’s Sabbath educational session on the Children’s Sabbath weekend. • Use the lesson plans on a weekend or weeknight preceding the Children’s Sabbath.

All of the lesson plans use the same biblical story, told in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26. (Some of the lesson plans also exploreLuke 8:40-56.) If your church has a multi-age Sunday school class, you can combine elements of several of the lesson plans tomeet the needs of your students.

Several of the lesson plans have activities that end with products that can be shared with the whole congregation, such as posters,videotapes, dioramas, and songs. Decide in advance how and when these results might be shared with the church. Will you pres-ent them after the education hour or after worship on the day of your Children’s Sabbath? Will you extend the focus on childrenin need and share the created end products the following week? Or you may want to use these lessons the week before theChildren’s Sabbath so that the results can be incorporated into the Children’s Sabbath celebration.

Please note: Whenever you raise problems facing children and families, especially a problem as common as children withouthealth care coverage, there is the likelihood that some of your own students or adult participants are experiencing these problemsthemselves. This calls for two kinds of preparation. First, you want to be sensitive so that those who are experiencing these chal-lenges don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed. Second, you need to be prepared to respond to disclosures that may be prompted bythe discussion. Know in advance how you might respond and what resources you would turn to, such as the pastor or commu-nity service agencies. Families everywhere can call 877-KIDS-NOW to find out if they are eligible for free or low-cost health carecoverage.

Christian Lesson Plans for All Ages


Scriptural Passage: Mark 2:1-12

Focus: God wants us to be healthy in our bodies and ourhearts. We can help children who are hurt or sick, just as thefriends helped their sick friend in the Bible story.

Lesson Objectives:Students will:• Hear a Bible story about friends helping a friend who

was hurt.• Learn that Jesus loves us and wants us to be healthy and

wants us to help each other.• Identify ways that they can be helping friends to sick or

hurt children.• Engage in an active response to be a “helping friend” to

another child.

Materials

• Scissors for early arrivers• Dolls and play doctor kit• Thick black permanent marker• Cut-out magazine pictures of things children need to

be healthy, such as fruits and vegetables, glass of water,toothbrush, doctor, nurse, parent showing love to achild, child getting exercise, soap/handwashing, sleep,bike helmets, car seats or a child wearing a seat belt, ahome, warm winter clothing. Parenting magazines andthe Internet are good sources for these pictures.

• Extra magazine pages with the same kinds of images asdescribed above.

• Mural paper or poster board• Glue • Healthy snack foods• Items for activity packets to distribute at a children’s

health clinic or hospital, such as small packs of crayons,blank paper, stickers, one or two children’s adhesivebandages, and computer printouts of coloring pages,mazes, and other activities (Web sites such aspbskids.org are good sources). Gallon size self-sealing

plastic bags to hold items for activity packets.Depending on classroom budget, you may want toinclude a small toy (too big to fit into a toilet papertube to avoid choking hazard), book, or card game ineach packet, too.

• Construction paper for get-well cards, plus stickers,glitter, or other decorations

Teacher Preparation

• Review lesson plan and gather needed materials.• Use a thick black marker to draw boxes around the

images on the extra magazine pages for early arrivers tocut along.

• Contact a health clinic or pediatric wing of the hospi-tal or a denominational service agency to arrange dona-tion of activity packets.

Overview• Activity for Early Arrivers • Opening and Introduction to the Message (5 minutes) • Activity: Collage (10 minutes) • Conversation and Bible Story (20 minutes) • Snack (10 minutes) • Responding to the Message (14 minutes) • Closing (1 minute)

Activity for Early Arrivers

Distribute the extra magazine pages with pictures of healthythings around which you have drawn boxes using a thick, darkmarker. Ask the children to cut on the dark lines to clip outthe pictures, using child-safe scissors. The children can addthese cut-outs to the collage in the later activity. (Since theseare extras, it is okay if the children slice through the picturesby mistake. The extra cutting practice and chance to talkabout the pictures is what is most important.)

You can also invite the children to play in a “hospital” playarea with dolls and play doctor kits.

Preschool Lesson Plan: Helping Friends(Ages 3-5)


Opening and Introduction to the Message

Tell the children today is a special day in the church calledChildren’s Sabbath. It is a day to remember how much Godloves all children and how God wants us to love and take careof all children, especially the children who are sick or hurt andwho need check-ups when they are healthy.

Say, “Let’s see if we can name some of the things that keepchildren healthy. When I hold up a picture, if you knowwhat it is, raise your hand.”

One at a time, hold up cut-out magazine pictures of the thingsthat children need to be healthy. (See Materials for list of sug-gested images.) As the children name the items you and theycan talk a bit about how each contributes to keeping childrenhealthy.

Activity: Collage

Involve the children in gluing the cut-out pictures discussed inthe opening onto a large sheet of poster board or mural paper.Across the top write: What All Children Need to Be Healthy!

Conversation

Say: “Some children don’t have all of the things that theyneed to stay healthy. Some children don’t have enoughhealthy food, or they can’t go to the doctor when they needto because their families don’t have enough money to pay forthe doctor. Today our church is learning more about chil-dren who need all of our help so they can see a doctor andbe healthy. We will all work together to make things betterfor these children because we believe that God loves everychild and God wants us to help take care of each other.”

Bible Story:

Say: “There is a story in the Bible about four friends whowanted to help their hurt friend get better.” Tell the storyfound in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-40, showing illustrationsfrom a picture Bible if possible.

Today I want to tell you an amazing story about somefriends in the Bible. There were four friends who werereally worried because their friend was hurt. His legs did-n’t move and he couldn’t walk by himself. Then they heardsome really good news: Jesus was nearby, and they knewthat he was good at making people better—fixing theirbodies and their hearts and their minds. So these friends

decided that they would do whatever they had to to gettheir friend help.

They put their friend on a stretcher—some sort of flatboard or cloth on which they could carry him. And theycarried him all the way to the house where Jesus wasinside. The house back in Bible times probably didn’t havean upstairs like some houses now. And it had a flat roofthat was made out of mud and sticks and straw.

When they got to the house where Jesus was, it was socrowded with other people who wanted to get to Jesusthat the friends couldn’t get their hurt friend in the doorto Jesus.

But the friends didn’t give up! They cared so much thatthey decided to climb up on the roof, pull their hurtfriend up with them, dig a hole through the roof of thehouse, and lower their friend down to Jesus! Can youimagine that!! I wonder if they were scared when theyclimbed up to the roof? I wonder how their friend feltbeing pulled up there. I wonder if people around themyelled at them to get down, or if they helped them. I wonder.

It must have been a hard job. Digging through that roofmade out of mud and sticks and straw must have hurttheir hands. I bet it was hot up there in the sun, too.Finally they made a hole big enough and lowered theirfriend down to Jesus.

When Jesus saw the faith of the friends—how much theycared about their friend, how much they were determinedto bring him to Jesus so he could be better, Jesus madetheir friend well again in his heart and in his body.

Say: “Those friends really wanted to help their friend who washurt. They didn’t give up. They really wanted to get him toJesus because they knew Jesus could make him better.”

This may be a good time to point out that although thegrown-up friends climbed up on the roof to help their hurtfriend in the Bible story, it is never ever safe for children toclimb up on the roof. This is something the children shouldnever try! But there are good ways that they can be helpingfriends.


Point out in the story that the friends helped, but they didn’thave to get their friend better all by themselves. They were ableto get their friend to a grown-up, to Jesus, who could help himget better.

Say: “It is the same with us. We can help our friends, butwe don’t have to do it all by ourselves. Sometimes the bestthing we can do is to take a child who is sick or hurt to agrown-up who can help them get all better—like a parentor a doctor or a teacher. And we can always help by pray-ing that Jesus will be close to our hurting friends.”

Ask: “What are some things you can do to help a friend ora brother or sister who is sick or hurt?”

If the children need more prompting, ask questions like thefollowing:

“What can you do to help a friend who has fallen downand scraped her knee?

What can you do to help a friend who is sick and has tostay in bed?

What can you do to help a friend who has a doctorappointment and is scared about going?

What can you do to help a friend who doesn’t want to sitin her car seat?

What can you do to help a younger sister or brother whospits out her medicine instead of swallowing it?

What can you do to help a friend who only eats her dessertand doesn’t eat the healthy food at lunch time?”

Tell the children that after snack time, they will have a chance tomake something for children who are sick that will help them.

Snack

Have children wash hands or use hand wipes. Distribute ahealthy snack. Remind the children that washing their handsand eating good food like this are two ways they can keep theirbodies healthy.

Responding to the Message

Have the children recall how crummy it feels to be sick orhurt, and how good it feels when someone does somethingnice to help them feel better. Now they can be helping friendslike the friends in the Bible story.

Involve the children in assembling activity packets. (SeeMaterials for suggested items to include.) Help them put oneof each kind of item in the self-sealing plastic bag. The activitypackets could be distributed at a community health clinic,hospital, or if the children have classmates or friends who aresick, to them. As the children assemble the packets, talk withthem about how they think children will feel when theyreceive them.

If time allows, the children can decorate cards made out ofconstruction paper on which you write a simple, caring messageand include them in the packets, too. Or, they could drama-tize how they could help hurting friends.

Closing

Say a closing prayer: “Dear God, Thank you for loving us.Thank you for sending Jesus to show us how we shouldcare for each other. Help us to be good friends who takecare of our friends and help them when they are sick orhurt. Amen.”



Focus: God wants us to be whole and healthy in our bodiesand our hearts. We can help children who are hurt or sick, justas the friends helped their sick friend in the Bible story.

Lesson Objectives:Students will:• Reflect on a biblical passage and consider its application

today.• Learn about children in need, especially children with-

out health care coverage. • Consider the ways that the church and its members can

help children. • Engage in an active response to express care for children

in need.

Materials

• Mural paper, glue, tape• 8 1⁄2 x 11 inch cardboard • Paper, markers and crayons• Pencils• Envelopes• Items for activity packets to distribute at a children’s

health clinic or hospital, such as small packs of crayons,blank paper, stickers, one or two children’s adhesivebandages, and computer printouts of coloring pages,mazes, and other activities. (Web sites like pbskids.org aregood sources.) Gallon size self-sealing plastic bags to holditems for activity packets. Depending on classroom budg-et, you may want to include a small toy (too big to fitinto a toilet paper tube to avoid choking hazard), book, orcard game in each packet, too.

Teacher Preparation

• Review the lesson plan and gather the needed materials• Find the names and addresses for your community’s U.S.

Senators and Representative by logging on to www.cdfactioncouncil.org

• Contact a community health clinic, hospital, or Medicaidoffice and arrange to donate the activity packets.

Overview• Activity for Early Arrivers• Opening (1 minute)• Introduction to the Message (15 minutes)• Bible Story (10 minutes)• Song: Jesus Loves Me (8 minutes)• Exploring the Message (10 minutes)• Responding to the Message (15 minutes)• Closing (1 minute)


Early arrivers can use markers to write the heading, “We AreThankful for Care When We Are Sick,” on the mural paper.They can trace around an 8 1⁄2 x 11 inch rectangle of cardboardand then make decorative picture “frames” along the length ofthe mural paper. They should draw some frames that arelonger horizontally and some that are longer vertically. (Thestudents will later tape or glue their drawings into these“frames” on the mural paper.)

Opening

Tell the children that today is Children’s Sabbath, part of aweekend to thank God for children and to help children andfamilies who are having a hard time. We are especially think-ing about how to help children who are sick or hurt and can’tsee a doctor because their families don’t have the money to payfor it and the place where the parents work won’t pay forhealth insurance, which could help them see the doctor with-out having to pay very much money.

Introduction to the Message: Draw and Share

Invite the children to draw a picture of a time when they weresick or hurt. Have them include a drawing of the person orpersons who helped them feel better. This could include par-ents, siblings, health care providers, and others.

Invite the children to share their pictures with the group, andtell a little bit about when they were sick. Ask them to say whohelped them feel better and what it was that they did.

Early Elementary Lesson Plan: Helping Friends(Grades 1-2)


When the children are done sharing their drawings, glue ortape them onto a sheet of mural paper with the heading “WeAre Thankful for Care When We Are Sick”

Bible Story

Tell the students that they are going to hear a story about somefriends who helped get their hurt friend to Jesus so he couldbe made all better in his body and his spirit (heart).

Today I want to tell you an amazing story about somefriends in the Bible. There were four friends who werereally worried because their friend was hurt. His legs did-n’t move and he couldn’t walk by himself. Then they heardsome really good news: Jesus was nearby, and they knewthat he was good at making people better—fixing theirbodies and their hearts and their minds. So these friendsdecided that they would do whatever they had to to gettheir friend help.

They put their friend on a stretcher—some sort of flatboard or cloth that they could carry him on. But whenthey got to the house where Jesus was, it was so crowdedwith other people who wanted to get to Jesus that thefriends couldn’t get their hurt friend in the door to Jesus.

But the friends didn’t give up! They cared so much andthey were so determined, that they decided to climb upon the roof, pull their hurt friend up with them, dig a holethrough the roof of the house, and lower their frienddown to Jesus! Can you imagine that!!

It must have been a hard job—digging through mud andsticks and straw that the roof was made out of. It musthave hurt their hands. I bet it was hot up there in the sun,too. Finally they made a hole big enough, and loweredtheir friend down to Jesus.

When Jesus saw the faith of the friends—how much theycared about their friend, how much they were determinedto bring him to Jesus so he could be better, Jesus madetheir friend well again in his heart and in his body.

Invite the children to wonder with you about the story. Allowplenty of time for them to share their thoughts.

I wonder how the friends felt when they got to the house andsaw there was no room to get in the door? I wonder how theirhurt friend felt? Do you think he worried that his friendswould give up?

I wonder if the four friends were scared when they climbed upto the roof? What do you think? (This might be a good timeto reinforce for the children that it is never safe for a child toclimb up on a roof! That is, don’t try this at home!) I wonderhow their friend felt being pulled up there? I wonder if peoplearound them yelled at them to get down, or if they helpedthem. How do you think the people around them felt?

As the wondering concludes, you can point out that the storyreminds us that God wants people to be whole and healthy intheir bodies, minds, and hearts and that Jesus was proud of thefriends for helping someone who was hurt. God wants each ofus to be well and to be good helping friends, too.

Song: Jesus Loves Me

Together sing Jesus Loves Me. If you wish, you can have thechildren play instruments like maracas to accompany the song.Or, you can teach the simple sign language for “Yes, Jesus lovesme” and have them do the signs whenever those words aresung. The signs are:

Yes: Make a fist with your thumb crossing over the folded fin-gers. Nod the fist up and down like a head nodding yes. Jesus: Using the middle finger on your right hand, touch themiddle of your left palm. Then use the middle finger of yourleft hand to touch the middle of your right palm. (The originof the sign is marking where the nail wounds were in Jesus’hands.)Loves: Cross your arms over your chest with elbows pointingdown and hands up towards your shoulders (almost like hug-ging yourself.)Me: Use your right index finger to point to your chest.

Exploring the Message: Children in Need Today

Tell the class that today there are children who can’t see a doc-tor when they need to because they don’t have health insurance,something that helps parents afford doctor visits so it won’tcost too much money. (Sometimes a parent’s job pays forhealth insurance but sometimes it doesn’t, and then the insurancecan be too expensive for the parent to pay for on his/her own.)

Ask them to complete the sentences. (Depending on time, youcan just use some of these.)

• If I had to go to school with an earache that hurt but Ididn’t have the medicine to make it better, I wouldfeel….


• If I was having a hard time seeing the chalk board atschool and needed glasses so I could see my schoolwork,but I couldn’t go to the eye doctor to get tested and thenget the glasses, I would feel….

• If I was at home and very sick, but I couldn’t go to thedoctor to find out what was wrong and get a prescriptionfor medicine, I would feel….

• If I had to go to the emergency room of a hospital andwait a long time for the doctor to see me, because my par-ents couldn’t pay for a regular doctor visit before I got sosick, I would feel…

• If I had to go to the doctor because I needed stitches fora cut on my chin, and my parents had to pay a lot ofmoney so there wasn’t any money left for my birthdayparty that month, I would feel…

• If I wasn’t allowed to play on a sports team because myparents are worried I might get hurt and they wouldn’thave the money to take me to the doctor, I would feel….

Responding to the Message: Showing We Care

Tell the students that there are two ways they can show theycare about children who face these kinds of problems: askingleaders who make laws to work to make things fair for all childrenand doing something themselves to help children right away.

First, together they will write a letter to a leader who helpsmake laws about whether all children have health insurance ornot. They can tell the leader how they feel about all childrennot being able to see a doctor when they need to and whatthey think would be fair.

On a sheet of flip chart paper, engage the class in writing a let-ter to one of your Senators. One way to organize the letter is:

1) Introduce yourselves. (For example, “We are the firstgrade Sunday School class at Mytown Congregation inMytown.)

2) Share your concern for children: Tell how you feel aboutchildren who can’t see a doctor when they need to.

3) Say what you think is best for all children, what youthink all children need.

4) Encourage the leader to do what she or he can to helpgive all children what you think they need.

5) Thank the leader and ask him or her to write back tellingyou what they will do.

6) Sign your names and include an address for a reply.

Second, they can prepare activity packets that will cheer upchildren who often have to wait for a long time in an emer-gency room because they couldn’t go to a regular doctor’soffice, or at a community health clinic, or even in theMedicaid office. (If the children have friends or classmateswho are sick right now, they could give a packet to them.)Involve the children in placing the items (see suggested itemsin the Materials list) in self-sealing plastic bags. If time per-mits, the children can decorate cards made out of constructionpaper to include in the packets. Assist them as needed to writesimple, caring messages.

Closing

Join the children for a closing prayer and a blessing of theactivity bags. “Dear God, thank you for showing us thatyou want people to be healthy in their minds, hearts, andbodies and that you want us to be caring friends. Blessthese activity packets and help them to show your love andour care to children who are hurt and sick. In the name ofJesus who shows us your love, Amen.”



Focus: God wants us to be whole and healthy in our bodies,minds, and souls. We can help children who are hurt or sick,just as the friends helped their sick friend in the Bible story.

Lesson Objectives: Students will:• Learn about the Children’s Sabbath.• Reflect on a biblical passage.• Learn more about children in need today.• Explore the biblical passage’s meaning and present day

application through a creative response.

Materials

• Paper• Markers or crayons• 2 cardboard boxes (each side about 2 feet x 2 feet) • String• Magazines (parenting magazines would be especially

good)• Scissors• Glue• Optional: brown clay and straw (to decorate the roofs

of the houses) • Materials for alternative activity: thin cardboard rectangle

(like the ones with dry cleaned shirts), one per student;clear adhesive paper; self-sealing plastic bags, one perstudent

Teacher Preparation

• Read through the lesson plan and gather the neededmaterials.

• Cut the front off of each cardboard box.• Arrange to display the dioramas in a church location

where they can be seen by others.

Overview• Activity for Early Arrivers• Opening and Introduction to the Message

(15 minutes)• Exploring the Message (10 minutes)• Responding to the Message: Dioramas (25 minutes)• Closing (5 minutes)


Have the early arrivers look through the magazines for picturesof things that children need to be healthy. They don’t need tocut around the images (which will be done later in the lesson);they can just clip out the entire page.


Invite the children to join you in a circle and remind them thattoday is the Children’s Sabbath, a special day celebrated bychurches, synagogues, and other places of worship to celebratehow much God loves children and to think about how Godwants us to help children and families who are having an espe-cially hard time—especially those who can’t see a doctor whenthey need to because they don’t have health insurance, whichwould make it not cost very much each time they needed togo to the doctor. Some parents’ jobs pay for health insurance,but some jobs don’t and then it can be too expensive for parentsto pay for by themselves.

Tell them that they are going to hear a story about how fourfriends worked together to bring their hurt friend to Jesus sohe could be healed.

Tell the story from Mark 2:1-12. If possible, show illustrationsfrom a children’s picture Bible.

Today I want to tell you an amazing story about somefriends in the Bible. There were four friends who werereally worried because their friend was hurt. He was para-lyzed; his legs didn’t move and he couldn’t walk by him-self. Then they heard some really good news: Jesus wasnearby, and they knew that he was good at making peoplebetter—healing their bodies and their hearts and their

Older Elementary Lesson Plan: Helping Friends(Grades 3-5)


minds. So these friends decided that they would dowhatever they had to to get their friend help.

They put their friend on a stretcher—some sort of flatboard or cloth that they could carry him on. But whenthey got to the house where Jesus was, it was so crowdedwith other people who wanted to get to Jesus that thefriends couldn’t get their hurt friend in the door to Jesus.

But the friends didn’t give up! They cared so much, andthey were so determined, that they decided to climb upon the roof, pull their hurt friend up with them, dig a holethrough the roof of the house, and lower their frienddown to Jesus! Can you imagine that!!

It must have been a hard job—digging through mud andsticks and straw that the roof was made out of. It musthave hurt their hands. I bet it was hot up there in the sun,too. Finally they made a hole big enough, and loweredtheir friend down to Jesus.

When Jesus saw the faith of the friends—how much theycared about their friend, how much they were determinedto bring him to Jesus so he could be healthy again, Jesusmade their friend well again in his heart and in his body.

Invite the children to wonder with you about the story. Allowplenty of time for them to share their thoughts.

I wonder how the friends felt when they got to the houseand saw there was no room to get in the door? I wonderhow their hurt friend felt? Do you think he worried thathis friends would give up?

I wonder if the four friends were scared when they climbedup to the roof? What do you think? (Note: This may be a goodtime to reinforce that it is never safe for children to climb up onthe roof. This is something they should never try themselves.)

I wonder how their friend felt being pulled up there?

I wonder if people around them yelled at them to getdown, or if they helped them. How do you think the peoplearound them felt?

Exploring the Message

Say: “We are thinking about this story today because itreminds us of all of the children who are sick or hurt and

who need help getting health care and other things to behealthy.”

Explain that one out of every nine children doesn’t have healthinsurance and can’t always see a doctor when they need to.Health insurance is something that means you can see a doc-tor when you need to, and you don’t have to pay very muchmoney for each visit. Lots of children don’t have this kind ofhealth insurance because their parents’ jobs don’t provide itand they don’t make enough money to pay for health insur-ance themselves because it is very, very expensive. There aretwo kinds of health insurance, Medicaid and the StateChildren’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) , that alot of theStates children without health insurance could get, but some-times their parents don’t know about them, don’t realize theyare eligible, or don’t know how to sign up for them. Today, thechurch is thinking about how we can solve that problem.

Say: “Being able to see a doctor for check-ups to stayhealthy and for visits when you are sick or hurt is importantfor helping children grow up strong and healthy. What areother things that all children need to be healthy?”

Have the students brainstorm a list of things that every childneeds to be healthy. Write their ideas on a flip chart, under theheading “What All Children Need to Be Healthy.” Ideasmight include: doctor visits, immunizations, healthy food,vitamins, sleep, exercise, bike helmets, car seats or seat belts,love, and family.

Ask: “Who are the different people who can help childrenget what they need to be healthy?” List those ideas on a sep-arate sheet of flipchart paper. Ideas might include: parents,teachers, pastors, neighbors, doctors, nurses, the president,parents’ employers.

Ask: “What are some of the things that keep children fromgetting health care and being healthy?” List these ideas on athird sheet of paper. Some of the obstacles named mightinclude: not enough money, not enough information, don’t knowwhat is healthy, don’t know what help is available, don’t under-stand English, discouraged and have given up, and so forth.

Responding to the Message: Making Dioramas

Divide the children (or have them divide themselves) into twogroups to make two different dioramas (three-dimensional scenescreated inside the cardboard boxes): The first will recreate the


scene from the Bible story, the second will create a similarscene depicting a child today being helped to reach what isneeded for health. Talk through the different steps of the proj-ect and decide who wants to work on which part.

For the first diorama, recreate the scene from the Bible story.Help the children cut a hole in the roof of the box. (The card-board from the hole can be used to make the stretcher for theparalytic.) They can draw and cut out a figure for the para-lyzed man and glue it to the stretcher. Attach string to thestretcher and hang it down inside the house. Windows can bedrawn on or cut into the house. Students can draw figures forthe four friends and Jesus and glue them to the extra card-board. The four friends can then be attached to the roof. (Ifthey don’t stand, they can be lying on the roof and lookingdown through the hole). Other students can draw the peoplecrowded outside and inside the house and glue them along theinside walls and on the outside walls. The figure of Jesus canbe stood alongside the stretcher.

For the second diorama, create a similar scene that shows achild today being brought to the help and health care she orhe needs. The children will be incorporating the ideas on thethree lists created in the preceding conversation. Create a sim-ilar hole, but for this diorama, have one of the children drawa child in our day. Cut out that figure of a child and glue it onthe stretcher and hang it with strings through the roof. Havethe children draw pictures of people that they think can helpchildren get the care they need (such as parents, teachers,neighbors, church school teachers, pastors, principals, thepresident) and put them on the roof—as if they were the fourfriends getting their friend to help. Inside the house, have thechildren draw or cut from magazines pictures that show thethings that all children need to be healthy, such as doctors and

other health care providers, nutritious food, bike helmets, carseats or seat belts, medicine, warm clothing, loving family, safehome, eyeglasses, and so forth.

Have the children write each item from the list of things thatkeep children from getting to the help and health care they needon a blank piece of paper cut in the shape of a person, and pasteit on the outside of the house (in the position of the other peo-ple who crowded around the house and prevented the fourfriends from bringing their paralyzed friend in the door).

Finally, have the children create signs for the two dioramasthat will help others understand their meaning.

Alternative Activity for Responding to theMessage: Health Puzzles

Have each student cut out pictures or draw pictures of thethings all children need to be healthy, to fit on an 8 1⁄2 x 11inch rectangle. Glue the pictures onto a rectangle of card-board (like the kind that come in dry cleaned shirts.)Cover the pictures with clear adhesive paper for betterdurability. Have the students cut the pictures into puzzlepieces. Have them try to assemble their puzzles. Studentscan try putting together each other’s puzzles. Reinforcewith the students that when a child does not have one ofthese things to be healthy, it is like a puzzle that is miss-ing a piece. Give each child a self-sealing plastic bag tostore their puzzle pieces.

Closing

Close the session with prayer.


Scriptural Passage: Mark 2:1-12, Luke 8:40-46

Focus: God wants each of us to be healthy and whole inbody and spirit. We can help children who are sick or hurt getthe healing care they need.

Lesson Objectives: Students will:• Explore the meaning of biblical stories about healing

and consider its application today. • Reflect on what every child needs to be healthy and

learn more about children without health care today.• Engage in an active response of faith to help children.

Materials

• Bibles or copies of the scriptural passages for each student• Pencils and pens• Copies of handout, one per student• Masking tape (for optional game)• Poster board (one piece per student or pair of students);

paper; markers and crayons; rulers; stick-on letters(optional); glue; envelope box or other lightweightcardboard box to hold flyers (one per student or pair ofstudents)

• Copies of Medicaid/CHIP informational materials, 25per student or pair of students. Visit www.coveringkidsandfamilies.org for contact information for yourstate’s CHIP to obtain the materials.

Teacher Preparation

• Review the lesson plan and gather needed materials

Overview• Opening (2 minutes)• Introduction to the Message: Team Bible Hunt

(15 minutes)• Exploring the Message (15 minutes)• Optional Game: Carrying a Friend to Care • Responding to the Message (25 minutes)• Closing (3 minutes)

Opening Remind the students that today is Children’s Sabbath, partof a weekend in which congregations of many faiths arefocusing their attention on children in need and learninghow their faith calls them to respond through meeting imme-diate needs and working for justice.

The theme of this year’s Children’s Sabbaths celebration is“Congregations Stand for Healthy Children: Bringing Hopeand Healing.” The focus is on the nine million children(that is one in every nine children) in the United States whodo not have health care coverage and may not be able to seea doctor when they need to.

Introduction to the Message: Team Bible Hunt

Tell the students that they will start by exploring three Biblestories that talk about people in need of healing and peoplewho helped get them the care they needed.

Divide the class into three teams. (If you have too few studentsto form three teams, they can work individually.) Assign eachteam one of the stories: Mark 2:1-12; Luke 8:40-42, 49-56,and Luke 8:43-46. (If you think your class would respond wellto the challenge, set a timer for 10 minutes and tell them thatthey have to “beat the clock.”)

Have each team read through the story together and then fillout the chart on the handout. They should be prepared totell the story in their own words to the rest of the class.

When the teams have completed their task, have themreport back to the whole class. First, they should retell thestory in their own words, then they should share the answersthey came up with for their worksheet. The other teamsshould fill in the information as it is read to them, so that atthe end of the team sharing, every student has filled in theinformation for all three stories.

If necessary and appropriate, reinforce for the studentsthat although the adult friends in the passage from Markclimbed on the roof, children and young people shouldnever climb on the roof themselves.

Middle School Lesson Plan: Reaching Out for Help and Healing



Discuss with the children the different people who were activein reaching out for care: four friends, a parent, and the personwho was sick herself. Ask what conclusion they can draw fromthis; do these stories tell us that there is a shared responsi-bility to seek healing for those who are sick?

Ask: “What role did faith in Jesus play for the people whowere sick? What role did it play for those who were reach-ing out to get help for someone? What role do you thinkfaith plays now for people who are sick? What role do youthink faith plays now for people who are reaching out toget help for someone?”

Tell the students that nine million children (that is one out ofevery nine) do not have health insurance. Ask if anyone canexplain what health insurance is. Supplement their answers asneeded with the following:

Health insurance means that you can visit the doctor or otherhealth care provider and just pay a small amount (called a co-pay) for each visit. Sometimes, a parent’s job pays the healthinsurance premium, a large amount of money each monththat goes to the health insurance company for this health cov-erage. But lots of jobs don’t provide health insurance. Most ofthe children without health insurance have parents who workbut whose jobs don’t provide health insurance, and who can’tafford the high cost of buying health insurance themselves.There are two kinds of health insurance that the governmentprovides for families. Medicaid is free health insurance for fam-ilies earning up to a certain amount of money, and then theState Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providesfree or low-cost insurance to families earning too much forMedicaid but not enough to afford to buy their own insurance.How much a family can earn and still be eligible for this kindof insurance is different depending on what state you live in.

Almost six million of the nine million children without healthinsurance could get Medicaid or the state Children’s HealthInsurance Program, but their parents don’t know about theprograms, don’t think they qualify, or don’t know how toapply. Millions of other children are uninsured but don’t qual-ify for these programs because they live in families that earntoo much for these programs but too little to buy their ownhealth insurance, or some other reason.

As a result, these children without health insurance often donot get the health care they need, or get it late when their con-dition is worse, or health care pushes their families into debt.

Optional Game: Carrying a Friend to Care

If your students need to burn off some energy, have thechildren form teams of five. (If you only have five studentsor fewer, do this as one group and time yourselves to seeif you can do it faster each time.) Each team starts at thestarting line marked by masking tape on the floor. Four ofthe teammates have to carry the fifth teammate to the finishline (marked by another line of masking tape).

Responding to the Message: Caring for Children Posters

Remind the students that most children without health carecoverage already qualify for Medicaid or the state Children’sHealth Insurance Program—their parents just don’t knowabout the programs, don’t know they qualify, or don’t knowhow to apply.

Involve the students in brainstorming a poster campaign:Where could they put up posters if they got permission?(Possibilities include in the church, in their schools, at the parkor playground, at recreational centers.) Have each student (or pairof students) decide where they will try to have a poster placed.

Have the students work individually or in pairs to createposters that announce the availability of free or low-cost healthinsurance for families that qualify and the number to call: 1-877-KIDS-NOW.

Depending on where they plan to have their poster placed,they may want to add additional language that links healthcoverage to the location. For instance, a poster in a schoolmight say, “It’s hard to learn when you are not healthy” or“Getting free or low-cost health coverage is a lot easier thanAlgebra! Just call…” A poster for the local recreation centermight say, “You can’t play your best if you aren’t healthy. Scoreone for your home team by calling 1-877-KIDS-NOW to seeif you are eligible for free or low-cost health insurance.”

Have the students sketch out their intended poster design on aplain piece of paper first and show it to you so that they can ensurethat all spelling and information is accurate and appropriate.

Depending on your budget and supplies, the students canhand-letter the posters or use stick-on letters for a more pro-fessional look.


Each poster should have a holder for flyers that interested peo-ple can take away with them. (In addition to making it easy forpeople to take away the information, having more officiallooking flyers will give extra credibility to the home-madeposters.) These holders can be made by gluing an envelope box orother container to the bottom of the poster, although the stu-dents may come up with their own ideas for attaching the flyers.

Closing

Bring the students back together to share their posters with theothers. Close in prayer.


Who was sick?

What was wrong?

Who took action to get

them help?

What obstacles stood in

the way of them getting

better?

How did things end?

Three words to describe 1. 1. 1.

the person who took 2. 2. 2.

action, at the beginning 3. 3. 3.

of the story


the person who took action, 2. 2. 2.

at the end of the story 3. 3. 3.


the person who was healed 2. 2. 2.

at the end of the story 3. 3. 3.

Bible HuntHandout

Question Mark 2:1-12 Luke 8:40-42, 49-56 Luke 8:43-48


Scriptural Passage: Luke 8:40-56, Mark 2:1-12 (Cf. Luke 5:17-26)

Focus: We can work faithfully to bring children in need ofhealing to sources of health care.

Lesson Objectives: Students will:• Explore scripture and develop insight into its message

for us today. • Learn about children without health care coverage. • Engage in an activity to raise awareness of children

without health care coverage and the availability ofhealth care resources.

Materials

• Poster board, markers• Flip chart• One copy per student of the scripts “Reaching Out for

Hope and Healing” and “Helping Friends,” on pages107 and 108.

• Video camera and blank video tape (If your churchdoesn’t have one, if possible, make arrangements to bor-row one from a member.)

• One copy per student of the sample letter on page 211 • Paper, pens, pencils, envelopes, stamps

Teacher Preparation

• Read through the lesson plan.• Make the photocopies needed and gather other materials• Optional: Read Section 2 beginning on page 19 for

background on children’s health concerns.• Set up the video camera and test.

Overview• Activity for Early Arrivers• Opening and Introduction to the Message

(10 minutes)• Exploring the Message: (20 minutes)• Responding to the Message (25 minutes)• Closing (5 minutes)


Distribute poster board and invite the students to make signsor pictures, like a “theater set,” for a home in Biblical times(which can be used as Jairus’ house and as the home intowhich the paralytic was lowered in the scripts that will be usedlater in the story).


Remind the students that today is Children’s Sabbath, part ofa weekend in which congregations of many faiths are focusingtheir attention on children in need and learning how theirfaith calls them to respond through meeting immediate needsand working for justice.

The theme of this year’s Children’s Sabbath is “CongregationsStand for Healthy Children: Bringing Hope and Healing.”The focus is on the nine million children (that is one in everynine children) in the United States who do not have healthcare coverage and may not be able to see a doctor when theyneed to.

Health insurance means that you can visit the doctor or otherhealth care provider and just pay a small amount (called a co-pay) for each visit. Sometimes, a parent’s job pays the healthinsurance premium, a large amount of money each monththat goes to the health insurance company for this health cov-erage. But lots of jobs don’t provide health insurance. Most ofthe children without health insurance have parents who workbut whose jobs don’t provide health insurance, and who can’tafford the high cost of buying health insurance themselves.There are two kinds of health insurance that the governmentprovides for families. Medicaid is free health insurance forfamilies earning up to a certain amount of money, and thenthe State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providesfree or low-cost insurance to families earning too much forMedicaid but not enough to afford to buy their own insurance.How much a family can earn and still be eligible for this kindof insurance is different depending on what state you live in.

Almost six million of the nine million children without healthinsurance could get Medicaid or the state Children’s HealthInsurance, but their parents don’t know about the programs,don’t think they qualify, or don’t know how to apply. Millions

High School Lesson Plan: Bringing Hope and Healing


of other children are uninsured and live in families who earntoo much for these programs but too little to buy their own ordon’t qualify for the programs for another reason.

As a result, these children without health insurance often donot get the health care they need, or get it late when their con-dition is worse, or health care pushes their families into debt.


Ask: “So why should we talk about children who don’t havehealth care in Sunday school? Why is it something thatChristians should care about and try to do somethingabout?”

Allow time for the students to discuss.

Distribute copies of the scripts “Reaching Out for Care” and“Helping Friends.” Ask for volunteers or assign roles, havingstudents read more than one role if necessary. Allow a fewminutes for the students to read through the scripts to famil-iarize themselves with them. Then perform as a ReadersTheater—remaining seated as you read the script aloud, ratherthan acting it out, but using your voices to make it dramatic.(However, if your students would prefer to act out the scripts,that would be great.)

Following the reading, discuss the following questions. It maybe helpful to list the responses on a flip chart. Prepare onesheet for each of the three healings. If your class is largeenough and works well in small groups, you may want todivide them into small groups to discuss all of the questions,or divide them into three small groups and assign each groupto answer the questions about one of the three healings.

Looking at each of the three healings (Jairus’ daughter,woman with hemorrhages, and paralyzed man), who wasreaching out for care? [Parent, person in need of healing her-self, friends] What might that mean for us today as we thinkabout children in need of health care? [Each of us has a roleto play; it is not just the responsibility of parents or the person whois sick or the community.]

What were the obstacles to getting care, what got in theway of people getting healed? [Responses might include:woman had run out of money on doctors; the neighbors discour-aged Jairus from bothering Jesus, told him it was too late; Jesuswas delayed by the woman so it took longer to get to Jairus’ daugh-

ter; the crowd, the community was telling the friends to wait,there were too many others who took priority. If students don’tknow, you might mention that the woman was considered an out-cast because of her illness and wasn’t even supposed to be out inpublic. Shame and discouragement were big obstacles.]

What qualities did the people seeking health and healingdemonstrate? [Responses might include: Love, concern, determi-nation, faith, courage, willingness to go against community’s opin-ion, creativity, fear, anxiety]

What obstacles do you think children and families facetoday in getting the help and healing they need? [Responsesmight include: don’t have enough money, don’t know about pro-grams that are available or how to apply, speak another language,embarrassed to need help with paying for health coverage]

What qualities do we need to have to help children get thehealth care they need?

What role did faith in Jesus play for the people who weresick? What role did it play for those who were reaching outto get help for someone? What role do you think faithplays now for people who are sick? What role do you thinkfaith plays now for people who are reaching out to get helpfor someone?

Sin and Sickness

Students may wonder about the forgiveness of sin thatoccurs in the story of the paralytic. A useful insight for thestudents may be that these are stories of the ways thatJesus overcomes our separation and brokenness andrestores us to community and wholeness. The deaddaughter, the paralytic, and the woman with bleedingwere all isolated and kept apart from the community. Totouch the daughter who had died and the woman withbleeding were, in those days, forbidden actions. Jesusrefused to maintain those separations and included theoutcast in the embrace of his healing. Sin, too, representsa separation, a sense of being apart from God. Those whosin, like those who suffer exclusion and pain, were welcomedinto the embrace of Jesus’ healing word of forgiveness.What can we do to follow Jesus’ example of reaching outto those who are excluded, suffering, and separated to bringthem to a place of healing, wholeness, and community?


So What’s with the Big Secret?Students also may wonder about Jesus’ instruction to theJairus family not to tell anyone what had happened. Somebiblical commentators suggest this is because Jesus did notwant his healings to be misunderstood as magic. He wantedto encourage faith, not superstition and belief in magic.

Responding to the Message

Prepare a modern day skit (which can be read or acted out)based on one of the healing stories that shows the difficultysome children today have getting to a source of help and heal-ing and what caring friends (and family and communities)could do to get them the care they need.

Have the students work together to write an introduction tothe skit, perhaps noting the biblical story that it retells and thepurpose of the retelling. Have them write a conclusion to beread at the end of the skit that is a call to action, giving factsabout children without health care and what can be done.

[Note: If your class is large enough and works well in small groups,you can divide into three small groups: one to prepare the intro-duction, one to prepare the skit, and one to prepare the conclusion.]

Videotape the production—the introduction being read, theskit enacted, and the concluding call to action. Arrange toshow the video to the rest of the church (perhaps during cof-fee hour) or to another church school class. (If you can’t video-tape the production, perhaps the students can present it inperson for the others.)

Alternative Response to the MessageInvolve your students in writing letters to their membersof Congress about all children needing health care.Provide copies of the sample letter on page 211, paper,pens and pencils, envelopes, and stamps. If desired, youcan make plans with the students to set up a letter-writingtable in the church gathering area (with appropriate per-missions) so they can invite other church members towrite their own letters after church.

Closing

Join the students for a closing prayer.


Roles:NarratorJesusJairusWoman with bleedingPeterJairus’ neighborJairus’ daughterOptional: James, John, Mrs. Jairus, “crowd”

Narrator: Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomedhim, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came aman named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue.

Jairus: [falling at Jesus’ feet and begging him urgently] Please,Jesus, come to my house. My daughter, my only daughter, isdying. She’s just 12-years-old. Please come, please come quickly.

[Jesus accompanies Jairus as they walk towards his home. Otherscrowd around them.]

Narrator: Now there was a woman who had been sufferingfrom bleeding for 12 years; and though she had spent all shehad on physicians, no one could cure her.

[Woman comes up behind Jesus and touches the fringe of hisclothes.]

Narrator: Immediately, her bleeding stopped.

Jesus: [looking around] Who touched me?

Crowd: Not me. I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me.

Peter: Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.Lots of people are touching you. What do you mean?

Jesus: Someone touched me; for I noticed that the powerhad gone out from me.

Woman: [coming forward trembling, and falling down beforeJesus, declares:] I touched you. I touched you and I was imme-diately healed!

Jesus: Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.

Jairus’ Neighbor [coming from Jairus’ house, interrupting]:Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.

Jesus: Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.

[Jairus and Jesus go into the house with Peter, John, James, andMrs. Jairus.]

Jairus and Mrs. Jairus [weeping and wailing] My daughter,my child.

Jesus: Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.

[They laugh with disbelief.]

Jesus: [taking Jairus’ daughter by the hand] Child, get up!

Narrator: Her spirit returned, and she got up at once.

[Mr. and Mrs. Jairus look astounded.]

Jesus: Give her something to eat. Don’t tell anyone whathappened.

Script: Reaching Out for Hope and Healing(Based on Luke 8:40-56)


Roles:NarratorJesusFriendsParalyzed ManReligious Leaders 1 and 2Crowd

Narrator: One day, while Jesus was teaching in a house,religious leaders were sitting near by (they had come fromevery village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem) and thepower of the Lord was with Jesus to heal.

Just then four friends came, carrying a paralyzed man on abed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him beforeJesus.

Friend 1: Make way! Coming through!

Friend 2: Make room!

Friend 3: Our friend can’t move!

Friend 4: We need to reach Jesus so he can heal him.

Crowd (different people can say different lines): We were here first.Wait your turn. We want to get close to Jesus, too. Tough luck.

Narrator: Finding no way to bring him in because of thecrowd, they went up on the roof.

Friend: Come on, if we can’t get in through the door we’llfind another way. We’ll make another way. Let’s try the roof.Come on, pull up some of these tiles. We’ll just make a holeand lower him down.

Narrator: They let him down with his bed through the tilesinto the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.

Crowd: Hey, what are you doing? What’s the big idea? Wewere here first!

Narrator: When Jesus saw their faith, he said…

Jesus: Friend, your sins are forgiven you.

Religious Leader 1: [quietly to the other leader so Jesuscan’t hear] Who is this who is speaking blasphemies?!

Religious Leader 2: Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Jesus: Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?Which is easier, to say “Your sins are forgiven you” or to say“Stand up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Sonof Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, [turning to theparalyzed man and speaking to him] I say to you, “Stand up andtake your bed and go to your home.”

Paralyzed man: [standing, picking up mat and preparing todepart] Praise God! Praise God! Glory to God!

Crowd: [with amazement] Glory to God! Praise God! Wehave seen strange things, miracles, here today!

Helping Friends(based on Luke 5:17-26, Mark 2:1-12)


Scriptural Passage: Mark 2:1-12 (Cf. Luke 5:17-26) andLuke 8:40-56 (Cf. Mt. 9:1-8)

Focus: Participants will explore biblical texts related to chil-dren, health, and healing, gain an overview of child health carein America, and develop a plan to respond as a group or con-gregation to what they learn.

Materials and Leader Preparation

• Read through the lesson outline. • Recommended: Read Section 2 in the Children’s

Sabbaths Manual for more background information onchildren’s health care and the crisis of nine millionuninsured children.

• Make the needed number of photocopies of Section 2,one for each participant. (While participants will onlybe reading some of this material during class, it wouldbe useful for them to have all of it for further reading athome.)

• Collect the required materials: Bibles, flip chart paper,markers, and pens and pencils for participants.

• Publicize the class for several weeks ahead of timethrough whatever means are available and appropriate,such as the church newsletter, bulletin inserts, andannouncements.

• Remember that with 44 million uninsured Americans,including nine million uninsured children, some ofyour class members and/or their own children maythemselves be uninsured. This calls both for sensitivityand for being ready to refer them to the toll-free numberfor free and low-cost health insurance through Medicaidand the state Children’s Health Insurance Program: 1-877-KIDS-NOW, or to the pastor for other commu-nity health resources.

Overview• Opening (5 minutes)• Faithful Reflection on Biblical Passages (15 minutes)• Understanding Children’s Health Care Crisis

(20 minutes)• Responding to the Need (15 minutes)• Closing (5 minutes)

Opening: Welcome, Introductions, andOverview

Welcome participants. If numbers allow and this session isnot part of an ongoing class, invite participants to brieflyintroduce themselves.

Give a brief overview of the session. Tell the participants thatafter an opening prayer you will give a brief introduction ofthe Children’s Sabbath. Then, there will be a time to exploremeaningful passages of scripture, and then the class will learnmore about children and families without health care cover-age. Then the group will explore ways that we can respond toput our faith into action and make a difference.

Open with a prayer if that is customary for your class.

Provide a brief introduction to the National Observance ofChildren’s Sabbaths of which this class is a part. TheChildren’s Sabbaths are celebrated by congregations of manyfaiths in communities all across our nation on the third week-end of each October, to focus attention on the urgent plightof millions of children in our nation, reflect on the teachingsof our faith about how we are to respond, and engage mem-bers in active responses to meet the needs of children and poorfamilies. This year the Children’s Sabbath is especially focusedon the needs of our nation’s nine million children who do nothave any health insurance, public or private, and may not beable to see a doctor when they need to.

Faithful Reflection on Biblical Passages

Invite several volunteers to read aloud Luke 8:40-56 and Mark2:1-12. Following the reading, discuss the following questions.It may be helpful to list the responses on a flip chart. Prepareone sheet for each of the three healings. If your class is largeenough and enjoys working in small groups, you may want todivide into small groups to discuss all of the questions, ordivide into three small groups and assign each group to answerthe questions about one of the three healings.

Looking at each of the three healings (Jairus’ daughter,woman with hemorrhages, and paralyzed man); who was itthat reached out for care? Who was it that actively soughtout the healing? [Parent, person in need of healing herself,friends.] What might that mean for us today as we thinkabout children in need of health care? [Each of us has a role

Christian Adult Education Session: Bringing Hope and Healing


to play, it is not just the responsibility of parents or the person whois sick or the community.] What are some of the situationstoday when it is appropriate or necessary to seek care forothers who cannot seek it for themselves? Are there situa-tions when it is inappropriate?

What were the obstacles to getting care; what got in theway of people getting healed? [Responses might include:woman had run out of money on doctors; the neighbors discour-aged Jairus from bothering Jesus, told him it was too late, Jesuswas delayed by the woman so it took longer to get to Jairus’ daugh-ter; the crowd, the community was telling the friends to wait,there were too many others who took priority. If participants don’tknow, you might mention that the woman was considered an out-cast because of her illness and wasn’t even supposed to be out inpublic. Shame and discouragement were big obstacles.]

What qualities did the people seeking health and healingdemonstrate? [Responses might include: Love, concern, determi-nation, faith, courage, willingness to go against community’s opin-ion, creativity, fear, anxiety]

What obstacles do you think children and families facetoday in getting the help and healing they need? [Responsesmight include: don’t have enough money, don’t know about pro-grams that are available or how to apply, speak another language,embarrassed to need help with paying for health coverage]

What qualities do we need to have to help children get thehealth care they need?

What role did faith in Jesus play for the people who weresick? What role did it play for those who were reaching outto get help for someone? What role do you think faithplays now for people who are sick? What role do you thinkfaith plays now for people who are reaching out to get helpfor someone?

Sin and SicknessParticipants may wonder about the forgiveness of sin thatoccurs in the story of the paralytic. A useful insight maybe that these are stories of the ways that Jesus overcomesour separation and brokenness and restores us to commu-nity and wholeness. The dead daughter, the paralytic, andthe woman with bleeding were all isolated and kept apartfrom the community. To touch the daughter who haddied and the woman with bleeding were, in those days,forbidden actions that would make the one who touched

them also “unclean.” Jesus refused to maintain those sep-arations and included the outcasts in the embrace of hishealing. Sin, too, represents a separation, a sense of beingapart from God. Those who sin, like those who sufferexclusion and pain, were welcomed into the embrace ofJesus’ healing word of forgiveness. What can we do to fol-low Jesus’ example of reaching out to those who areexcluded, suffering, and separated to bring them to aplace of healing, wholeness, and community?

Participants may also wonder about Jesus’ instruction tothe Jairus family not to tell anyone what had happened.Some biblical commentators suggest this is because Jesusdid not want his healings to be misunderstood as magic.He wanted to encourage faith, not superstition and beliefin magic.

Understanding the Children’s Health Care Crisis

[Note: If you can arrange to have a speaker knowledgeable aboutchildren’s health and lack of health coverage, arrange for them tospeak to your group. Your congregation may have a health profes-sional or advocate who could address the group, or you may beable to arrange for one by contacting your state’s Children’s HealthInsurance Program, Medicaid office, a community health clinic,hospital, or child advocacy organization.]

Distribute photocopies of Section 2, beginning on page 19.Ask for volunteers to take turns reading aloud the first sixparagraphs (on pages 20-21). Then ask for volunteers to readthe stories on pages 28-30.

Provide time for participants to discuss their responses to theinformation and the stories. If need be, provide some ques-tions to prompt discussion, such as:

• What do you think is hardest about being a parent whosechild does not have health coverage?

• What are the different ways that lack of health insurancetakes a toll on a child and on a family?

• What are the costs to us as a congregation, community,and nation of allowing nine million children to be unin-sured?

• If you were the parent of an uninsured child, what are thethings for which you would most deeply hope? Whatkind of help or support would you hope to receive?


Ask participants to turn back to the Section 2 packet and readalong silently as volunteers read aloud the information startingfrom “Medicaid and the State Children’s Health InsuranceProgram (CHIP)” on page 21 and ending after the section“Call for Justice” on page 22.

Ask: What do you see as the roles or responsibilities ofchildren, parents, congregations, employers, communities,states, and our nation to getting all children health carecoverage? What is our responsibility to children when oneor more of those can’t or won’t fulfill their responsibilities?What are we to do?

Responding to the Need

Underscore that nearly six million of the nine million childrenwithout health insurance are eligible for free or low-cost healthinsurance through Medicaid or the State Children’s HealthInsurance Program. The problem is, many of their familiesdon’t know about the programs, don’t know they are eligible,or don’t know how to apply. In fact, finding out if you are eli-gible and applying can be done fairly easily by calling 1-877-KIDS-NOW. Because African American and Latino childrenare most likely to be uninsured, good outreach within thosecommunities is especially important. Language barriers andimmigration status concerns are particular obstacles for somein the Latino community; Spanish and good information canbe essential in helping overcome them.

Engage the group in brainstorming how they can help spreadthe word about CHIP and Medicaid. Invite them to turn to“Ways Places of Worship and Other Faith-BasedOrganizations Can Help Children Get the Health InsuranceThey Need and Deserve” on page 26 in their packet. Haveparticipants consider which of these ideas the congregationmight pursue or other ideas that they generate themselves. Listthe brainstormed ideas on flipchart paper. Include those thatcan be done by individuals as well as those that the group or aportion of it would need to tackle together. Determine whichideas the group would like to move ahead with.

Provide paper, pens, and envelopes for participants to writeletters to their members of Congress, if they wish, urging themto take a strong leadership role in assuring that every child hashealth coverage they can count on. Provide the names of theirlegislators.You can find them by logging on to CDF’s ActionCouncil Web site at www.cdfactioncouncil.org. You can also

find a sample letter on page 211 of this manual. For the mostup-to-date sample letter, visit www.childrensdefense.orgRemind people that what is most important is speaking abouttheir concerns in their own words.

Closing

Close with a prayer that allows time for participants to namealoud or in their hearts those for whom they pray, especiallythose in need of health and healing.

Optional Closing RitualIf you would like to offer a closing ritual that will affirmcongregation members’ commitments and embrace theirprayers, ahead of time prepare a shoebox (perhaps coveredwith brown paper) with a hole cut into the lid (the“roof”). Distribute slips of paper. On one side, invite par-ticipants to write down an action they pledge to take forchildren’s health and well-being. On the other side, havethem write a prayer concern. After participants have pre-pared their slips of paper, tell them that you will start withprayer. If they wish, they may read aloud their prayer ofconcern and their commitment, before placing it throughthe “hole in the roof” in confidence that Jesus receives ourprayers, responds to our faith, and restores us to wholeness.

You can open with this prayer or one of your own:

Dear God, in Jesus you bring us into your healing embracethat restores our health, wholeness, and relationship to youand each other. Receive now our prayers for children and ourpledges of action. See our faith and use it to restore all whosuffer brokenness in mind, body, and spirit, all who areexcluded from care and community.

[After participants have had a chance to share their prayers andpledges aloud if desired, and all have had a chance to drop themthrough the roof, conclude:]

When we hurt, embolden us to reach out for care. When onewe love needs help, instill in us hope despite those who woulddeter us. When we see others who suffer, strengthen us to carrythem to help. These things we pray in Jesus’ name who bringsus hope and healing. Amen.

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