8/3/2019 The Good Samaritan Retold for Today

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-good-samaritan-retold-for-today 1/2

The Good Samaritan retold for today

Props required

6 pieces of coloured felt or material at least A4 sizea football/soccer ball (adapt story to fit available prop)a torn, dirty t-shirtsports trophy/medal or footy boots

school leaders badge or bike bellClean sports t-shirtBandaids2 apples (or healthy snack)a wii remote or another game controller 

Instructions for telling the storyHave the above props in a box or basket next to the storyteller.Seat children in a circle so they can clearly see the storyteller and so there is a space in front of thestoryteller to put the props.As the story is told the storyteller places a piece of felt/material on the ground in front of them totheir right and then places a prop on it. Place the next piece of felt/material to the left of the firstone and then place the next prop on there. Repeat throughout story.

Introduce the storyDuring the introduction, lay down the first felt/material square.Adapt the introduction to suit the purpose for telling the story.For example, with unchurched children looking at the value of respect:

I’d like to tell you a story. This story is based on the story of the Good Samaritan, whichcomes from the Christian tradition. (Lay 1st  felt square on floor.) I invite you to listen to discover who shows respect and how they show respect. What are thecharacters listening to?

Or for a church setting:I’d like to tell you a story. You might recognise this as a story that Jesus told that isrecorded in the Bible. Jesus told this story in response to someone’s question about who isour neighbour? I’m going to ask you afterwards: Who should we show care to?

Tell the story(Make sure you’ve laid the first felt/material square down during the introduction)

One sunny afternoon Peter was walking home from school alone. He was bouncing (hold football)his brand new football that he’d been given for his birthday. Pete and his friends were all on theschool footy team and they’d had a great time kicking his new footy around at lunchtime. (put football on cloth) Pete was wishing that his friends had been able to come home with him thatafternoon to kick the footy.

(Lay 2 nd  felt square next to first one.)Suddenly, Pete heard footsteps running up behind him. A group of kids from his school tackledPete to the ground, punching him, ripping his t-shirt (put torn and dirty t-shirt on cloth) and throwinghis backpack in the mud. One of them grabbed Pete’s football (remove football) and they all ran off- leaving Pete lying bruised and bleeding on the ground.

(place 3 rd  felt square)The school football team captain was out on his training run. (put on cloth, football team trophy) Hesaw Pete and just jumped over him and kept running.

(place 4 th  felt square) Then, a school leader from Pete’s school was riding her bike down the road. (put on cloth, badge 

8/3/2019 The Good Samaritan Retold for Today

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-good-samaritan-retold-for-today 2/2

or bike bell) The school leader saw Pete and recognised him but she just rode her bike to the otherside of the street and kept going.

Then, Sam, the new kid at Pete’s school came walking down the road. (place 5 th  felt square) Thiswas his first week at this school. No one had invited him to play with them at lunchtime. When Samsaw Pete he remembered how Pete had shoved him away when he’d asked to join in the footballgame.But when he saw Pete lying on the ground, Sam felt sorry for him and ran over to him. He helped

Pete sit up. Sam pulled his spare sports t-shirt (put on cloth, clean sport t-shirt) out of his own bagand gave it to Pete to wear. He picked up Pete’s backpack and wiped the mud off. He then helpedPete stand up and together they walked to Sam’s house.

(place 6 th  felt square) When they arrived, Sam gave Pete a towel and bandaids so he could clean up his cuts and washoff the dirt (band aids on cloth). He invited Pete to stay until Pete’s mum could come and pick himup. Sam found them some snacks to eat (put apples on cloth with bandaids) and shared them withPete and they played Wii sports together. (put wii sports game or wii hand controller on cloth with apples)

The end.

Questions for use after telling the story (adapt to suit your context)

Who showed the most respect in that story? (Accept answers such as ‘Sam, the new kid, the kid who helped’)

Who or what do you think Sam, the new kid listened to that made him help? (good thoughts inside that helping people is important)

Who do you think the school leader or the football captain listened to? (listened to selfish thoughts,maybe football captain just wanted to keep training or didn’t think it would be cool to help someone who’d been beaten up. The school leader might have been thinking they were too busy or running late so couldn’t stop. She may have been afraid she could get hurt – what could she have done to keep herself safe but still act with respect and help? eg phone ambulance, find an adult.)

Respect is about caring for others, not just ourselves. How did Sam do this? (even though Pete hadn’t played with him and Sam could have left Pete, he cared about the fact that Pete was hurt and needed help so he did help)

What were Sam’s actions that showed respect? (Helped Pete, cared for him, took him home,helped him clean up, shared toys.) 

Why do you think Jesus told this story to answer the question about who is our neighbour?

Why should we show care to others?

We can show care to people whether we know them or not; whether they are similar to or differentfrom us; whether they are popular or lonely; whether they are younger or older than us andwhether they treat us kindly or not. We can still choose to be respectful.We can choose to listen to the good thoughts inside us, we can choose to care about others, not just ourselves and we can choose to act helpfully.