Mexico 2016

Five Minute Mission Moments for VBS, Sunday School and Church

2015 Nepal VBS Project Update

A piece of ground has been purchased for the new location of Mercy Home Orphanage and the E.C. Church Headquarters. The money that was raised through the 2015 VBS project has been used for this purchase, and building has begun on the Mercy House Orphanage. The children will be moved to this location as quickly as possible, as they are still living in the earthquake damaged house. (show pictures of Mercy Home Groundbreaking Ceremony)

2016 Mission Minded Kids VBS Lessons

MEXICO

Objectives for Mexico VBS Lessons:

1. Briefly review 2015 Nepal VBS Project2. To learn basic facts about the country of Mexico3. To recognize the flag of Mexico4. To be introduced to Rev. Elias and his family as the Director of the EC Church of Mexico 5. To understand the desperate physical and spiritual needs of the people of Mexico6. To participate in raising funds to help build a safe place where children can learn about Jesus through a community Bible Club, IgleKids.

Lesson Overview

Lesson 1: Review 2015 Nepal VBS Project Mexico: Basic facts about the country and flag Introduce the 2016 Project to raise funds for a safe place for IgleKids to meet.

Lesson 2: Review the IgleKids Project. Learn about the IgleKids Club in Mexico.

Lesson 3: Review the IgleKids Project. Learn about the Children in Mexico and their need to learn about Jesus’ Love Lesson 4: Introduce Rev. Elias and his wife Myrna and the EC Churches of MexicoLesson 5: Learn about the new mission churches in Mexico

Materials needed for the week: Power Point slide show either downloaded from GMC website or on disc; the included picture of the flag or a real flag of Mexico. Mount pictures and maps from all lessons on card stock paper for stability and set up equipment as needed to show power point pictures each day. If possible, arrange for someone who speaks Spanish to be available to lead the children in saying the verse together in both English and Spanish.

LESSON ONEMEXICO

Welcome to our Vacation Bible School Mission Moments. If you attended VBS last year, you might remember that we were collecting money for a very special project. Does anyone remember what that project was? (Allow students to recall, or remind students about the Mercy Home Orphanage project in Nepal) (Show PowerPoint Visual 1: Mercy Home Ground Breaking, and give the included update)This week we will be learning about our neighbors to the south. Does anyone know which country is directly south of the United States of America? Mexico, that’s right. We will be learning about what the Evangelical Congregational Church is doing in Mexico. All the offerings we collect will go to build a closed-in porch space where children can be safe and learn about Jesus in their Bible Club called “IgleKids” (EE-glay Kids) . We are hoping that all of our E.C. Churches together can raise $10,000. Today, we will learn some things about the country of Mexico.

(Show PPT Visual #2: map of Mexico) Mexico’s capital is Mexico City (show on the map) which is one of the largest cities in the world. 20 million people live in this one city. The whole state of Pennsylvania has only 13 million people. Another big city in Mexico (3 million people) is Monterrey (show on the map) and this is where the work of the EC church is located. Monterrey (mon-tay-ray) is the orange capital of Mexico. There are orange groves everywhere and many people sell oranges to help provide for their families.

Mexico has a very high mountain range which takes up 2/3 of the country. They are called the Sierra Madres Mountains and the average height is 10,000 feet. (Show PPT Visual #3: Sierra Madre mountains)

Let’s now look at the Mexican Flag. (Show PPT Visual #4: Flag of Mexico) It has three colors: Green stands for hope, White is for the Union of the states and Red is for the blood of the heroes. In the center of the flag is the Mexican coat of arms which is an Aztec pictogram for Mexico City.

Does anyone know what language they speak in Mexico? (Spanish) Does anyone know the word for “hello” in Spanish? (Hola) Tomorrow when you see me, you can greet me with “Hola”.

Remember to bring in an offering each night so we can help build a safe place for the IgleKids to meet. Close in prayer for the work in Mexico.

Monterrey, Mexico

Mexico City

MEXICO

Sierra Madre Mountains

Mountains at Sunset

LESSON TWOMEXICO

Welcome back to Vacation Bible School. Can anyone tell me what country we are learning about this week? (Mexico) (Show PPT Visual #2: map of Mexico)

What will our offerings this week go toward? (A safe place for the IgleKids Club to meet)

Here is the Mexican flag. (Show PPT Visual #4: flag of Mexico) (Or display a real Mexican flag)

What language do the kids in Mexico speak? (Spanish) Here is a verse that the IgleKids might learn in their Club. It is a very important verse, reminding us that God loves us all the time. Let’s say it together in English. (Show PPT Visual # 5: English Verse) (Say verse together) Now here is the same verse as the IgleKids would learn it. It is in Spanish. (Show PPT Visual # 6 :Spanish Verse) (If you can, say the verse in Spanish with the kids, or have someone who knows Spanish lead the children in saying the verse in Spanish together. If this cannot be arranged, simply remark about how different the words look, but they mean the same thing.)

How many of you attend Awana or another kind of Kids Club at this church or another church during the school year? I bet you have a lot of fun and you look forward to going each week. The kids in Mexico like to go to a Kids Club also. It is a place where they have fun with games and activities and crafts, and they learn about Jesus’ love for them. They learn how to pray and worship God, and they know that the adults there love and care about them. They learn that Jesus made a way for them to go to Heaven and they learn how to show God’s love to other people. This is probably a lot like your Kids Club. But you have a clean, safe church building to meet in, and when the weather is nice, you can probably even go outside for some of your activities.

In Mexico, it is not always safe to play outside, or meet in an open area. Churches and homes usually have walls around them for protection, and meeting inside is much safer than being outside. But often, the buildings are small and there isn’t enough room for a group of kids to have activities inside. The money we are collecting this week will help to keep the kids coming to the IgleKids Club safe by building a roof and walls around a porch area at the side of one of the E.C. churches. This will give them enough room to learn and have their activities in a safe, dry place. It will also give the church a chance to use this space to help train other churches how to have a good Kids Club.

Let’s remember to pray for all the Mexican boys and girls who attend the IgleKids Club, and the adults who help to teach and lead them.

Give thanks

to the Lord. H

is love is forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

LESSON THREEMEXICO

Da gracias a Dios. Su am

ore es para siem

pre.1 Cronicas 16:34

What country are we studying this week? Mexico, that is right. (Show PPT Visual #2: map of Mexico)

What are we raising the money for? To build a safe place for the IgleKids Club to meet.

Here is a picture of a group of children who have come to IgleKids Club. They are worshipping God and praying to him. (Show PPT Visual #7: IgleKids Club) Do you remember the verse we talked about yesterday? (Show PPT Visual #5: English Verse) Say verse together in English. This verse reminds us to thank God for all of the good things He gives us, and to thank Him that He always loves us, no matter what happens in life. Here is the verse the IgleKids would say. (Show PPT Visual #6: Spanish Verse) If possible, say the verse together in Spanish, and remind the children that even though it is in another language, the words mean the same thing.

This is a picture of the church that will be building the covered porch where the IgleKids can meet. (Show PPT Visual #8: Bethel Church) The name of this church is Bethel E. C. Church. There are many children from the neighborhood who come to Sunday School here on Sundays, and also to events like VBS and like their IgleKids Club. (Show PPT Visual #9 : Group of Kids.) When the children come to Sunday School, they all meet in one room. They do not separate them by age into different rooms. All the children enjoy being together and learning about Jesus. This is how their VBS and their IgleKids Club are also. So when the IgleKids have their covered porch to meet in, all the ages will be together, and they will sing and pray and learn from each other and from their adult leaders.

Let’s pray for Bethel church as they reach out to the children in their neighborhood to teach them about Jesus and how much He loves them.

LESSON FOURMEXICO

What country are we visiting this week? (Show PPT Visual #2: Map of Mexico from Lesson 1)

The church you are in right now is called (fill in your church’s name) Evangelical Congregational Church. Did you know that there are Evangelical Congregational Churches all over the world? We often shorten the name and say “E.C.” churches. We are a denomination, or a group of churches, that believes the same things and helps each other out in many ways. The E.C. Denomination has 12 Churches in Mexico. If you would go to the northeast part of Mexico, you could visit any one of these churches. Of course, it would help if you could understand Spanish, but they would be worshipping and praying and learning in much the same ways that we do.

Each one of these 12 Mexican churches has their own pastor but the leader of all the pastors in Mexico is Rev. Elias Martinez. (A-lee-us Mar-tee-nace). Over 350 Mexican men and women and boys and girls are learning about Jesus and his love in the E.C. Churches of Mexico.

Rev. Elias and his wife, Myrna (Meer-na) pastor one of these churches as well as being the leader over all the pastors. They pastor the Bethel church, where the covered porch will be built for the IgleKids to meet. Rev Elias and Myrna have 2 daughters, Zuri Sadai and Asenet. (Soo-ree Sah-die and Ah-say-nayt) This is a picture of Myrna and her two girls worshipping in the Bethel E. C. Church in Mexico. (Show PPT Visual #11: Myrna and girls)

The offerings that we are collecting for Bible School this week are going to Mexico. Here is the flag of Mexico. (Show PPT Visual #4: flag of Mexico) (Or display a real Mexican flag)

Do you remember the verse we are learning? Let’s say it together in English. (Show PPT Visual #5 : English Verse) This is the Spanish verse that the IgleKids would learn. (Show PPT Visual #6: Spanish Verse) If possible, say the verse together in Spanish.

Let’s pray for Rev. Elias and Myrna and their family as they lead all the other pastors in the EC Churches of Mexico.

LESSON FIVEMEXICO

We are raising money this week to help build a safe place for the IgleKids Club to meet at the Bethel Church. But there are other children who live too far from the Bethel Church to be able to come to the IgleKids Club. They need to know about Jesus too. So guess what Pastor Elias and Myrna and some other adults from Bethel decided to do? They decided that every month, they would go up into the mountains and visit those kids. Here is a picture of Pastor Elias and Myrna with a group of these kids. (Show PPT Visual #12: Mountain Kids) These kids are very poor and don’t have very much. So the people from Bethel church bring gifts along to the kids when they visit. (Show PPT Visual #13: Kids with Gifts) These kids are very happy to get a bag full of gifts. This girl got a new pair of shoes to cover her bare feet and a doll to play with. (Show PPT Visual #14: Girl with Shoes)

The E.C. Church of Mexico has 12 established churches, but they also have 2 mission churches. These are groups of people who are just starting to gather together to learn about the Love of Jesus. Groups of people from the established churches go to meet with these new groups of people. They often take them gifts and they plan activities for the kids. The kids in these pictures enjoy the gifts they get, but they also need to hear that Jesus loves them. The people from the E.C. Churches talk to the adults and teach them many things about Jesus. They play games with the kids and teach them about Jesus through stories and activities. These two groups of people will eventually become churches and they will have their own pastor to live close to them and teach them every day from the Bible.

Let’s say our verse we have been learning this week. (Show PPT Visual #5: English Verse) Say verse together. The new churches in the mountains of Mexico need to know that God’s love is forever, and God’s love is for them. They will learn this verse too. They will say it like this. (Show PPT Visual #6: Spanish Verse) Say verse together in Spanish if possible.

Let’s pray for the two new mission churches that are just beginning to learn about the Love of Jesus, and for the groups from the established churches that go to visit them and teach them.