By the end of this lesson the child should be able to:

• Know about Joseph’s family Genesis 37: 1-4

• Know they are part of a family • Know they are greatly loved by our Heavenly Father • Feel that they are special • Know God made them as they are and has an important plan and purpose for them. DOWNLOAD Child Soldier Lesson #1

Let children go on a COLOR HUNT around a designated area to find strips of colored cloth. When they find a colored strip of cloth, the child will run back to the poster board on the classroom wall and will glue the strip of cloth to the board. Tell children to continue to hunt and glue strips to the board and try to make a coat with their many colors, so actually it will just be long rectangle strips for the most part, with added strips for the arms of the coat. Some child may enjoy drawing a head with beard, etc, on the top of the coat when they are finished so they will have a picture of JOSEPH for our story today.

Supplies needed:
• Different colour strips of cloth.
• Safety pins to make a coat.
• A large piece of paper, glue and crayons.
• Print the Joseph coat Visual Aid and get the children to colour.
• Print the Joseph stickman Visual Aid and colour.
• Black blindfold.
• Thumb tacks.
• Small pieces of paper, pencils
• Print out musical lyrics.
• Print Nuer 'Bible Verse Visual Aids' for the children of South Sudan and get a child to colour them prior to the class.
• Print the English 'Activity Book'
• Print English 'A favorite son becomes a slave' colouring pages and Take Home Track
• Print the Nuer 'Take Home Bible Memory Verse' for the children of South Sudan
• Print the English 'Keeping children safe during a flood' Adult Educational Handout
• Print the English 'Safety survival tips for a flood' Adult Educational Handout
• Print the English 'Flood Information Sheet' Adult Educational Handout
• Print Chapter #1 of 'And Puppy' for the Story Teller, adapted for the children of South Sudan (if they speak English)
• Create a ‘Heaven Corner’ with a gold cloth on a chair with Jesus’ crown and a wooden cross, covered with a red cloth to represent His blood

1. GAMES: (10 minutes) PIN THE COAT ON JOSEPH: Print the Joseph stick man and print the Joseph coat and get the children to colour before Game #1 DOWNLOAD Game #1 'Stick man'

Take turns being blindfolded and trying to pin the COLORFUL coat onto Joseph stickman! DOWNLOAD Lesson #1 Game #1 Visual Aids

DOWNLOAD Lesson #1 Engish Visual Aids

DOWNLOAD Lesson #1 Nuer Visual Aids for the children of South Sudan

2. TEAM GAMES: (10 minutes) ROBE RUN: The teacher will have two poster boards - one for each team. Draw a very large outline of a coat with stripes. Divide the class into 2 teams. Children will run a relay to take turns in coloring ONE stripe with colored marker or crayon of his/her choice and then run back to the team for the next player to run to the coat. Continue until all the stripes are coloured, the team to finish first is the winner.

5. TEACHING:
a. Review (5 minutes)
(This being Lesson 1 there may not be a review unless this teaching comes after previous teaching)

DOWNLOAD Lesson #1 English Visual Aids

DOWNLOAD Lesson #1 Nuer Visual Aids fpr the children of South Sudan

b. Learn a Bible Verse (5 minutes)

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, Genesis 37: 3a DOWNLOAD Bible Verse Visual Aid Encourage the children to color it and use it to teach the Bible Verse Optional: Download Joseph Song

DOWNLOAD Nuer Bible Verse Visual Aid Encourage the children of South Sudan to color it and use it to teach the Nuer Bible Memory Verse

Optional: Download 'A favorite son becomes a slave' Lesson #1 Bible Verse Reading Video Mute Version to voice over in Nuer Optional: Download 'A favorite son becomes a slave' Lesson #1 Bible Verse Reading Video English Audio Version

Adapted from Bible for Children

c. Teach the Lesson (15 minutes)

Bible Reading: Genesis 37: 3-4; 12-13; 17b-24

Joseph was a part of a family. Even though Joseph grew up in a messed-up family, he did not allow his unusual and dysfunctional family background to get in the way of serving God. He refused to use his family history as an excuse.

We are also part of an earthly family as well as a Christian Church family. We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus The Church is a family bound together by love for God, their Heavenly Father, and for one another.

One day Jesus was together with his disciples in a house. When Jesus' mother and brothers arrived at the house, they sent someone inside to look for him. They told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Jesus looked around at the people seated around him and answered, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother & sister & mother.”

Did Jesus love his real mother and brothers? Of course he did, but he also realized that he had another family. It was a family made up of those who loved his Heavenly Father and did his will.

You and I love our families, but we also have a wonderful family of faith made up of brothers and sisters who love God and love one another. It is wonderful to be a part of "The Family of God."

https://www.sermons4kids.com/we_are_family.htm

Joseph was loved by his earthly father, he gave him a very special present, can you remember what that was? (A coat of many colours)

But Joseph was also very important to God who loved him and you will learn later in this teaching God never left him even in Joseph’s times of difficulties.

God knew Joseph before he was even born and He had a great plan for Joseph just like He has for you.

Jeremiah 1:5a “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart”

Jeremiah 29:11
“ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Joseph's father loved him more than his brothers and Jesus was the beloved son and preferred one of the Heavenly Father.

Optional: Download ‘Joseph coat of many colors’ video

STORY TIME:

The Story Teller reads "And Puppy' Chapter #1 'Rebel Soldier Warning'

Download ‘And Puppy’ front cover

Download Full English Child Soldier Story Book for the children of South Sudan

A child associated with armed forces and armed groups is any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities

6. APPLICATION / ENCOUNTERING GOD:
One child will start and tag another child and say “JOIN THE FAMILY”. They will hold hands each time one is caught and continue to tag more and hold hands until the whole class is holding hands thanking God for your family. We are not born God's Children. We are adopted by Him through Jesus. We will learn how to become God's Children

CLOSING PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for our families and we thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Thank you for keeping me and all my family safe during this Coronavirus Crisis. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Optional: Download 'Safety survival tips for a flood' Adult Educational handouts

Optional: Download 'Keeping children safe during a flood' Adult Educational handouts

Optional: Download 'Flood Information Sheet' Adult Educational handouts

NEXT WEEK: We will learn that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Joseph is betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a pit and separated from his father.

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HEAL A HURTING HEART - Natrual Disaster

HEAL A HURTING HEART - Corona Crisis

A DROP OF HOPE

GROW AND GO CURRICULUM

ENGLISH/YORUBA

ENGLISH

ENGLISH/EFIK

ENGLISH/SHONA

CHICHEWA

ENGLISH/NUER

SWAHILI

DUTCH

PORTUGUESE

FRENCH/LINGALA

FRENCH/HAITIAN

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SUPER FRUIT CURRICULUM

NEW LIFE CURRICULUM