T.H.U.M.B.S up for Missions

by Sharon Hattaway

Missions education is more than teaching children what missions is. It’s more than training them to give and pray for missionaries. It’s even more than teaching children to tell others about Christ. Missions education must include a challenge to pray for people who have no opportunity to hear the Gospel.

There are more than 24,000 different people groups in the world. A people group is a group of people that has the same language, lives and thinks in similar ways and has the same basic philosophy of life.

People groups can be divided into two categories: the reached and unreached. Reached people groups have the chance to hear the Gospel. They have Bibles in their languages, churches in their communities and people to tell them about Christ. They may not have heard, but if they search it should not be hard to find the Gospel.

Unreached people groups have no Bibles in their languages, no churches in their communities and no one to tell them who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for them. They can be categorized according to five basic beliefs. When you take the first letter of each category, it forms the word THUMB, a handy reminder to help children pray.

TRIBAL

The first group is tribal people. They are found all over the world in little pockets of up to several thousand. Most tribal people live in the Amazon in South America, in Africa or in Southeast Asia rain forests. These people believe in spirits. They think everything in nature has either a good spirit or a bad spirit (animism). They worship the spirits and do all they can to please them. They believe bad things happen if they do not please the spirits.

Tribal people need to find freedom from the fear of evil spirits.

HINDUS

The second belief system is Hinduism. Hindus are found around the world, but we associate them mainly with India and the surrounding countries. Hindus have thousands of gods. These people believe they are caught in a cycle of rebirth called reincarnation. They try to please their gods by giving offerings of flowers, food, money, or animal sacrifices.

Hindus need to hear that there is only one God who loves them very much.

UN-RELIGIOUS

The third belief system is atheism. We can identify these people as un-religious. They do not believe in God. Un-religious people live in many places but large numbers are in China, Russia and Cuba. These governments teach there is no God. They believe that people are basically good and need to work hard to cooperate with each other to have a better life. They do not understand about sin.

Un-religious people must hear what sin is and that it deserves eternal punishment.

MUSLIMS

The next belief system is one of the largest – Islam. One out of every five people today is a Muslim. We think mainly of the Middle East and North Africa when we speak of Islam. These people believe that Jesus was a prophet like Mohammed but that Mohammed is more important. Muslims have five things they do so that they can go to Paradise when they die.

Muslims need to believe that Jesus is God and that He is the only way to Heaven.

BUDDHISTS

The final belief is Buddhism. Buddhists are found in Southeast Asia and neighboring countries. They are similar to Hindus. They believe in reincarnation. They hope to end the cycle of rebirth by merging with the Buddha – like a drop of water going into the ocean.

Buddhists need to realize they must choose the right way to Heaven before they die; there is no second chance.

The Challenge to Pray

When your students fold their hands to pray, they can look at their thumbs, and remember the unreached people groups. Have them pray that these people will:

· Learn who the one true God is.

· Find out what sin is and its punishment.

· Know who Jesus Christ is and what He did for them.

· Receive Christ as their Savior.

Praying in this way will also review the Gospel!

In our church each year we spend time every Wednesday evening for a month teaching elementary-age children about the five people groups. In addition to the children’s prayer ministry, we are trusting God to impress on some of them the need to go to unreached people. They may be asking God to open the eyes of the very ones they will someday reach for Him.

Missions Prayer Room Makes an Impact!

Our church has a small, specially decorated prayer room for children to use with their teacher. The room is colorful and each decoration has a purpose. Each wall in the prayer room is dedicated to one of the letters in the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). Try it!

Adoration wall – Post computer-produced paper banners to display the different attributes of God and some names of God. As your group enters the room, pick a name and explain it to the children. An example would be “Deliverer.” Talk about what this means and give an example from the Bible. Let children share different times when God has delivered them. Emphasize how God wants to deliver everyone from the penalty of sin. Conclude with worship prayers.

Confession wall – Place verses that identify what sin is. You can begin with, “Think about this morning when you got up, did you have a good attitude? Did you do everything your mom or dad asked you with the right attitude?” Continue to talk the children through their day. When someone remembers something that displeased God, let him take time to tell God he is sorry. This helps children get into the habit of confessing and receiving forgiveness.

Thanksgiving wall – Post pictures or words of things we should be thankful for. Have children take turns saying “popcorn prayers” (popping up one after another) to express thanks for these things. Cover one category each week and rotate through the subjects.

Supplication wall – Display prayer requests from the children and church. The wall may be divided into different categories such as shut-ins, missionaries, ministries, church leaders, government, and personal. Let the children pick a request from each category. The requests may be on bulletin boards where the children can remove one, pray for it and then put it back up.

We are hoping to raise a generation of prayer warriors that will change the world.