Every year, the children anticipate their church Christmas program. And this year was no different. The theme for this year's event would be Christmas Around the World. A couple of us helped find/create the scripts that would be used. In between performances by the Sunday School children, we were able to showcase videos and pictures from our missionaries. They shared what Christmas is like in their countries. We were able to highlight Niger, Peru and and a Bible distribution video in China.
Prior to the program, we have young musicians play the prelude.
Here are the girls playing Jesus Loves Me with the bells.
The boys and I played Joy to the World. We've been practicing for a while and the hard work paid off--they all did very well.
The K-2nd graders did a poem called Remember Christmas. It was about the symbols of Christmas and how they relate to Jesus.
Eden had the part "These symbols remind us that we, more like the three wise men should be." She had the speaking part and had three boys following her to represent the three wise men. She was perfect for the part because when they were practicing and lining up, she was making sure the three boys were where they needed to be :)
Eliza had the speaking part right after Eden: "Earnestly seeking to find the new babe who humbly in a manger laid."
The whole group of K-2nd graders.
They sang two songs: Children Go Where I Send Thee and Joy to the World.
"Let heaven and nature sing . . ."
Here are the lines that Ephraim had to say: " The first missionaries came to Japan in the 1500s and they faced an uphill battle. Some people believed in Jesus, but many others didn't. And some of the unbelievers were powerful people who began persecuting the church. Christians were tortured and killed because of what they believed. But some stayed faithful to the message. And because of them many Japanese people do celebrate Jesus' birth."
The whole idea was to see how people are celebrating Christmas and the birth of Jesus in various countries around the world. Then their country's flag was placed by the manger in the center of the stage. You can see that below.
At the end of the program, the Indonesian boy and the Russian boy came in with their flags.
Emmet said, "I am from the Tomini tribe in Indonesia. My people grow cloves and coconuts and also make living through forestry and fishing. We combine our worship of animals and ancestors with Islam. There are no Bibles written in our language. We have yet to hear about the first Christmas in Bethlehem so we too can celebrate Christmas and be saved."
Emmet's Indonesian flag and the Udheke/Russian flag were not placed around the manger.
They haven't heard the Good News.
They don't have a Bible in their language.
They don't know about that first Christmas in Bethlehem.
They followed up their skit with two powerful songs: Where Are You Christmas? and Do Something. If you haven't heard the song Do Something, I encourage you to listen to it. It is all about being created by God to do something, be a positive change in the world, if you don't do it, then who will?
A quick picture together after the program.
The program was a success. We've raised awareness for Global Missions by promoting our missionaries, encouraging Compassion International child sponsorship and sharing how Christmas is different, yet the same, around the world. Jesus came for all of us.
We were reminded that our work is not yet done. One hundred eighty million people do not have a Bible translation in their language. There are 7000 unreached people groups in the world today.
If we don't reach them, then who will? Together, we can do something.
" . . .' for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people '. . ." Luke 2:10.
Great post! Thank you for all that you did to help me pull this together! I would have been incredibly frustrated had it not been for you to help organize and add lines, etc! THANK YOU!!!!
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