Where Does a Missionary Go?

Thursday:	Where Does a Missionary Go?
Bible Lesson:	The Rich Young Man: We need to be dedicated to God, not other things.
Memory Verse:	Matthew 19:29
Missions Concepts:	Missionaries go wherever there are people who need to hear.
Missions Examples:	Zambo Solomon, Paul Rajan
Bible Passages:	[Needed]

Introduction: Missions Marathon

[Perform the Missions Marathon Skit by way of introduction.]

In the skit, Earnest wasn't sure how much of the world he had to go to in his Missions Marathon. So today, that's what we're going to talk about: where missionaries go.

Explanation: Where the People Are

Do missionaries go to the moon? Do they go to the north pole? Do they go to the middle of the ocean? No, missionaries don't go to any of those places. They don't need to go to those places, because there's nobody living there.

Yesterday, we said that missionaries teach people to follow Jesus. So to do that, they have to go where the people are. That's where missionaries go: wherever there are people. Missionaries don't all go to the same place. Zambo Salamon is a missionary in northwest Cameroon. He went there because he knew there were people there who needed to be taught about God. Paul Rajan is a missionary in India, because there are people there. Both Zambo Salamon and Paul Rajan were born in the country where they are missionaries. Sometimes missionaries go overseas, to a different country where they weren't born. Other times, they stay closer to home. But wherever they go, they go where there are people who need to be taught about how to follow Jesus.

Game: Naming Places

[Set up a white board or the equivalent.] Let's name some places where you could go and be a missionary. Remember, it has to be a place where there are people who need to be taught about how to follow God. [Accept answers from the kids and write them on the board. Make sure they include some that are close to home and some that are farther afield.]

[If there's time, make a separate list and have them name places where they cannot be a missionary, any place where there's nobody that needs to be taught – Antarctica, Mars, deep underground, etc.]

Invitation: Missions

Invite any children who want to do missions work to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.