Fishers Of Men

Two kids -“fishermen”- hold a sheet between them and dash around the room trying to catch other kids in the group by wrapping them in the sheet. Once caught the “fish” are put in an area designated “the boat”. Very simple – but good to launch a discussion about what Jesus really had in mind…

This is a scavenger hunt with a twist.

I made a list of things to collect within a certain amount of time by 3 groups of kids. Each group had an adult who drove their vehicle up and down the streets in which the kids were walking in order to monitor them. The list included an aluminum can, an oak leaf, an old shoelace, a round stone (the group with the roundest one got an extra point), A page from a newspaper that was dated from yesterday, a flower (wild or tame but it must be real), a signature from an employee on duty at the local restaurant, etc……

Each item received a point.

Rules: Do not take anything from people’s yards without permission. Only two people from the group may go into the restaurant to get the signature (this cut down on them creating a chaos in the restaurant and disrupting the diners who were eating), Let the little ones of the group help participate, make them feel involved. You must have an adult within sight and earshot at all times. Anyone who didn’t abide by the rules were buckled into the adult’s vehicle and weren’t allowed to participate for the rest of the game.

The purpose of the game…….Matthew 4:19 says..” Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus wants us to go out and find people who don’t know the Lord and to tell them about Jesus. How hard was it to find all of the items on the list? Did you get tired walking up and down the streets and hills looking for all of the items. Did you find every single item on the list? Jesus wants us to keep going, never stop trying to tell others the good news. What if the items you were trying to find and bring back to the church were people? What kind of talking and persuading would you have to do to convince them to come with you and hear about Jesus? Jesus used all kinds of people to TELL others about God. He wanted all kinds of different people to HEAR about God. Just because we got tired tonight and we had a hard time finding all of the items doesn’t mean our work is done. The game is over. But our telling others about Jesus is just starting. We should be continuing to tell others about Jesus for as long as we live. Whether we are tired or not.