In 2016, SIM UK partnered with TnT to develop Sunday school materials in Arabic with the aim of sowing seeds of faith across the Middle East in the lives of the youngest members of their congregations.
The translation project is now finished and more than 80 people have registered to download the free material from a specially designed Arabic website.
SIM UK teacher Mike, who has been serving in the Middle East for 19 years and helped launch the project, says: “Many Sunday School teachers use a story and a colouring page, but we wanted to offer a creative, biblical session that engages the children and gives them good foundations for understanding the Bible correctly for themselves.”
The Mustard Seeds curriculum provides appropriate lessons for youngsters, aged 18 months to 18, with everything churches need for a 30- to 60-minute lesson, including teacher’s Bible preparation and teaching plan; games, discussion questions, crafts and worksheets.
“The feedback from our partner churches is that they themselves felt fed and trained by using this resource, as well as it being excellent for the Sunday School classes,” says Mike.
After the translation work ended, the next step was to communicate with more Middle East churches and to tell them about this great new resource.
And despite the challenges caused by Covid, seven training days have been held, with more planned for November.
A fellow SIM UK worker, who is a member of a local Middle East church, comments: “The training was excellent and really inspired us how we can teach the Bible to children. Since then, we’ve been meeting as a group on Tuesday mornings to prepare the children’s ministry that runs on Friday mornings.
“It’s been a huge encouragement to see the impact of teaching the children in a faithful, systematic way and to see the teachers benefiting from preparing and studying the Word together.
“We now have about 50 children – many unchurched – who are attending every Friday.”
Another comments: “The training was fruitful and a blessing for me personally as I realised the importance of studying Bible passages before teaching them to the kids. It was the first time I noticed the importance of understanding the context and conclusion.”
Mike says he is grateful to SIM UK supporters, who helped to fund a local worker to build contacts with churches across the Middle East and make them aware of the TnT materials.
“Jana connects with churches and promotes use of the material, as well as organises the training days and translates for the TnT trainer,” adds Mike.
“As we come to the end of our time in the ME, it’s so exciting to see this project take off and it’s our dream to see many more churches across the ME using this fantastic resource.”
By Kerry Allan
Please pray
- Give thanks that the Lord provided the funding for Jana’s work to encourage many more churches across the Middle East to have a huge impact on the next generation for Christ.
- That many of the 50 children attending a Middle East church each Friday and work through the TnT material, will come to know the Lord for themselves.
- That those teaching the hope of Jesus to children in the Middle East will grow in their faith as they prepare lessons.
Go to www.mustard-seeds.net/arabic for more information.