3 minute read
Preparing Missionaries for Tomorrow
Before the Seventh-day Adventist Church began [1] printing Sabbath Sch ool lessons for Cradle Roll [2] children, a Sabbath School teacher by the name of Vivian Robinson [3] was calling those children to become missionaries. During the times the children were left to play or sleep through Sabbath School, she crafted sheep from cardboard and cotton balls, using them to teach about the Good Shepherd. She also wrote song lyrics [4] to inspire them to one day take the news about the Good Shepherd to places where no one had heard of Him.
Today, it’s still important to call children to be involved in mission! But now, unlike in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, many resources are available for teachers and parents.
Adventist Mission makes a variety of resources available to inspire children and adults with a passion for mission. Here are some you can request for your classroom, church, or home:
1. Prayer map posters are available upon request to schools and churches for groups, young and old, to use in praying for people in cities worldwide. Request one for your school or church at missiontothecities.org/contact-us.
2. Mission Spotlight shares a new mission video each week, including some animated segments, from places all around the world. These can be viewed or downloaded from MissionSpotlight.org.
3. With a single sign-up, Mission 360° magazine, Frontline, and Picture Story can come to your address, bringing a wealth of mission stories to inspire all ages. Subscribe at am.adventistmission.org/newsletter-signup.
4. The Children’s Mission quarterly in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Bahasa can be downloaded from am.adventistmission.org/mq-children. Don’t forget to download the printable mission bank coloring sheet from the same page.
Keeping before children and teens the powerful way God is working to reach the world and the importance of His call to join Him in reaching the least reached with His love can help prepare youth to become the missionaries of tomorrow.
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1 Sabbath school lessons for Cradle Roll were first printed in 1957. “Chapter 5: A Brief History of Children’s Ministries, https://children. adventist.org/chapter-5-a-brief-history-of-childrens-ministries.pdf.
2 Cradle Roll was Sabbath School for children 0 to 2 years old, now referred to as Beginners.
3 Vivian Robinson was my grandmother, whom, I am sad to say, I never met.
4 When looking for the songs in the Sabbath School worker archives, I discovered that the archivist remembered singing my grandmother’s song about a missionary nurse as a child in Sabbath School.
