Description

This lesson will be delivered as a digital PDF file and a PPT slideshow presentation. The PDF leader guide includes the text for each part of the missionary story for kids as well as printable visuals, photos, activity pages to accompany each part of the story.

Big Idea: God wants me to serve him!

Key Verse: Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Story Excerpt: Ida promised herself that she would never go back to live in India again and that she would never be a missionary like her parents or grandparents. She didn’t want to serve God by doing that kind of hard work. She wanted to grow up, marry a rich man, and have a nice fancy home. But Ida did eventually go back to India. When she was older, her parents returned to India as missionaries and then her mother got sick. So Ida went back to India to help her parents while her mother recovered, but she told herself she was leaving as soon as her mother was better. Other people encouraged her to stay in India and serve God as a missionary, but Ida knew that’s not what she wanted to do. As her mother recovered, Ida looked forward to leaving India forever.

Then one night, a man came to the house and begged Ida for help. “My wife is having a baby!” he said, “but something is wrong. She needs help!” Ida quickly got her father who was a doctor and would know exactly what to do. But the man refused to let Ida’s father help. At that time in India, many people believed it was wrong for a woman to be seen by a male doctor. He would only let a woman doctor help his wife. But Ida wasn’t a doctor and didn’t know how to help. After the man left, there was another knock at the door. Another man’s wife needed a doctor, but he also wouldn’t let her father come. The man begged Ida to help, but she didn’t know what to do – she wasn’t a doctor. That same night, a third man came looking for a doctor for his wife. Once again, he would not let her father help because no man was allowed to see his wife.

The next morning, Ida found out all three women had died, and she was furious. She talked to God about her anger and frustration and asked him to do something to help the women in India who needed a woman doctor. Suddenly she began to wonder, “Is it me? Am I the one who is supposed to serve God as a woman doctor in India to help these women?” Did God want her to become a missionary doctor in India?

In addition to this missionary story, you can also use the FREE “Good News for the World!” missions activity guide. This free missions activity guide includes more gospel-based ideas and activities to help children develop a heart for missions.