A NEW YEAR!! JAM Kids - January 11, 2012

The theme for January 2012 came from Luke 17:11-19,
the story of Jesus and the 10 lepers.

The kids arrive and are anxious to begin their activities.

We each made sure that our booklets were up to date.

Our photographer took lots of photos!
Faces in the Crowd

There were lots of different things to use for our thank-you cards.

We each made at least one Thank You card.
This reminds us of the one leper who thanked Jesus.
Our cards could go to friends or family.

The story of the Ten Lepers

Leprosy was a terrible skin disease. It was infectious. This means it could spread from a person to others, and they also would have the disease. There were strict rules which a leper had to observe. The person had to live outside the camp away from other people so the disease would not spread. If the sores went away, the leper had to go to the priest to be examined. If the priest said that the man was no longer contagious, he could go back and live with his family.

The story about the ten lepers occurred when Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The men met him, but stayed a distance away. (The law said a leper must not come near and must call out "Unclean!" so people would know he had leprosy.)

These men called out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" They knew he had healed others. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, and as they were going, a wonderful thing happened. Their skin became clean and free from leprosy! We can just imagine the joy they felt.

Nine of the men continued on to go see the priest, but one man turned back and came to Jesus. He was praising God with a loud voice, and he fell at Jesus' feet and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan, a man from the region of Samaria. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. Jesus asked where the other nine men were. Ten were healed, but only one came back to say "Thank you", and he was a foreigner. Jesus told the man, "Rise and go. Your faith has made you well."

"Unclean!"

The lepers saw Jesus and said, "Master! Heal me!"

And Jesus healed the ten lepers.

A merchant was selling his goods in Jerusalem.

People of the city of Jerusalem went shopping. But not the lepers!

If you were healed, you had to show the priest.

One leper returned to Jesus after being healed.

The leper bowed down in thanks.

And although it was not in the script, it seems as though
the other lepers thought that they should thank Jesus, too!


Then it was time to EAT

We bless the food before going downstairs.

Hot dogs, fresh pineapple, Clementines, pea pods,
and celery with peanut butter.
Cupcakes came later.

Thank you, Beverly and Judy!


Time to Play in the GYM!
We love "China Wall"

Allison assures Emma that this will be fun!

After GYM Activities

We had options:

Decorating the 10 lepers or a word search.

One person returned to say "thank you."

This "Word Search" takes lots of concentration!

It's time for CAMPFIRE!

"Five el-e-phants went out to play, on a spider web one day . . ."

There was a tree . . .

And the green grass grew all around, all around . . .

"Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas . . .

Give me a BIG M "M" Give me a little m "m"

Moo, moo, moo moo!

God be with you, and bless you, Mary.
May God be with you, Mary, and bless you every day.