The Mission
IQM’s first bus mission to make Christ known one block at a time was last week. We took the bus to a Christian preschool. Our granddaughter, Ruth, attends the school, and since she was part of this bus journey from the beginning, I really hoped we could take the bus to her school before she graduated into kindergarten. The school administrator accepted our offer to present a Show-and-Tell to help preschoolers get to know Jesus a little better.
Two classes of four and five-year-olds, and two classes of two and three-year-olds came inside our lavender bus for twenty minutes each so I could teach them about Jesus with the Immanuel Quilt. Most had never been on a bus. They came aboard wide-eyed, greeted by three of our puppets: Grandma Puppet, Cam Man, and my look-alike.
Preschool Show and Tell
To each group I asked them to tell me Names of Jesus they knew. One child answered, “Holy Spirit”. This answer opened the door for me to talk about God as One God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit, and show how a quilt can help us understand the concept. The front, colorful side shows Jesus; the fluffy batting is like the Holy Spirit, who lives inside believers, unseen; and the back of the quilt is like our Father in Heaven, who holds everything together.
I made sure to repeat over and over that Immanuel means God with us. I let each child touch a spool of invisible thread to prove that just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it’s not real.
The Gospel Told
The gospel was presented through five key Names of Jesus. Yes, we covered the meaning of sin, the reason we needed a Savior, how God sent us His Son, and when we believe He died on a cross and rose from the dead—we live forever with Him, and He in us.
We felt it went amazingly well. They sat still and engaged with me, answering my questions and asking ones, too. Every child participated in the matching game we played. Holding up cards with images of each quilt block, I told them the Name of Jesus each represented; I asked them to find the matching block. They loved the game, not even realizing that in playing it, they were learning Names of Jesus.
Pointing out the Word of God quilt block, they sang the B-I-B-L-E song for us. Pointing out the King of Kings block, they sang a song with motions about our King.
I told them Jesus is our Overseer, and that He watches over all we say and do. Each class was told that the Overseer block has a hidden image. I asked if anyone could find what was hidden. Beau, he spotted the Lamb; the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Once Beau found the Lamb, a group of others came forward, eager to find it. We closed our time together with Grandma Puppet singing This Little Light of Mine.
The Show-and-Tell was to help the preschoolers get to know Jesus a little better. We did our best, but leave the results in the Lord’s hands. We are just grateful for the opportunity we were given to go. Our hope is that each child remembers something they learned about Jesus from our time together.
Help Make Jesus Better Known
Psalm 9:10 tells us that those who know His Name, trust in him. And, Jesus himself says in John 14:7, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
If you want a way to help your children or grandchildren get to know Jesus better, consider getting the IQM Names of Jesus Bingo game over on the store page. My grandkids find it especially fun to play using candy as markers, and as they play, they are getting to know more Names and attributes of Jesus.
