Youth Ministry

My goal for this final time with Jonah was to share the end of the story and include time for a recap of the whole story. I decided today to do this by sending the youth to stations set up around the space.

Here’s how we did it. We divided up into two groups. Each group went to the stations in any order and did what was stated on the information sheet at the station. Then, they took their station information sheet and went to the next station. The stations can be competed in any order. This is because the final step is assembling the story in order using the information sheets from each station.

Station 1-Call from God!

I would have loved to have a telephone with a prerecorded message when they picked up the phone with God’s call to Jonah. What I had was a picture of a telephone and one person was asked to be the voice of God and call Jonah!

Station 2-Build a Boat!

If Jonah is going to flee on a boat, he needs you to build him one. Make a boat using the materials on this table. The boat must float for 10 seconds.

For this station, I sent out a big bowl of water and a random assortment of items from the craft closet (popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, small cups, glue, etc).

Station 3- Rock, Paper, Scissors

While on the boat, the sailors cast lots which could be something like rock, paper, scissors to see who was causing the problem on the boat. Play rock, paper, scissors until someone is the winner-this person is your Jonah and needs to be thrown overboard.

Station 4-Jonah into the Fish

This station requires a cup, string, tape, a tiny figure to be Jonah. I borrowed this idea from somewhere online that I cannot find again to give them credit. The goal is to catch Jonah in the cup, so you need to tie the string around Jonah and then attach the string to the cup. Each person takes a turn being the fish who swallows Jonah.

Station 5-Write a Prayer in the Fish

Working together as a group, talk about how Jonah might have been feeling inside the big fish for three days and three nights. He didn’t know God was going to save him. Pretend you are Jonah and write a prayer to God together.

Station 6-Go to Nineveh!

God called to Jonah a second time. Be like Jonah and walk all around the city (or this room) yelling, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

Station 7-Repent with the People of Nineveh!

Instead of sitting in ashes, we sat in scraps of paper. And in place of sackcloth, we used old painting shirts from the craft closet.

Have someone read out loud-The people heard Jonah and changed their ways. They promised not to eat (fast). They put on sackcloth (old, not fancy clothes) and sat in ashes. They hoped God would see the changes they made in their lives and forgive them. And guess what? It worked. God saw their changed behavior, and God forgave the people of Nineveh.

Station 8-Sit Under a Tree

You might think Jonah would be happy that God was kind and forgave the people of Nineveh. Nope! He got mad. Jonah said, “God, I know you are merciful. I didn’t even want to come here because I knew you would forgive them.”

Take turns sitting in this chair under the tree being grumpy like Jonah was. Remember that God forgives us and loves us just like God forgave the people of Nineveh and grumpy Jonah too.

Once all eight stations have been completed, it is time to put the story in order and tell it to the awesome adults waiting to hear the story.

So, friends for chapter 2 of Jonah we need to get ourselves into the belly of a big fish (some people still say whale and I think there are better things to argue about than fish vs whale).

You can search online and find great plans for huge tarps that you inflate with a fan. This sounds like a bunch of fun. I didn’t have the time, energy, or budget to make this happen.

My cheaper option required 18 blue plastic table cloths, blue duct tape, painters tape or masking tape, a ladder and a hallway at church!

Next, you need a mouth, so you can get swallowed by the big fish.

The hard work is done. Now on to the lesson for the youth. Begin by reviewing what happened in Chapter 1. Last time we left Jonah floating in the sea, and now he gets swallowed by a big fish.

Everyone into the fish. You can sit or stand for this part. Ask wondering questions. I wonder what Jonah was thinking? I wonder what you are thinking since you are now in the belly of a fish? I wonder what Jonah did to pass the time? I wonder how you would spend your time in here? I wonder what it smells like in the belly of a fish? (It was suggested that I place open cans of tuna fish around the room to help create the ambiance. I didn’t. You can if you would like).

Read Chapter 2 of Jonah out loud. You can divide it up and have different youth read. Stop before Jonah gets out.

Ask the youth what they would have said or prayed in this situation?

And then together, get vomited out of the fish back onto dry land like Jonah. Give thanks to God for caring for us and sharing Jonah’s story with us. Encourage the youth to come back next week to hear the rest of the story!

My youth asked for ways they could be Jonah, so for three weeks we are making Jonah’s story come to life.

Week 1 was chapter 1 (except the last verse). We left Jonah floating in the water with a to be continued and come back next week.

So for chapter 1, my friend and I built a boat.

We used cardboard and paper and tape from church. We used empty boxes from church as the cargo to be thrown overboard.

And then I rewrote the chapter into a youth friendly play. One of their favorite things they took from the lesson was that casting lots was something like rock, paper, scissors. We are doing more rock, paper, scissors now since they see the connection to the Bible.

We had a great time enacting the story and learning more about God through Jonah’s story.