The Day the Sun Stood Still

Balaam’s donkey may be a favorite among kids, but I think the story from Joshua 10, the day the sun stood still,

Praying for Your Elephant - Definately Not Peanuts to Me

Every once in awhile a Christian book comes along that really makes a difference in my life. This was one of them. It isn't specifically about children's ministry - but it probably has had more of an impact on my ministry than any leadership or kidmin book I have read.

The title comes from a prayer the author and a friend prayed more on a whim than anything. There was an offer to hire an elephant to bring to your youth group for something like $3000. They thought that would be cool, but didn't seriously entertain the idea. Almost as an afterthought,

The Talking Donkey

Kids just love this OT Bible story for its quirkiness. Quirky it may be, but it carries such great lessons that it is referred to 9 other times in the Bible (Numbers 31:8, Deuteronomy 23:4, Joshua 13:22, 24:9, Nehemiah 13:2, Micah 6:5, 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 1:11 and Revelation 2:14). So I feel it is a story worth teaching.

Balaam’s talking donkey also lends itself to drama. You can act it out with as few as 3 people if you adapt it. So here is what  you need:

• Donkey costume made from a cardboard box. Click here for directions. (I got the idea from Bible Class Creations)

Donkey costume

• Angel costume (raid the Christmas costume box)
• Bag of money (can be a paper bag stuffed with newspaper with $ symbols on it.)
• Sword (Try the

Bringing Down the Walls of Jericho

I love it when I can reuse things in children’s ministry. This week I re-purposed the river prop that we used for crossing the Jordan River in last week’s lesson.

Last week the river lay flat until the priests stepped in the water. Then a helper pulled the water up into the air until it stood up, just like a wall of water. Click here for