Introduce students to the Garifuna people of Central America. The book, Window on the World, can be used to aid in this process as it includes other unreached people groups as well. Also, use the map of Latin America to track the unreached people and countries of Latin America.
Read the section titled “Shipwrecked Slaves”.
The Garifuna people are descendants of slaves brought over from Africa and Caribbean island Indians. Their escape from various Caribbean Islands brought them to the eastern coast of Central America in the countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Lead students to use a colored pencil to shade in these areas on resource R-11b, God is Ruler_student, indicating the areas where the Garifuna live.
See R-11c, God is Ruler_teacher, for guidance on how to color in map.
Next, read the section titled “Look what I’ve got!”. Consider having an unlined journal in which the outside cover is similar in appearance to the outside cover of a Bible. Use the journal to demonstrate the idea of not having a Bible in your own language.
While you hold up the journal, tell students that you are holding a Bible. Open the Bible and ask students what they see. Empty pages, right? Explain that this is what it would be like if you spoke a language in which the Bible had not yet been translated. You wouldn’t have access to God’s revelation and wisdom in a way that truly reached your heart.
Remind students how excited the man was at the airport when he saw the Bible in his heart language. Share with students that we often take the gift of God’s word for granted and even become apathetic about having God’s word. But the man at the airport was joyful and desperate to have that Bible!
Finally, read the section entitled “Jesus is alive!” Explain to student that the Jesus Film is a movie that explains the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has been shown in over 200 countries and translated into over 1000 languages. It has been used as a vital part of Christian ministry for over 35 years and millions have come to know Christ because of the work of the ministry of The Jesus Film.
I. Bible Translation
The story of the Garifuna people mentions the fact that at one time, the Garifuna did not have the Bible available in their own heart language.
Options for a mission project benefitting Bible translations could include:
Hosting a drive to enlist families to support a verse of Bible translation per month by becoming a One Verse monthly partner.
https://theseedcompany.org/one-verse
Begin a fundraising project to translate verses of the Bible into a particular language
https://theseedcompany.org/projects
II. The Jesus Film
From the Jesus Film website:
“Based on the Gospel of Luke, the “JESUS” film has now been dubbed in more than 1,300 languages, with new languages being added every month. This allows God’s Word to speak to people in more than 200 countries in languages they know and understand. By God’s grace, it is yielding a spiritual harvest of unprecedented results.”
Show students the Jesus Film for Children (a shorter version of the actual Jesus Film). This will help familiarize students with the Jesus Film project, as well as give them the opportunity to see a video version of the Gospel. The video, as well as a few follow-up discussion questions are available here:
Begin a fundraiser for a project from the Jesus Film gift catalog:
Jesus Film Gift Catalog