A Runaway MaidMartyn Payne |
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On Your Marks: Again and again throughout the Bible we find God searching for those who
are lost. In many ways the whole Bible is a story of 'lost and found'. People
choose to go their own way and leave the security of God's love but God does
not give up on them. God comes searching to bring people home because, as St
Augustine's prayer puts it, 'we are restless, until we find our rest in [God]'.
This session is part of a series that explores this theme in stories
from the Old and New Testaments. In each we see individuals who are lost for a
variety of reasons, but God rejoices to find them again and bring them back to
his loving arms. The following outline focuses on the story of Sarai's maidservant,
Hagar, who runs away into the desert. Get Set: Use the retelling of the story from The
Barnabas Children's Bible, story 14, page 22 'Sarai's Maidservant'. This story is found in Genesis 16:1-16. See also story 18, page 27 (Genesis 21:1-21). Go! 1. When you feel bullied and badly treated, it is a natural response to
want to run away and hide. This is what happened to Hagar. She couldn't help feeling pleased with
herself when she found she was carrying her master's child but clearly she let
her delight show too much. Quite understandably, this got to Sarai and even
though it was Sarai's idea that Hagar became a surrogate mum, just like in the
soap operas, it didn't turn out to be that easy. I expect there were some
really spectacular rows between Sarai and Hagar in between the lines of this
story! Talk about what situations provoke the children in your group to feel
like running away, maybe up to their bedroom (with a great slamming of the
door!) Take care not to ask the children say anything they don't want to. However,
there should be plenty of examples of similar situations to share. Some of the older children could, in pairs, act
out a situation as a small piece of role play, in which the opening line is,
'It's all your fault!' and the final line is, 'That's it. I'm leaving!' 2. Abram wasn't much of a peacemaker in this story. He just gives in and
let's Hagar run off, carrying his precious child. Anything for a quiet life!
Even God's great leaders are only human beings in the end, and the Bible
doesn't hide this fact and their faults. How would you have tried to make peace between Hagar and Sarai? Can the
group rehearse out some of the arguments and then invite ideas as to how it
could have been resolved without the dramatic runaway scene at the end? 3. I expect that there was another row, this time between Abram and
Sarai, after Hagar left. Again, can the group suggest what might have been said? Perhaps Abram never expected it would come to this and Sarah was both
glad and perhaps a little embarrassed that she had clearly pushed Hagar too
far. Create a series of freeze-frames
(photo stills from the story), in which two or three children per scene capture
the mood of all that has happened. Suggested scenes include: Sarai sadly suggesting to Abram that Hagar become a substitute mum Hagar proud to be pregnant and Sarai's reaction Sarai's complaint to Abram Sarai
getting at Hagar Sarai and Abram's reaction to Hagar's departure Take some digital photographs of each of these scenes, which you can
then show to the group to help them build a storyboard with captions of what
has happened so far. 4. Now step into the next event of the story, where Hagar is lost in the
desert, frightened and alone. What does the group think is going through her mind? She has lost everything and might not even survive the journey. Who would want her now, with a baby on the way? What sort prayer might she have said to God? 5. But God searches for and finds Hagar. He is a God for the lost and
lonely in particular. Read the story from The
Barnabas Children's Bible, story 14. Hagar is amazed that God chooses to bother about her, despite all that
has happened. Many people have taken comfort from this story. But it wasn't an easy message that God gave her. I wonder what went through Hagar's mind, when God told her to return to
where the problem was. Can the children think of some modern-day situations, in which to go
back and face the music is the right, but difficult, thing to do? 6. Hager is so excited that God sees and cares
for her situation that the place is even renamed in honour of what happened. (N.B.
the phrase 'angel of the Lord' is often used in the Old Testament to mean a
visit from God himself.) Does it surprise any of the children in your group that God is
interested in everything that happens to them in their lives? In the Barnabas book A-cross the World
there is a session on the 'God's eye cross' from Latin America. It is made with
coloured wools wound tightly round and round two crossed sticks. Look here for a picture of this cross. This cross is a simple way to remind ourselves that God watches over us
in love wherever we go and whatever happens to us, just as Hagar experienced. Provide materials for the children to make this cross for themselves,
using kebab sticks with the sharp ends cut and coloured pieces of wool. 7. Hagar must have clung on to God's comforting words to her during the
years that followed, as she brought up Ishmael within Abraham's family. However, in Genesis 219-21, she is once again sent away into the desert
(see story 18 in The
Barnabas Children's Bible).
This time she has her boy with her and she begins to despair. But again the God who sees finds her and provides for her needs. Read
this story as a part of your prayer time at the end of the session and then,
linking it to the provision of water to Hagar, slowly pour each child a small
drink of water, as a way to remember that God will always find them when they
are lost and will be with them to help. |
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