bible truth: key verse

LESSON 3
LEADER GUIDE
MEET ANGELIQUE
FROM RWANDA
BIBLE TRUTH:
When you follow
God, others can see a
difference in you.
KEY VERSE:
In the same way, let
your light shine before
others, so that they may
see your good works and
give glory to your Father
Who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 (ESV®)
NOTES FOR THE TEACHER
As you prepare for this “GO Reach Kids”
lesson about Angelique and her native
country of Rwanda, here are a few ideas
for adapting the experience to your
particular situation:
• Prior to this lesson, hang several large
blank sheets of paper around the room
and place two or three markers with
each sheet. These will be used in the
“Focus on the Nations” section. Also,
make four signs using the following
words: Rwanda, Family, God’s Word,
Savior. These will be used in the “Focus
on the Video” section.
• In the “Focus on the Bible” section, we
provide a Bible story based on the
Bible truth and the key verse. You might
consider extending the study over two
weeks with the first week looking at the
“Focus on the Nations” emphasis and
the second week studying the “Focus on
the Bible” information.
• In additional to the core lesson, we also
provide optional activities. Feel free to
use these as time allows. They also make
fun pre-class activities or can keep kids
engaged as a wrap-up to the lesson.
• The PowerPoint slides we have provided
can help you during the “Focus on the
Nations” piece of the activity. These
extra tools can enhance the learning
experience.
• We have provided a downloadable
parent handout related to this lesson.
Simply make copies of the handout and
distribute them to your parents.
ESV®
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version® (ESV®), copy right ©2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
1. Focus on the Nations (About 5 minutes)
To start today’s lesson, direct the kids to
the large blank pieces of paper hanging
around the room. Encourage them to go
to one of the sheets of paper and to write
two or three words they think of when they
hear the word “Africa.”
After the kids are done, read some of the
words and discuss why those words were
chosen as time allows. Talk about any
stereotypes that might pop up. Remind
the kids that many children just like them
live in Africa—including one who will be
featured in today’s video.
Share that while Africa includes many
nations, today’s study focuses on the
country of Rwanda. Show the PowerPoint
slide with map of Rwanda and the
Rwandan flag. Explain that it’s in eastcentral Africa. Share the “Rwanda Fun
Facts” provided on the PowerPoint slides.
2. Focus on the Video (About 10 minutes)
RWANDA
FUN FACTS
Show the video of Angelique telling her story.
After the video, allow several children to
share some things that stuck out to them.
• Rwanda once was a colony of
Belgium.
Point out the signs hanging in four corners
of the room. Remind them how each of
the signs relate to Angelique’s story on the
• Population: approximately 12
million.
video.
Explain that you have four signs. When
you hold up a sign you want a couple of
volunteers to share how the word on that
sign relates to the story. Begin with the
“Rwanda” sign and let a couple of kids
explain what that means to Angelique’s
story. Talk about some of the Fun Facts
mentioned earlier and fill in additional
details the kids might have left out.
Repeat the process with the other three
signs.
After going through the signs, review the
story again. Remind the kids that Angelique
has grown in her relationship with Jesus
by going to church, praying and studying
the Bible. Share that today’s Bible truth
is “When you follow God, others can see
a difference in you.” Ask them to explain
how Angelique influenced others through
her witness. Affirm that she helped lead
her parents to Christ because they saw
something different in her.
Share today’s key verse from Matthew
5:16. Encourage the kids to live their lives
in a way that others can see the light of
Jesus and come to know Him better.
© 2014 Awana® Clubs International
• Capital: Kigali, which is also
Rwanda’s largest city.
• The official language is
Kinyarwanda. If you wanted to
say “hello” in Kinyarwanda, you
would say, “Muraho.”
• Rwanda has mountains
and valleys—but it also has
savannahs, which are African
grasslands. Almost half the
nation’s land can be farmed.
• The Hutus make up the largest
tribe in Rwanda (almost 85% of
the population), followed by the
Tutsis (about 15%). Most of the
nation’s population lives outside
of cities.
• Rwanda’s biggest exports are
coffee and tea, followed by
animal hides and tin.
• The endangered mountain
gorillas make their home in
Rwanda. Many tourists visit the
Parc National Volcans every
year to see these animals.
3. Focus on the Bible: Lights in the World
Instruct the kids to close their eyes. Then,
ask them what they see. (Note: The answer
should be something along the lines of
“nothing” or “darkness.”) Encourage them
to imagine a world without light. Tell them
to open their eyes and to suggest things
that would be really hard to do without
any kind of light.
Show the children a candle. Remind them
that electricity brings light to our homes,
but when the electricity goes out because
of a storm or some other event, we often
use candles to help us see in the darkness.
Share that in Jesus’ day, candles and oil
lamps were the only ways people could
shine some light in a dark place—so they
would put them high on a lampstand to
create as much light as possible.
Select a child to read Matthew 5:14-16.
Point out that Jesus wants us to be like
lights in a dark world. He wants us to let
Him shine through us so others can see
Him. Note that often we hide our lights
because we’re afraid of what others will
say or do, but God really wants us to shine
brightly. When we do, those around us can
see what Jesus really means to us.
Talk with the kids about how Angelique let
her light shine in front of her parents—and
that they came to Jesus because of what
they saw in her life. Challenge the kids to
live that way so others can see Jesus
in them.
4. Focus on the Key Verse:
Matthew 5:16
Group the kids into teams of three or four
and give each team a card with today’s
key verse written on it. Tell the teams that
they will have five minutes to create a rap,
a song, or a series of hand motions using
the words of Matthew 5:16. Let them know
that they have the freedom to choose how
they share the verse, but they have to use
the words of the verse in their song, rap,
or motions.
Give the teams a few minutes to do their
work, then pick a team at random to
perform their version of Matthew 5:16. Once
they have shared their work, encourage
them to lead the other kids in performing
the verse as well. Repeat this with each
group—letting the teams perform first and
lead the others afterward. This way, kids
will hear the verse several times in several
different ways.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Intro Activity: Crack the Code
To start the lesson, group the children into
teams of 4-6 kids and give each team a
piece of paper and a pencil. Explain that
the members of each team will work
together to unscramble a special code
word about today’s video.
Tell the kids that the way to discover
the word is to use the key to the code.
Share that for the key, every letter of
the alphabet corresponds to a particular
number: A-Z corresponds to 1-26. So,
A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, and so forth. Tell them
you will show them a series of numbers.
When they figure out the right letters, they
will need to unscramble the word to find
the final answer.
Write the following code on the board or
on a large sheet of paper: 6-3-1-1-9-18.
This code reveals the scrambled word:
F-C-A-A-I-R. The unscrambled word is
“Africa.” Give the kids a few minutes to
work and tell the teams to stand up when
they have solved the code.
Explain that today’s lesson focuses on an
African nation called Rwanda and a young
girl who lives there named Angelique. Read
the Rwanda Fun Facts. Point out the Bible
truth and key verse for the lesson and
encourage the kids to see how Angelique
is living each of them out in Rwanda.
If time allows, play the game a second
time. After the game, review the story
again. Share the Bible truth and the key
verse as mentioned in the main lesson.
FOCUS ON THE HOME:
DIG DEEPER
(DOWNLOADABLE HANDOUT)
For the Parents
During this week’s GO lesson your child
FOCUS ON THE VIDEO:
SUPPLEMENT FOR
“FOUR SIGNS”
You can supplement the “Four Signs” game
from the “Focus on the Video” activity to
make it a little more active. Prior to the
session, hang the four signs in different
corners of the room.
learned about a girl named Angelique,
who lives with her family in the African
nation of Rwanda. Angelique was not
a Christian when she started going to
Awana, but she soon became a believer
and has enjoyed playing games and
learning Bible verses. She also tries to
live out her faith around others—and it’s
After the video, allow several children to
share some things that stuck out to them.
Point out the signs hanging in four corners
of the room. Remind them how each of
the signs relate to Angelique’s story on the
video.
made a big difference. Because of the
Explain that you will close your eyes and
count aloud to 10. While you’re counting,
the kids can move to one of the four
corners. When you reach 10, you will pick
one of the corners. Anyone caught in that
corner is out—and can help you count in the
next round. Whenever a group is caught in
a corner, take a minute to review how that
corner relates to Angelique’s story. The
object of the game is to be the last child
caught.
also can use these questions to start
change in her life, Angelique’s parents
wanted to know more about Jesus and
eventually became Christians, too. To
learn more about Angelique, you can
view her story at awana.org/stories. You
the conversation with your child about
what he/she learned from Angelique
and how they can help others know
Jesus better:
• How did Angelique describe her life
before she became a Christian? Have
you ever felt that way? What difference
does Jesus make when you feel like that?
Family Activity: The Least of These
the difference between the sheep and
goats was how they treated “the least of
these.” Point out that the Bible challenges
us to take care of folks who are suffering or
who are the weaker members of society.
Challenge your child to identify some
people in their school or neighborhood
who might be picked on because they are
weak and how they can befriend those
individuals in the days ahead.
Unfortunately, Rwanda has a long history
of violence within its borders. Since the
late 1950s, the nation has endured two
bloody civil wars. During those conflicts,
thousands of Rwandans died, including
many who were murdered. Thousands
more had to leave their homes and take
refuge in other countries.
Ask your child to read Proverbs 31:8-9
aloud. Talk about what it means to speak
up for others and to defend the rights of
the poor and needy. Explain again that
Jesus wants us to minister to “the least
of these” and that making a difference in
their lives is one way our lights can shine
for Him.
This week, encourage your child to think
about what it would be like to have to leave
their homes and live in another country.
Read the story of the sheep and the goats
from Matthew 25:31-46. Emphasize that
AWANA.ORG/EVERYCHILD
• Why do you think Angelique tries so hard
to live out her faith in front of others?
How has it made a difference to her
family?
• Read Matthew 5:16. What does it mean
to let your light shine? How can you shine
each day?
You see the benefits of
your children participating
in Awana. Would you
prayerfully consider
partnering with us to
reach kids around the
world and give them the
same opportunity your children
have to hear the gospel (maybe
for the first time) and grow in
faith in Christ?
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