Scripture: I Kings 16:29-17:24
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn hard times can happen even to those who follow God.
- Students will learn God does not desert us in hard times, but like He did for Elijah, God cares for us during difficult times.
- Students will learn God sometimes (but not always in the ways we want!) blesses us in earthly ways for our obedience.
- Students will participate in a service project where they practice and teach drought resistance in gardening.
Guiding Question: Why is it important to listen to God and prepare for difficult times by leaning on and being obedient to God?
Materials: Computers/phones for researching, materials for drought resistant gardening (will vary depending on what the students decide to do)
Procedure: Review the story of Elijah from the scriptures above. Emphasize that even when life presents challenges, God will always be there for us and will take care of us. Remind students of the importance of obey God. There are times where God will bless us in a special way because of our obedience to Him. This is not every single time we obey, but happens when it is part of God’s plan.
Introduce the service project. Tell the students they are going to practice and teach drought resistant gardening for food. Explain that people who heavily rely on growing their own food fear droughts because it can destroy their chance of growing food. Many people may not know how to garden in a drought resistant way. Tell the students there are many procedures they can research in order to teach others. These procedures include covering ground with 3-4 inches of mulch, using raised beds, shade ground but not plant heavily or it may not grow, growing symbiotic plants like corn, beans and squash close to each other so they can each benefit the other, drip watering at ground level, growing food plants that need little water: chard, asparagus, sweet potato, okra, peppers, mustard greens, eggplant, chickpea, black-eyed peas, basil, other herbs, pomegranates, quinoa, tomatillo and figs.
Once the students have researched these techniques and feel comfortable with the information, they can present their findings with you to a local ministry that helps those growing food in low income areas or present at a community garden.
Additional Questions: How does growing food help grow other’s knowledge of Jesus?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students research and choose a local community garden to serve at. Have the student put together the project by deciding what they want to teach those there how to grow and also plan a short devotional lesson to share with those at the garden.