Lesson on Giving: Marbles in the Pocket

Do you know what a Missionary Box is? Well, I will tell you. It is a box sent from a missionary society in a city or town to a mission field. The box contains clothing, bedding, and sometimes toys, dolls and picture books for the children at the mission field.

In a certain city, one Christmas season the children of the Sunday School brought gifts to fill a box. Some brought clothes they had outgrown. Some who had two coats decided they could give one. Others brought books. One little girl brought a beautiful doll. She had other dolls, and this one she dearly loved, but she said, "I want some other little girl to be happy, and I think I can get along without this doll, though I shall miss her dreadfully."

One day the committee came together to sort the gifts and pack the box. One woman picked up a boy's coat. She felt something, hard in one of the pockets. Another woman said, "Better look all through those pockets; you can never tell what a boy will use his pockets for." So she went all through the pockets. In one of them she found a soiled handkerchief tied in a knot. With much pulling, for it was a hard knot, she loosed the little package, and there she found five marbles. With the marbles was a note written in a boy's hand—

"DEAR BOY WHO GETS THIS COAT,

I have eight marbles. First I put in four for you. Then I put in another one. I hope you will like the coat, and the marbles.

From your friend,

JOHN MASON."

Now what do you think of that? Isn't it glorious? To give more to the other fellow than you keep for yourself, especially when that other fellow is someone you have never met, is Christlike.

MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 7: 12

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.


KIDS CRAFT: Shoe Box Gift Box
Ask the children to bring a small shoe box. Then, let the children decorate the top cover of the shoe box using colored pens, colored paper, glitter glue or anything they can use for designs.

Then, this boxes can be filled with a toy, a shirt or a small gift like a comb, toothbrush, candies which the children would like to give to poor children. The gifts need not be new, they can be clothes that the kids have outgrown or toys that still looks nice but they don't want to play with anymore.

Give the children some time to do this but make sure that the gift boxes can be shared with other children before Christmas day.