Devotions: Armenia to America

Tell your Sunday School, Bible Study or Kids Club about the wonderful adventure of obeying God.

This is the true story of the brave and obedient people who obeyed the Armenian boy's prophecy and left their country for America prior to the first world war.

Grandfather’s story:From Armenia to America 1905

It was very hard in the new land of America but every day they read the Bible and talked to God.
On Sundays they had church in their house— in the lounge room.

Grandfather died when his son Isaac was 14 years old.
So Isaac went to work selling vegetables.
He gave the money to his mother to care for their family.
It wasn’t very much but Isaac read the Bible words about
Ground? Cattle?
He believed it.

The wonderful words of Deuteronomy 28
8 The Lord your God will bless you with full barns.
He will bless everything you do.
He will bless the land he is giving you.

That's why Isaac bought a farm.

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Sunday School: Jesus

Use this simple crossword in your Sunday School, Kids Club or Devotional group.


Jesus as a Boy

Across
1. An angel told Joseph to _ _ back home
2 If you have wisdom, you are _ _ _ _ (Rymes with “eyes”).
3.Opposite of girl. _ _ _
4.Father, Son, Holy _ _ _ _ _ _

Down
1. Got bigger _ _ _ _
3. A creature with wings and feathers.. _ _ _ _
5. The son of God _ _ _ _ _
6.The land where Joseph escaped to. _ _ _ _ _

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Bible Study : Danger - Exile

Help your Sunday School, Bible Study and Devotional group children recognise God's power to protect His son - even when Jesus was a helpless child.


A Baby in Danger — Exile

Danger!
King Herod had ordered that baby boys be killed.
But God told Joseph to take Mary and their boy to Egypt.

They escaped just in time.

The whole family stayed in Egypt until they heard that wicked King Herod had died.

Then the angel said, “It is safe to go home to Nazareth."

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Bible Study: Wise Men

Use this picture for your Sunday School, Kids Club and Devotional group when using this section of the message of the Saviour Jesus birth.

The Scripture says:
His name shall be called Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins.

Men who studied the stars could tell a baby king had been born.
They brought gifts and came to worship him.

King Herod wanted them to tell him where Jesus was but they suspected danger and went home another way.

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Bible Study: Shepherds

This is the message the shepherds heard about Jesus birth:
(taken from the Message translation Luke 2

8There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep.
9Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified.

10The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide:
11A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master.
12This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

13At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

14Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over.
“Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.”

Copy the picture to illustrate the shepherds visit to baby Jesus with your Sunday School, Kids Club, Devotional and Bible Study group.

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Bible Study: Jesus Birth

The baby was born in Bethlehem.
Joseph had travelled there because it was the home of his ancestors.
This was the requirement for the census.

The shepherds in the fields heard the news from an angel song in the night.
They found the baby in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

These graphics may be copied for your Sunday School, Bible Study or Devotional group.

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Bible Study Curriculum: Christmas

God answered the prayer of the people who had waited for their Messiah (their Deliverer) for many years.

Help Sunday School, Kids Club and Bible Students to understand that God give us authority to make a claim on his promises.

Micah the prophet had said, “His name shall be called Immanuel meaning ‘God with us’”

When Mary was praying the angel told her she would be the mother of God’s Son.

She was engaged to Joseph so he prepared to take care of Mary and the baby-Jesus.

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BibleStudy:Roman Rule

Remind your Sunday School and Kids Club that Rome was the ruling power over Israel at the time of New Testament.

Roman invaders came from the sea.
Roman ships and soldiers conquered everything in their path.
They come to Jerusalem in 63BC and they were ruling when God sends his son, Jesus.

After a time the Romans appoint a man named Herod to rule the Jews.
He is a crafty cruel man who tries to win their favour by building them a new and more beautiful temple.
But the people despise him and cry out to God, "When will you send the deliverer promised to us by the prophets of old?"

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Sunday School:Between Testaments

Inform your Kids Club, Bible Study students and Sunday School scholars of the silence of scripture during the 400 years after the temple and and the city wall were rebuilt in Jerusalem.

During this time the people began to prepare their hearts for the Messiah (God’s anointed person).

More armies came.
Alexander the Great attacked in 332 BC.
The the city waited in terror but the high priest led a procession to welcome the conquerer.

Alexander recognised the priest as a man of God and bowed before him.
He worshiped in the temple and allowed the Jews to keep their own religious customs.

The people were very happy with this system.

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Bible Study Curriculum:Nehemiah

For 400 years before Jesus came the land of Israel was occupied by the Persians, then Alexander the Great and in 65 BC - Rome.

Help your Bible Study, Kids Club and Sunday School children understand that even under foreign rule God marvellously restored Israel.

Nehemiah was a key person called of God to return to Jerusalem to take charge of rebuilding the broken down walls around Jerusalem.
The people needed to be safe from robbers and wild animals.
Every family helped to build a part of the wall so that it was finished in 52 days.

It was dangerous because robbers tried to stop them.
Some people had to guard the workers with swords.

Our picture shows the work continuing at night while a guard keeps watch.

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Devotions: Armenian History

Share with your young Bible Study students and Sunday School scholars the proximity of Armenia to countries mentioned in the Bible.

The land of Armenia has a history to early Bible times.
Did you know that Noah's ark landed on Mount Ararat?

These are pictures of Mt Ararat today - also snow melting from the mountain.

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Devotions : A New Country

The Devotional, Sunday School and Kids Club children will be delighted to learn that Efim's prophecy brought safety to all those who followed the prophecy instructions.

Those who took notice of the warning of the Boy Prophet left for America.

Grandfather Demos was among these who had fled.

In 1905 he sold the Armenian farm which had been in the family for generations, accepting what money he could get for it.
Then with a few belongings he set out for America.

They took what they could carry on their backs; grandfather, his wife, six daughters and thirteen year old Isaac.

As the prophecy said they travelled to Los Angeles.
There they met others from Armenia and several friends from Kara Kala.
They shared a house with two other families at 919 Boston Street.

They had to learn English and all their money had been spent on the journey but they kept the Bible open on their large table.

They knew God would speak to them from His Word. He did!

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Devotional: Tragedy

Remind Kids Club, Bible Study and Sunday School scholars of the necessity to take seriously God's guidance to us even when we are young.

In the period around 1905 many families in Armenia packed up and left their ancestral property in obedience to the vision Efim had had from God.
Yet many people couldn’t believe that God would give them instructions so they remained.

But the instructions proved correct.

In 1914 a period of unimaginable horror arrived for Armenia.
With cruel efficiency the Turks began driving two thirds of the population out into the Mesopotanian desert.
Over a million men, women and children died in these marches, including every inhabitant of Kara Kala.
Another half a million were killed in their villages.

The few Armenians who managed to escape told stories of great bravery.
Some were asked to deny their faith to save their lives.

Those who took notice of the warning of the Boy Prophet and left for America, heard the news with dismay.

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Devotional: A Journey into the Unknown

Remind your Sunday School, Kids Club and Bible Study students of this historical response to God's message.

Almost 50 years after Efim had written his prophecy he announced that the time was near for the fulfillment of the words he had written when he was eleven years old.

“We must flee to America.
All who remain here will perish.”
Many families packed up and left their ancestral possessions.
They sold their farms and left with what they could carry.

Some people laughed as the each group left Armenia.
They couldn’t believe that God would give them instructions in a modern age.

Efim and his family were among the first to go.

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Devotions: Vision Instructions

The red square in the map locates Armenia where this story began.

Tell your Sunday school, Kids Club and Devotional group that God entrusted this history making message to an eleven year old because he was faithful in prayer.


Efim had never learned to read or write.
Yet as he sat in the little stone cottage in Kara Kala, he saw a vision of charts and a message in a beautiful handwriting.

At some time in the future every Christian in Kara Kala would be in terrible danger.
It foretold a time of tragedy for the entire area, when thousands of men, women and children would be murdered.
When the time came everyone must flee to a land across the sea.

Without knowledge of geography, the Boy Prophet drew a map showing where the people were to go.

The body of water was not the nearby Black Sea or the Caspian Sea but the distant Atlantic Ocean!
The map plainly showed the east coast of the United States of America.
The refugees were to travel to the west coast of the new land.

There, the boy wrote, God would bless them and prosper them, and cause children and grandchildren to be a blessing to the nations.

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Devotions:Armenian Vision Recorded

This is the continuing message of Efim the Amenian eleven year old who prayed often to God.

It is an encouraging story for your Sunday School, Kids Club and Devotional group.

Efim had never learned to read or write.
Yet as he sat in the little stone cottage in Kara Kala, he saw a vision of charts and a message in a beautiful handwriting.

Efim asked for pen and paper.
And for seven days sitting at a rough plank table where the family ate, he carefully copied down the form and shape of letters and diagrams that passed before his eyes.

At some time in the future the boy wrote every Christian in Kara Kala would be in terrible danger.

When the manuscript was later read by people in the village they read a series of instructions and warnings.

At some time in the future the boy wrote every Christian in Kara Kala would be in terrible danger.

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Devotions: Armenian Vision

Allow your Kids Club, Sunday School and Devotional group to understand our capacity in prayer.
Efim was a boy of eleven when God entrusted him to pass on this vision to others.

The Village in Armenia

It happened in the country of Armenia where Gregory had told the people about Jesus in 301 AD.
(The pictures are from modern day Armenia).

About the year 1860 the Christians still prayed and Efim Klubnikem a boy prayed too.
His family from Russia lived in the village of Kara Kala.
He was known as the Boy Prophet.
Since he was very young Efim had prayed a lot.
Sometimes praying night and day.

When Efim was eleven years old the Lord called him to a special prayer time.
This time it was for seven days and nights when he received a vision.
Grandfather said, anyone who went that long without eating or sleeping was bound to start seeing things.

Efim had never learned to read or write.
Yet as he sat in the little stone cottage in Kara Kala, he saw a vision of charts and a message in a beautiful handwriting.

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Bible Study: Jews Return

Remarkably God intervened on behalf of the Jews and had a world leader, a king who did not follow God put God's plans into action.

Remind your Bible Study students, Kids Club and Sunday School members about God's greatness.

As Jeremiah prophesied, it happened:
After a long time (70 years) King Cyrus the new king in Babylon sent all the Jews home.
God touched his heart to help them.
This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me.
And he has appointed me to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
Now all of you who are God’s people are free to go to Jerusalem.
May your God be with you. Ezra 1: 1-3

The picture illustrates the laying of the foundation stone for the temple rebuild.

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Bible Study:Israel Conquered

Remind your Sunday School, Devotional and Bible Study students of the reason for God's people being in foreign land.

Jeremiah prophecied and it came to pass.

Adults and children were taken to Persia when the Northern Kingdom fell to their enemy.

Finally the Southern part of the land was conquered by the Babylonians when Nebuchadnezzar was king.

All the young and fit citizens were taken captive and forced to walk to the land of their enemy.
That is why Daniel was in Babylon and after a time put into the den of lions.
He proved God was faithful when God sent an angel to close the lion's mouth.

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Bible Study: Jeremiah's Prophecy

Remind your Bible Study and Sunday School students of the cause of God's people being in distant lands.

Jeremiah had prophecied.

It came true!

The Northern kingdom was attacked by Assyrians and the people even children were taken as slaves to Persia.

Do you remember the little girl who advised Naaman about his skin disease?
She knew about Elisha because she was an Israelite child who had been captured by the Syrians.
Apparently Naaman the Syrian general gave her to his wife to be a helper in his own family.
When he followed her advice and visited Elisha - God healed him!
2 Kings 5:1-27

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Bible Study Curriculum: Jeremiah

Use this picture and text to help the Bible Study and Sunday School scholars see how history influenced God's work in many countries.

Jeremiah's Prophecy

Four hundred years before Jesus came some leaders bravely spoke God’s words.

Jeremiah was one of them.
He was very young and yet he still kept telling the people to obey God.
If they didn’t God wouldn’t protect them from their enemies.

They put him down an old well but he still kept warning them.
Friends saved his life by lifting him out of the pit.

In the end Jeremiah's words came true.

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Devotions: Armenian History

This is a wonderul story of God's grace and mans ability to receive it.
Use it in your Kids Club, Devotional and Sunday School classes.

God’s Spirit brings change in Armenia

Christianity first came to Armenia in the year 287AD.
It began as the young Saint Gregory is wondering if he dares return home to his beloved Armenia.

He had fallen out of favour with the king and been exiled from the country, but in exile he has heard of Jesus.
He returns but the king has him thrown into the deepest dungeon of the castle to die of starvation.
But already the king’s sister has become a Christian too and steals down dank stone stairs to the dark foul smelling dungeon, hiding a loaf of bread or goat’s milk beneath her cloak. For fourteen years she manages to keep the saint alive.

Then a strange insanity seizes the king but no one can help.
“Gregory could help you,” his sister suggests.
“His bones are rotting beneath this very castle,” the king retorts.
He is alive,” she says softly.
So Gregory is brought from the dungeon, his hair as white as the snow on Mt. Ararat, but sound in mind and spirit.

In the name of Jesus Christ, he rebukes the demon tormenting the king and in that instant the king is healed.
In the year 301, the king and Gregory work together to tell everyone about Jesus.

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Bible Study Curriculum: Ezekiel

Use this dramatic message to teach a great spiritual truth to your Sunday School Scholars, Kids Club and Bible Study members.

A Valley of Bones. What’s it mean?

When God’s people were forced to live in a distant land God sent them a 'cheer up’ message.

It was really Ezekiel’s vision (a picture in his mind).
He saw a great valley and everywhere dry bones.
God said, “Tell these bones to come alive and have flesh and skin.”
Ezekiel did and all over the valley it was like an army of dead men.
Then they stood up –alive!

This was God’s message to the people in Ezekiel's time.
Like the army of dead men they too would live again in their own land.

The message for us:
God puts new life in people - in their bodies and their spirit.

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Sunday School: Daniel

Use this simple crossword as an activity for your Kids Club, Bible Study, Devotional or Sunday School group.

Crossword Answers:
Across 1 open 2 Daniel 3 window 4 kneel
Down:5 den 6 pray 7 few 8 lions 9 doe

Daniel and the Lions

Across
1. Opposite of closed.
2. The lions did not harm…..
3. An opening in the wall to let in light.
4. To get down on your knees – rhymes with “feel.”


Down
5. A cave where lions lived. Rhymes with ”pen.”
6. To talk to God.
7. Opposite of many
8. King of beasts
9. A female deer

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Bible Study: Daniel Cheats Death

This is a thrilling Bible Study for your Kids Devotional or Sunday School class.

A plot to have Daniel killed

When Daniel was grown up a king from Persia was ruling Babylon.
Daniel was made a leader but other leaders were jealous of him.
They knew Daniel always obeyed God first so they arranged a plan.
They asked the king to pass a law saying no one could pray to any god for 30 days or they’d be thrown into prison.
They watched Daniel pray to God at his window.
They knew he would.
Then they told the king.

So Daniel was thrown into a den of lions.
The king thought that Daniel would be killed.
He was very upset because he liked Daniel.

He hurried to the den the next morning and he was surprised to find God had protected Daniel. Daniel called, “God had sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions.”
He was safe.

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Sunday School: Daniel's Friends

Use this activity with kids Bible Study, Kids Club, Devotional and Sunday School groups.
It appreciates the commitment and deep faith of the young men who were Daniel's associates.

Maze answer: Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.

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Bible Study: Daniel's Brave Friends

Use this picture to illustrate in Sunday School and Kids club the crisis faced by Daniel's friends.

Daniel's Brave Friends

Daniel and his friends always remembered God.
When the ruler asked them to worship the statue they refused.
They worshipped only God.
They knew they might die.

The three friends were thrown into a fire but God saved them.
They didn’t die.
The king said, “There is no other god like this.”

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Bible Study: Daniel

Use this picture in your Sunday School and Kids Club and the continuing message in your Bible Study and teaching groups.

Saved From Death

Daniel and his friends were in Babylon training to be counsellors to the king.
One day the king ordered all his wise men put to death.

He was angry because the wise men could not explain his dream.
Daniel prayed to God all night and then God told him the meaning of the dream.
Daniel was taken to the king.

Daniel spoke to the king about the truths God has revealed to him.
The king was in awe of such revelation and also Daniel's God.

The king made Daniel a leader and gave him many gifts.
He said, “Your God is the greatest!”

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Bible Study Curriculum: Daniel

Daniel is a wonderfully faithful and spiritual personality to share with the members of your Sunday School and Bible Study group.
The Message for the Sunday School or Kids Club to decode is: They looked better than all of the young men who ate the king's food.


Four Friends Guided and Saved

Daniel’s life changed when the King from Babylon sent soldiers to conquer Israel.
Daniel and his friends were taken away as prisoners to a foreign land and told what they had to do.
Daniel with his three friends were chosen to attend a school to train as 'wise men’ to advise the king.

The king wanted them to eat food like his but Daniel said,
"Give us vegetables and bread and we will be healthy.”
Their health and quick learning surprised their teachers.

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Bible Study: Elisha Works Miracles

Include this story of God's enabling in Elisha's situations in your Sunday School and Bible Studies.

Elisha Works Miracles
Elisha had wonderfully saved the widow's sons from being taken by the money lender.

Another time Elisha was teaching.
His students were hungry, so Elisha sent one of them to find vegetables for a stew.
The wild gourds turned out to be poisonous, but Elisha saved the day by throwing flour into the stew, which with God’s help, made it safe to eat.

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Bible Study Curriculum: Elisha

Add this message and picture to your Sunday School and Bible Study teaching.



The Oil That Never Ran Out

One day a lady came to Elisha .
She was very upset.
She was related to the prophets.

Her husband had died and worse still, a man her husband owed money to, came to get the money.
The lady didn’t have the money so the man said he would take the boys and they could be his slaves.
Everybody was troubled.

Elisha asked, ‘What have you got in your house?”
“ Only one pot of oil,” she said.
“Go and borrow every jar, bottle and bowl you can and fill it with the oil and sell the oil.
Then you will have enough to pay the debt.”

The mother did as Elisha said.
The boys helped her and the oil kept lasting until every pot was full.
The oil never ran out.

So the mother paid back the money and the boys were safe.

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Bible Study: Double Blessings

Remind your Sunday School and Bible Study group - the Bible tells us that Elisha performed exactly double the number of miracles of Elijah.

Elijah had trained the prophet Elisha to carry on God’s work after him.
Elisha asked if he could have double the blessings of God on his life that Elijah had had.
Elijah said, “If you see me go, God will bless you.”
Elisha watched his teacher all the time.

Finally God took Elijah away in a chariot drawn by horses into the sky.
Elisha was the only person to see it.
Elijah’s cape was thrown to the ground for him.
The prophets cape was a symbol of his ministry.
Then Elisha knew that God would answer his prayer and give him his teacher’s powers.

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