The hero in this story is Philip, often mistaken as the apostle and more likely to be a one of the deacons commissioned with Stephen. Philip’s story is only half the message for it’s the reaction of the Ethiopian and the Isaiah text that makes this story remarkable.
Chariot races – Divide the children into 2 or more small groups and give each group a strong blanket or large pieces of cardboard. get the smallest member of the group to be the driver and sit on the blanket or board and the bigger members of the group to be horses. The horses must firmly grasp the edge of the chariot with one hand and run. Clear as large a space as possible (preferably around the edge of your working area) and have a chariot race.
Hidden Biblical messages – you will need identical bibles, make a sentence by choosing words in random verses in the bible. write the references on slips of paper. split the children into small teams or pairs and give them the first slip of paper. have a team member run back to you to collect the next reference. While this takes a little bit of time to prepare it’s a good way of making the children familiar with their bibles.
Simon says – this simple childish game is great for this story about passing on the word. don’t be afraid of adding in Christian actions like kneel and pray or read the bible, and actions that make the children move around, like touch a table or run to a wall.
The big map – Ethiopia is just one of the many african countries, taking as big a printout as possible cut the african continent into countries and have the children reassemble. During or after the story remember to point out where Ethiopia is. Example picture to use here
