Thirteenth Sabbath Program

The Northern Asia-Pacific Division is made up of six countries. Each presents its own challenges to finishing the work of God.

If your Sabbath School class will present the Thirteenth Sabbath program for the adults, practice singing “Jesus Loves Me” in Mongolian, Korean, and Chinese (see previous lessons); remind parents of the program; and encourage the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.

If your Sabbath School class will not join the adults, you may still do the program below or a modification of it for your own class.

Remind the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Tell them that it is their gift to Jesus and the children He loves around the world. Make the offering a big event in Sabbath School. Let the children know how much they have brought for missions during the quarter. Count the money given on Thirteenth Sabbath and tell the children the total. Praise them for what they have done and let them know that their offerings will make a big difference to children in northern Asia.

Lifting Up Jesus in Asia

Participants and Props: Large flags of China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Ask six Kindergarten-age children to carry the flags across the platform, one or two Primary- or Junior-age children to read the narrators’ parts, and six Primary children to present the specific projects. If you don’t have enough children to take these parts, ask two more narrators to alternate taking the children’s parts.

Narrator 1: The Northern Asia-Pacific Division is made up of six countries. Each presents its own challenges to finishing the work of God.

>Child 1 carries Chinese flag across the platform and stands at the far side.
Narrator 2: China, the world’s most populous nation with almost 1.4 billion people, is opening its borders to the world. But with a little more than 400,000 believers, only one in every 3,400 is a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. Pray that God will use His children to light the lamps of faith throughout this vast nation.

Child 2 carries Japanese flag across the platform and stands next to child 1.
Narrator 1: Japan is rich and increased in goods, but the people don’t know that Jesus died for them. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Japan has a little more than 15,000 members, one Adventist believer for about every 8,300 people. Most of the believers are elderly. Pray that God will raise up an army of youth who will share their faith in Japan.

Child 3 carries Mongolian flag across platform.
Narrator 2: Mongolia’s first new believers in generations were baptized just a little more than 20 years ago. Most of the country’s 1,600 believers are young people who are eager to share their faith with others. Pray that they will grow strong in faith and mighty in church leadership in one of the oldest cultures in the world.

Child 4 carries North Korean flag across platform.
Narrator 1: No one knows how many Christians or how many Adventist believers live in North Korea. But the few who have made their way out of this closed nation give reason to hope. Pray that the doors of North Korea will open so that the gospel may flood in and feed hungry hearts with the bread of life.

Child 5 carries South Korean flag across platform.
Narrator 2: South Korea is the most Christian nation in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. Still, just a third of the population of Korea professes to be Christians, and about one person in every 250 is a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. But in spite of the best efforts to evangelize the masses, Adventists still are misunderstood. Pray for brothers and sisters in South Korea.

Child 6 carries Taiwan’s flag across platform.
Narrator 1: Taiwan is a small island off the coast of China. Most of the country’s Adventist members come from the original tribes who live primarily in the hill country. Only one in every 25,000 ethnic Chinese in Taiwan is an Adventist. Pray that God will touch the hearts of these people who need to know that Jesus died for them.

Narrator 2: Today our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help lift up the hands of our brothers and sisters in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. A portion of our offering today will help provide some vital tools to lead others to Jesus and to strengthen those who believe.

Child holding Japanese flag also steps forward and holds his/her flag high.
Child 1: In Japan, our offerings will help build an international evangelistic center to reach the many Japanese South American immigrants coming to Japan.

Child holding Mongolian flag also steps forward and holds his/her flag high.
Child 2: An expansion of four classrooms and a library for the Seventh-day Adventist School in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Many families are coming to learn about Jesus through this school.

Child holding Korean flag steps forward and holds flag high.
Child 3: Part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering today will help a special group of young people in Korea to have a youth evangelism center. These young people helped start the “Pancake Church,” and now they are eager to train more young people to reach others for Jesus.

Child holding Taiwanese flag steps forward and holds flag high.
Child 4: A few years ago part of our special Thirteenth Sabbath Offering was used to establish a recording studio in Taiwan where programs are prepared in Mandarin Chinese for radio and television. Today a part will go to support three centers of influence that will help children and elderly people.

Child holding Chinese flag steps forward and holds flag high.>/em>
Child 5: Today part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will be used to purchase apartments in 16 large cities of China where there are no Seventh-day Adventists. These apartments will be used as house churches for new believers.

Child holding North Korean flag steps forward and holds flag high.
Child 6: We don’t know how many Christians live in North Korea. But we know there are some. We know from people who have lived there that at least a few of these Christians are Seventh-day Adventists. Life is hard for them. Let’s pray that God will protect and bless His children in this country where Christianity is a foreign religion.

Narrator 1: We can help make a difference in the countries of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division through our prayers and offerings. And part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will make a big difference for the young people who attend the “Pancake Church” in Korea [point to South Korea on the map]; to the children and elderly people in Taiwan [point to the island of Taiwan]; to the young people in the Adventist school in Mongolia [point to Mongolia]; to the South American immigrants in Japan [point to Japan]; and to the many, many people in China who need to know about Jesus [sweep your hand across China]. Let’s do our part today to share God’s love with our brothers and sisters in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division.

[Offering]