Thirteenth Sabbath Program

We would like to share a quiz with you to see if you have learned about this quarter’s mission emphasis as well as the children have.

If your division will present the Thirteenth Sabbath program for the adults, the following suggestions can help you plan.

• Practice two or three songs from your Sabbath School program that the children are comfortable singing for their parents.
• Practice with the children at least two to three weeks ahead of the program.
• A week or two before Thirteenth Sabbath, send a note home with the children reminding them to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.

If your division will not join the adults for a special program, use the suggestions that follow to make Thirteenth Sabbath special:

• Remind the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. If they have special banks for their offering, encourage them to finish filling them and bring them on Thirteenth Sabbath.
• Use the quiz below based on the stories, Fast Facts, and Mission Posts from this quarter.
• Invite a special guest to speak to the children about one of the countries featured this quarter.

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Preparation: Obtain flags, or pictures of flags, of Gabon and Nigeria. Choose one child for each country to hold the flag or picture. For this program you will need two narrators (junior age or older). The children will take turns reading the questions, and the narrators will take turns reading the answers.

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Gabon and Nigeria Quiz

Narrator 1: During this quarter, we’ve been hearing stories from the countries of Gabon and Nigeria. These are the countries where the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering projects for this quarter are located.

Narrator 2: Today for our special Sabbath School program, we’re going to review some of the things we’ve learned by taking a quiz.

Narrator 1: Try to see how many questions you can answer correctly.

Question 1: In which world division of the church are these featured countries located?

Answer 1: The West-Central Africa Division (WAD). This division has 683,318 members worshiping in 3,958 churches and 4,444 companies.

Question 2: In which school are the Adventist Youth Ministry children worshiping under the trees, in a park, or in small classrooms because they do not have a place of their own to worship?

Answer 2: Babcock University in Nigeria. Approximately 450 children have no building large enough to meet together for worship or for their Adventist Youth Ministry programs.

Question 3: In which country does the majority of Adventist students have to attend non-Adventist schools because there is only one Adventist secondary school in the nation?

Answer 3: Gabon. There are 3,041 Adventist members in Gabon, and approximately 79 percent of them are students. All of these young people, with the exception of those living in the capital city, Libreville, have no choice but to attend a non-Adventist school where they face many pressures, including mandatory Sabbath exams.

Question 4: Who was David C. Babcock and why is he significant in Adventist history?

Answer 4: David C. Babcock was a missionary from the United States of America who pioneered the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria in 1914.

Question 5: In one story this quarter we met a boy named Joshua who had never heard that Jesus loves him. Where did he learn this?

Answer 5: Joshua learned about Jesus at VBS at Babcock University. VBS is one of the many outreach programs that Babcock’s Adventist Youth Ministry members participate in to reach community children who don’t know Jesus.

Question 6: In which country is approximately 62 percent of the population under the age of 25, Gabon or Nigeria?

Answer 6: Both. In fact, more than 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15 in both countries, making Adventist education an ideal way to reach both populations for Jesus.

Question 7: Which country is planning to create a branch Sabbath School for the community children?

Answer 7: Nigeria. The Adventist Youth Ministry members held a large outreach event that was attended by more than 80 children and adults. Many of the children expressed a desire to learn more about Jesus, so they are planning to start a branch Sabbath School in town soon.

Question 8: When the children at Babcock University held their Operation Smile event, their goal was to show God’s love in tangible ways that met the children’s needs. What did they do to accomplish this?

Answer 8: They fed the children a nutritious meal. In doing this, they were following Jesus’ example. Ellen White wrote that “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’”—The Ministry of Healing, page 143. Adventist Mission helps people find healing in Jesus physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually.

Question 9: In the story “Mom’s Prayer,” why was Juana so excited to learn that this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help build a new secondary school in Gabon?

a: Hundreds of Adventist students will be able to attend an Adventist school for the first time.

b: Hundreds of Adventist students will no longer face the challenge of Saturday exams.

c: Non-Christian students will be able to attend to learn about Jesus.

d: The people in the surrounding community will have an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Answer 9: All of the above.

Question 10: In the 1990s, a political leader organized a Christian church on the outskirts of Libreville, Gabon. As the congregation studied their Bibles, they learned of the seventh-day Sabbath and wondered whether anyone in the country kept it. When they heard that there was a Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Libreville and asked Pastor Pierre to visit them, what happened?

Answer 10: When the members learned that Adventist beliefs are based on Scripture alone, almost the entire congregation was baptized, and the new church building became a Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Question 11: What is the national language of Gabon?

a: English

b: Portuguese

c: French

d: Fang

Answer 11: French. A former French colony, Gabon retains strong ties to the French language and culture.

Question 12: True or False: Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa.

Answer 12: True. Nigeria has a population of more than 186 million people. One out of every seven Africans is Nigerian.

Question 13: What is the largest and longest river in West Africa, and where is it located?

Answer 13: The Niger River in Nigeria.

Question 14: True or False: In Gabon, Adventist children who have to attend non-Adventist schools tend to drift away from the church.

Answer 14: True. One of the reasons Gabon needs the new school is to help build a strong Adventist church for the future.

Question 15: True or False: Most of the students at the Adventist secondary school in Gabon and Babcock University in Nigeria are not Adventists.

Answer 15: True. Approximately 70 percent of the students at Gabon’s Adventist secondary school and 92 percent of the students at Babcock University are not Adventist. Both schools have a large mission to reach their students and their communities for Jesus.

Narrator 1: We hope that you have enjoyed reviewing some of the things that we have learned this quarter—and perhaps you even learned something new!

Narrator 2: Your generous donations today will help the Adventist young people in Gabon and Nigeria have the resources they need to become strong Adventist Christians equipped to reach those who don’t know Jesus. Thank you!

[Offering]