Silly Skits & Newfound Friends

Justin and Jessie quickly finished their snacks before kids’ club began. Jessie laughed at Justin’s bulging cheeks as he tried to finish chewing. “I told you not to put the whole cookie in your mouth,” she chided. But Justin just shrugged and kept chewing . . . and chewing.

Soon their teacher, Mrs. Jacobs, walked to the front of the room. All the kids were getting settled in their seats when they heard the door squeak.

“You made it,” said Mrs. Jacobs. Justin turned and saw a woman with a girl in a wheelchair. “Come on in, Keri. Where would you like to sit?” Mrs. Jacobs pointed toward the other kids.

The girl gave a weak smile and shrugged. She wheeled herself to the back row while everyone stared at her. Some kids began whispering to each other.

Justin suddenly felt bad for the girl. “Hey,” he whispered to Jessie. “Maybe you should sit next to her.”

“Me?” Jessie’s eyes widened. “But I don’t know how to talk to someone like her.”

“Keri is new in town,” Mrs. Jacobs explained. “Let’s all say hi to Keri.”

“Hi, Keri,” the class mumbled halfheartedly.

Justin nudged Jessie, but she just sat there feeling nervous.

Mrs. Jacobs began the lesson. “We’ve been learning that the gospel is for everyone. This week we’ll learn about sharing the gospel in our everyday lives. First, let’s make a list of places you go on a normal day.” Hands shot up in the air, and Mrs. Jacobs quickly wrote ideas on the board: school, church, the park, a restaurant. “Now comes the fun part,” she said. “Get in groups of two or three.”

Justin and Jessie smiled at each other; they were best friends, and they would be a group by themselves.

“I’ll give each group a place you just named,” said Mrs. Jacobs. “Then you will make up a skit that shows how someone could share the gospel in that place.”

“Oh, this’ll be fun,” said Justin. “Won’t it, Jessie? Jessie?”

Jessie didn’t answer; she was staring at the new girl who sat quietly, watching the other kids. “Keri doesn’t have a group yet,” Jessie whispered. “I guess . . . maybe we should ask her to be in our group.”

“Okay, if you want to,” said Justin. He knew it would be the right thing to do, but the thought of actually talking to Keri gave him a weird feeling in his stomach.

“Come on.” Jessie pulled on Justin’s sleeve. The two kids walked over and stood beside Keri’s wheelchair. Jessie took a deep breath wondering why she was so nervous. “Uh, hi.”

When Justin didn’t say anything, Jessie reached out and poked him in the ribs with her finger. Justin jumped in surprise. “Oh, yeah, hi,” he said.

Keri laughed.

“Wanna be in our group?” asked Jessie.

“Sure, okay.” Keri nodded.

Justin was surprised to hear that Keri sounded and acted normal—just like any other kid!

Mrs. Jacobs came by and glanced at the list on the board. “Let’s see, why don’t you do your skit about the park?” Then she walked over to another group.

Jessie frowned. “Sharing the gospel at the park?” she asked. “That’s a hard one.”

Justin thought for a minute. “Hey! How about we could drop Bibles from remote control helicopters, then people will read the gospel!”

“What?! We can’t act that out! Plus, we don’t have any helicopters,” Jessie said.

“Um,” said Keri timidly, “I’m not even sure what the gospel is.”

“Really?” asked Justin. “Well, the gospel just means good news.”

“About Jesus,” added Jessie.

“Oh. Well, I don’t know much about Jesus,” said Keri. “But I’m pretty good with skits. And I think I have a good idea for this one.” She explained her idea.

“Cool!” said Justin.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” said Jessie excitedly.

After a while, Mrs. Jacobs announced, “It’s show time! Each group will act out their skit while the rest of the class will guess where it’s supposed to be happening.”

Soon Justin, Jessie, and Keri went to the front. “Here we go,” said Jessie. She pushed Keri’s wheelchair slowly across the front of the room while Keri sucked her thumb and made baby sounds, “Goo-goo-gaa-gaa.” A few students giggled. Suddenly, Keri pretended to cry, “I want my bottle! Whaa! Whaa! Whaa!” The class erupted in laughter. Then Justin pretended to be a man jogging by. Jessie, acting as Keri’s mom, apologized for her crying baby.

Justin replied in his most manly voice, “We have a kids’ club and a baby nursery at our church. You’re welcome to come and hear about Jesus.” Then he jogged off. Everyone clapped when the skit was over.

“Where were they supposed to be?” asked Mrs. Jacobs.

“The park!” someone shouted. “Yeah, your baby was in a stroller at the park,” several kids called out.

“That was great!” Jessie exclaimed to her new friend. “You sounded like a real baby!”

“Thanks,” said Keri, grinning.

“Yeah, we were a hit!” Justin held up his hand for a high five. “Super idea!”

Keri laughed. “It was fun,” she said. “I hope I can come back next week. Do you think I could learn more about Jesus, too?”

“Of course!” Jessie exclaimed. “You heard what Mrs. Jacobs said, ‘The gospel is for everyone.’”

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