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Much to the amazement of some kids and parents, the family dinner table does not need to be the fo-cal point of conflict between parents and children. In fact, the family table should be one of the most joyful, encouraging and productive places in the daily routine of every family! While good manners and polite behavior at the table are an important part of character development, this does not mean that the dinner table must be a somber, lifeless and silent place. As disciples of Jesus, we know that we can bring life and joy to any location when the goal of our efforts and instruction is love (Read 1 Timothy 1:5). Families can have positive, edifying conversation at the table without speaking with food in their mouths or being rude. That’s the beauty of doing things God’s way—we get the best of both worlds! Keep these things in mind as you go through the activities laid out in Tabletop Missionaries!

Tabletop Missionaries is broken down into three one-week sections. Follow the specific instructions for each week as outlined below.

WEEK ONE: PrayEr Cards

Begin this fun and helpful activity by purchasing a laminated world map that can be placed in the cen-ter of your dinner table. You may find an inexpensive child’s place mat that has a world map pictured on it, or you can go bigger and get a larger world map that would normally be hung on a wall. The lami-nation is necessary to avoid the problems that inevitably come with the spilled drinks and splattered spaghetti sauce at the table.

You will be learning about the first six countries from the Tabletop Missionaries cards provided during week one (this allows you a break on one night during the week). Each night at the dinner table take out one of the cards and have one family member read the information provided on it. Have everyone find where the country is located on your dinner table map (you can make it a contest to see who can find it first for more fun!). Take a few minutes to pray together as a family for the specific needs men-tioned for that particular country. When you are finished learning about a country each night, mark the your map in some way to indicate which countries you have learned about so far. You might use a dry erase marker, a little piece of sticky tack, etc. Keep each Tabletop Missionaries card displayed some-where at the table. You may want to continue to pray for each country indefinitely as you learn about them, maybe even giving each family member a country to “adopt” as their own point of prayer. Be creative and make it your own!

WEEK TWO: PrayEr Cards

Proceed with the second set of six Tabletop Missionaries cards in the same way that you completed your first week.

WEEK THrEE: MissiON sPOTligHT

•Select one of the twelve countries from the Tabletop Missionaries cards that you believe had the great-est impact on you during your times of prayer. You will be doing a special project on the country that you choose, so spend some time thinking about which one you think you will enjoy learning about the most!

•Consult with your parents on a night that would work for you to prepare a special meal and present the project that you have put together for your Mission Spotlight. Perhaps you will want to invite other friends or family over to share in the special evening as well, or maybe even use it as an evangelistic op-portunity to reach out to non-Christians in your neighborhood.

•Using whatever resources are at your disposal (i.e. encyclopedias, books, internet, etc.) put together a display for your Mission Spotlight country. Use a piece of poster board or foam core to display your information on. You will want to include the following information in your display: • a map of your chosen country • photos or drawings that picture various aspects of life in the country • the country’s flag (high resolution flag images can be downloaded at http://flagpedia.net) • a description of the spiritual situation in the country • a few paragraphs that explain what you find most interesting about the country • a few paragraphs that tell about your prayer for the country and what you hope that God will do for its people • anything else that you find interesting—play a game from the country, read a story or poem from one of its people—use your unlimited imagination!

•Work with your parents and/or other family members to find recipes from your Mission Spotlight country. Prepare a special meal that highlights foods from your country on the night that you have set aside. During the course of the meal, take some time to explain your display and give an oral presenta-tion of the research that you have completed.

•Close your special meal with prayer for the needs of your highlighted country once more.

•Talk to your youth discipleship leader about a time to bring your display to share with the group. Plan to take a few minutes to give your oral presentation to the group as well, so that as many people as possible can benefit from your labors!