“Angels descending, bring from above // echoes of mercy, whispers of love.”
In 1873 Fanny J. Crosby penned the words to “Blessed Assurance,” a beautiful hymn that was sung with gusto by my beloved grandfather, holding the hymnal in his work-worn hands, stained with the years of working in the garden as head of grounds at the Adventist hospital in Sydney, Australia.
A convert to Adventism in his twenties with only an eighth-grade education, my grandfather knew the Bible back to front. He gave Bible studies in his home-grown style and gave a box of organic vegetables to everyone from widows to business owners to doctors to the local gas station clerk.
As I reminisced on his delivery of the three angels’ messages that he knew and understood, like the seasons of the garden he cultivated, it got me thinking: Do our young people know the three angels’ messages? Are they able to articulate them and live by their principles like my undereducated but very biblically literate grandfather?
To deeply engage our students in the three angels’ messages, the North American Division (NAD) Office of Education has produced a new, distinctly Adventist resource for K-12 schools. Sandy Doran has authored Three Angels for Kids (K-8) and Three Angels for Today (9-12), a two- to four-week curriculum available for all schools.
It is described as an experiential, interactive, integrated unit that is engaging and exciting for kids as they learn the three angels’ message and understand the deep spiritual principles of our faith.
Doran has included lesson plans and books and provided deep critical-learning experiences for students as they engage in the content of the three angels’ messages.
As curriculum and creative director at Three Angels for Kids, a unit of the Adventist supporting ministry Hart Research Center, Doran describes surprises as miracles as she developed the school curriculum. “Why did I take on this curriculum? Because God gave the assurance every step along the way that this is what He wanted me to do,” she said. “Whenever I doubted myself or needed reassurance, or felt that I didn’t know which direction to take, God would put it very clearly in my mind. . . . I am humbled.”
The curriculum is available from the forthcoming Three Angels for Kids website, in the resources tab on the NAD Adventist Education website, and will be available from AdventSource. Training videos for teaching the units and a virtual Week of Prayer by Doran are available from Adventist Learning Community.
Adventist Education is committed to providing “Something Better” for our children and embraces resources that help teachers to bring our children to the feet of Jesus. We encourage our church members to follow the links to take a sneak peek into the Three Angels Curriculum for Kids.
Helpful Websites
Three Angels for Kids (forthcoming)
NAD Adventist Education resources
The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.
