MISSIONARY WORK Activity: Fishers of Men – Missionary Fish-ionary Fish Find, Sharing Time, family home evening

For: Children and Youth, Personal Development, Church & Home, Family Night

POST-AND-PRESENT Activity
Fishers of Men (Missionary Fish-ionary Fish Find)

OBJECTIVE:
•Discuss with the youth how they can be “fishers of men” by following Jesus.
• Help youth learn the right (good fish-ionary) ways and the wrong (stinky fish-ionary) ways to be a missionary. They can learn positive ways to share the gospel as they go fish.

TO MAKE: Copy, color, and cut out the images that follow. Laminate. Create a fishing pole and a fishing pond (with a sheet or tablecloth draped over chairs or easels. Tie a string to the left and right to drape good fish on the line as they are caught. Pin stinky fish below on the drape. Make “I can be a fisher of men” name badge for each youth and write their name.

ACTIVITY: Read Matthew 4:19–20 (fishers of men). Tell the youth, “We can become fishers of men like Jesus.” He called His disciples to follow Him and to teach the gospel. We too can follow Jesus and teach the gospel to be fishers of men. We can tell others about Jesus Christ’s Church. Let’s go fishing to find ways to be good missionary fish-ionaries and how to avoid being stinky fish-ionaries.

TO PLAY:
1. Divide into two teams.
2. Take turns fishing where a leader paper clips a fish to string and yanks when the fish is ready).
3. The child or leader reads the fish aloud and tells if it is a good missionary or a stinky missionary action, then places the fish on the line (draped across the cloth) or tapes the stinky fish below.
4. Write one point earned each time a team chooses a good fish and hangs it up proudly. You might write the team’s names on the board to record points. Team names might be ”Tough Tunas,” “Macho Mackerels,” or “Courageous Catfish”).
5. Give out name badges to each “Fish”ionary.

THOUGHT TREAT: “Fishers of Men” Fish Crackers or Fishsticks (for Family Home Evening).

LESSON IDEAS:

QUESTIONS: Ask children the following:
#1: What are some things we can do to be a missionary, to share the gospel with others?
#2: Are you being a good example to others by the way you live?
#3: Are you sharing your testimony with your friends?
#4: Are you inviting friends to come to Primary?
#5: Are you living worthy to serve a mission someday?

FOR PRIMARY/CHILDREN:

See VIDEO below (or go HERE):
“We asked kids to tell us the story of Jesus calling his Apostles to be ‘fishers of men’ in their own words.

In this story, some of Jesus’s Apostles were fishermen before they met him. One day, Jesus came to them and said He could make them fishers of men. They left everything and followed Him. They spent their days inviting people to listen to Jesus and follow Him to. If you serve and teach others like Jesus and His Apostles did, you can be a fisher of men too.”

(Matthew 4:18-22)

*MORE LESSON IDEAS: Youth can do as Jesus’ Apostles and be “fishers of men” as Jesus told His disciples.

IDEAS:

• All who have accepted the call to lead in the Church have accepted the Savior’s invitation to become fishers of men. See this talk. READ MORE

. . . BE A “FISH”-IONARY . . .