One way you can use the following storyteller's script is to give kids a list of questions that they are to listen for answers to in Lydia's story. After they meet Lydia and hear her story. Below the following script are 7 questions for students to answer.
Following the story and question/answer challenge, consider doing a "purple cloth" dying activity.
Take a piece of white muslin cloth and use a white crayon to draw a message from Paul or Lydia on it, plus some simple illustrations, then dip it into some purple dye, squeeze and dry with a hairdryer. The portions of the cloth colored with crayon wax will not take the dye.
Lydia's Story!
A Storyteller's Script
Good morning everybody. I’m so glad to be here to tell you my story. There is so much to tell. My life has changed so much! I feel like a new person! It’s just so exciting! But, wait…. I have forgotten my manners. You are probably wondering who I am, aren’t you?
My name is Lydia and I am from a region in Asia that has my same name…. Lydia. But my hometown is the city of Thyatira. Thyatira is known for its beautiful purple dyes, dyes that are used to color cloth – it’s quite a big business there. (show children your purple cloth….) That is my job – I buy and sell purple cloth. Now purple is a very important color – it’s very expensive you know…. It’s the color of royalty and kings. Only the very wealthy can afford to buy purple cloth! Did you know that the Romans buy purple cloth to make their official togas?
You’re probably wondering why purple cloth is so expensive…. After all, it’s just an ordinary color, even though it is pretty…. It’s just a color like any other right? Well, actually it’s not. The purple dye comes from tiny little shellfish. When you crush the shells, the dye is released. It’s a very time-consuming and difficult thing to do and it takes LOTS of patience and LOTS of shells. (show the children your shells)
Oh, my…. Now where was I? Oh, yes… I was telling you about my new life….
I often spend time in the city of Philippi where I sell some of my purple cloth. One morning, I went down to the river with a group of women. It was a beautiful day – the sun shone on the water and it was warm and so lovely…. We met there to pray and to worship God. I loved to worship God…. I loved to pray and sing with the other women. I didn’t realize it but this day, was going to be even more special.
As we were singing, I looked up and saw some men approaching. They introduced themselves as Paul and Silas. Paul said they were missionaries and that they had come from far away to share the good news about a man named Jesus Christ. They had traveled by boat to many places already and now they had come to Philippi to tell the people here about Jesus. They wanted everyone to know about God’s amazing love and how God had sent Jesus to the world so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be close to God forever and ever.
I was curious. Who was this man Jesus that they were talking about? I knew about God. I had learned about God from the Jewish people who lived near me in Thyatira. I believed in God and I worshiped him. But I had never heard of Jesus before. And so, Paul and his friend Silas began to tell us about Jesus. They told me what Jesus had done, how he had been born and about all the miracles he did. They told me how he had died on a cross for my sins and then rose again on the third day. Paul even told me his own story – how he had persecuted Christians, putting them in prison and killing them, until one day Jesus himself spoke to him in a bright light and changed his heart! As Paul spoke, I felt my own heart growing warmer…. And it was as if God himself was speaking to me and telling me, “Yes! It’s true! Listen to Paul.” The longer I listened to Paul the more I understood and the more that warm feeling inside me grew and grew. Everything Paul told me about Jesus is true! Jesus is the Son of God. He died to take away my sins. And here’s the really important thing -- it was more than just knowing in my head… I BELIEVED with all my heart, too!
And so I told Paul –“I am sorry for my sins. I believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that God raised him from the dead. Tell me what to do now.” Paul said I needed to be baptized. So, right there in the river he baptized me – dunked me under the water. My whole family believed and they were baptized, too! (let children feel the water from your jar) As I came up out of the water I felt clean and new –Paul said I had a new life now, that I belong to God’s family and that God’s Holy Spirit had come to live in my heart forever. God’s Holy Spirit is teaching me and helping me to grow more and more like Jesus every day!
Well, that was the most exciting day of my entire life – way more amazing than any of the big business deals I had made in the past! My life was truly changed! Jesus became the most important thing in my life! I wanted to do something to thank Paul and his friends for all they had done for me…. And so I invited Paul and his friends to come and stay at my house while they were visiting in Philippi. And they did! It was wonderful to have them in my house. We talked and talked about Jesus and I learned so much from them! I was so happy to show them hospitality – to share my house and my food with them. It seemed like such a small thing to do after all they had done for me!
It feels really wonderful to know that I am a believer in Jesus and that I am following him. I am a Christian now. I want everyone to know the good news about Jesus, and to follow him, too! And I am getting that chance, because now we have church in my home! Paul says it’s actually the first church in this part of the world!
Well, that’s my story…. about how I became a Christian. How about you? What’s your story? Are you a Christian? Are you sorry for the wrong things you have done? Do you believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He died for your sins and was raised from the dead? Are you ready to follow Him?
Questions for Students to Answer after hearing Lydia
- What is the name of my hometown?
- What is my hometown famous for?
- Why is purple dye so expensive?
- Who did Lydia learn about Jesus from?
- When I told Paul that I believed in Jesus, what did he say I needed to do next?
- What did I do to thank Paul?
- What did I say makes me feel "really wonderful"?
