On May 15, 2016, the Church of God in Maryland hosted a biblical play titled “Jonah and the Whale.” The play’s actors—children’s group—began preparing weeks in advance. Even in their spare time, the children rehearsed their parts, and each one had a specific role—some helped paint and make props, while others assisted with the stage setup.
Church members, families and friends made their way to the Church sanctuary where the play would take place around noon. Once everyone took a seat, the host of the show introduced the play, and the performance began.
Entering stage left, Jonah appeared with the Lord. “Jonah, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its wickedness has come up before me,” said the little one who portrayed God.
“But, but, but, but,” murmured Jonah in a trembling voice.
In the Bible, God sent Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh so they would repent and come to God. But Jonah feared and instead boarded a ship elsewhere. While Jonah was on the ship, God sent a great wind that created a violent storm in the sea. The ship threatened to break.
During the boat scene, the children brought out props to depict Jonah at sea with the sailors. They even created a sound of rushing waters and began to proclaim in a united voice, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm. It’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you,” said Jonah.
Knowing the catastrophe was his fault, in order to save everyone on the ship, Jonah jumped into the ocean, and the storm subsided. Then a huge fish swallowed Jonah. He remained inside the great fish for three days and three nights until Jonah repented to God. The fish then spit Jonah out on dry land. And Jonah carried out the will of God, leading to the salvation of the Ninevites.
The play moved everyone’s heart who was in attendance. “Seeing the children come together like this is just beautiful. You can really see they made a lot of effort. I’m just so proud of my son right now. They all did a really great job,” said one of the parents. While it was their first time performing such a play, the children’s group altogether came to the conclusion that they would like to do it again!
It’s great to see such young children coming together in Unity to make this performance happen.
Wow how amazing! It’s not common to see children work in unity. Through the picture and the summarized description of the play, I imagined the entire play and wished that I was there to witness it. Through the unity of the members, this Church continues to inspire the entire community with their good deeds.
Even the children make so much effort! I saw that play and it was so touching actually. To put so much time and dedication, you can tell they learned responsibility and they genuinely enjoyed performing their roles. So cute!
It’s amazing that kids participate in church activities like this in the Church of God. Beautiful how well kids are taught good deeds and loving kindness.
What a nice activity, it’s very nice to see children being active in their church and having fun.
When children work together in unity, it’s a very beautiful sight to see. I am impressed by reading about how even the children work diligently in the Church of God!
They all did an amazing job! It shows just how much you are willing to scrafice for the love of God . Even the children though being young practiced countless hours and shined Gods Glory through their hard work !
So cute and beautiful! My heart is moved to see little ones praising God!
It’s awesome to see the children participate in a church setting. Not only are they learning the Bible through the play but it looks like they are having a blast.
I was really touched in my heart of the children’s enthusiasm for story telling. The costumes and props were also amazing. The children’s play gave laughter to all of us there.
The boys worked really hard on this play from the costumes to the props. It was amazing to see them so excited about the Bible. The play was great and all the members really enjoyed it.
The children’s play was very fun and entertaining. They seem to really know about the Bible. The kids were so cute and very smart.
So amazing to see small children giving glory to God!
This was such a beautiful performance by the children’s group in Maryland Zion. Such a story that many people know, but to watch it, seeing that the children put their heart and great effort to deliver Gods message really touched my heart.
When seeing the play, you can tell that all of the children put all of their heart into it. It was such a beautiful play.
Great Idea to teach the kids what really is in the Bible! Keep up the great work everyone!
Nowadays children are very interested in electronics, I was so touched to read that these little boys spent weeks preparing for this biblical play when they could’ve been playing video games or surfing the web. I can see that this Church supports social interactions and teamwork which is amazing. Truly a great environment to raise children.
Its awesome to see that children make effort as well to understand God. The children in the Church of God are beautiful angels!!!
It really moves my heart to see little ones working together, learning as well as having fun doing something positive. You can tell they had such a great time and out smiles on many faces. You don’t see that very often now days in society.
This is beautiful!!!! Even children can set a good example for us; when the world is turning into a place where nothing is more important than to become successful in life, forgetting our essence. This is a very touching movement in wich you can sow the seed of faith in people’ heart even through the little ones.
It is very touching to see the children making so much effort doing a bibicial play with lots of joy and excitement and enthusiasm!
Way to go Kiddos!
Beautiful take on such a sensible subject in the Bible! Would like to see more of these! May this kind of unity be spread throughout the whole world 🙂
It’s amazing to see the children work together in unity and give glory to God through this play!
How wonderful to see teachers and the kids work together in unity to glorify God!! Truly great performance!!
This play was such a beautiful event! The charisma and smiles on the kids faces proved they really enjoyed their roles and performing for the church members. I can’t wait to see another one of their plays!
Just when I thought this church couldn’t get any better, I see what they do to get our youth filled with the word of God. Impressive! Even these children practiced in their spare time. Let’s continue to encourage our children!
The kids were amazing! They were so talented, I really enjoyed the performance.
This play was so adorable!! I was so moved to see how much effort the kids made to do this. Even though they’re so little they still give glory to God. So beautiful!
Wow the kids were amazing. You can tell they worked so hard. It was beautiful.