Samuel Morris 2: Glimpses for Kids worship bulletin

Nothing Stops God Taking Me to America
I had so many questions. I was hungry to know more about God. I decided to go to America to study and learn. I went to the African coast and found a ship headed to America. The ship's captain refused to let me on board. I asked God to change his heart, and he did! One of his sailors became very sick. The captain let me take his job, assuming that I knew how to sail, but I didn't. When he and the sailors drank too much, they treated me very badly. One man even tried to kill me. But I showed them God's love. Over the months at sea, many of them, including the captain, became Christians. A ship, once so full of hatred and drunkenness, became a vessel of love and unity in Christ.

America Warms to Sammy Morris
We arrived in New York City, and I spent many months with Stephen Merritt, a man the missionaries said could teach me more. My desire to know God better helped stir the hearts of the men at the homeless mission that Stephen operated. Many of them became Christians. Stephen later urged me to go to Taylor University, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even though the University was having hard times, the dean felt that God wanted me to come. God used my desire to know him better to start a spiritual revival in the town, after a local newspaper printed a story about an all-night prayer service we had. It also included the story of my capture and conversion to Christianity. The name Samuel Morris became known in almost every home in Fort Wayne. So many donations came in to the "Samuel Faith Fund" that the university began to grow. (The fund helped other needy students, too.)

PostScript
Samuel often became sick because of the cold Indiana climate that he was not used to. He asked God to heal him, but Samuel's work on earth was done. He died just five years after coming to America. But the story doesn't end there. God used Samuel's simple faith and strong prayer life in a mighty way. Many students took the Gospel that Samuel understood so well back to Africa and even around the world. Taylor University is still sending out missionaries today, thanks in part to the faith of a young African man named Samuel Morris.

Make It Real! Questions to make you dig a little deeper and think a little harder.

During Samuel's trip to America, why do you think the captain and the sailors treated him so badly?
Are there ways that you can reach out to people from other countries whom you meet in school or in your neighborhood?
What parts of Samuel's story do you think had the greatest impact on the people he met in America?
Do you think Samuel Morris considered himself a missionary? Why?

Samuel Morris, Missionary to America

The voyage across the Atlantic