The Story of George Müller
Trusting in God
by Guy Donegan-Cross (revised, originally published in 2012)
Suitable for Key Stage 2
Aims
To tell the story of George Müller and reflect upon how he trusted God to provide for his needs.
Preparation and materials
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You will need two plates, two blunt knives, two slices of bread and two prizes if you want to award them.
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Have available an image of George Müller and the means to display it during the assembly. An example is available at: https://tinyurl.com/yccxqlog
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Optional: you may wish to play background music at various points in the assembly.
Assembly
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Ask for two volunteers and give each volunteer a plate with a knife and a slice of bread on it. Give the volunteers one minute to cut out the shape of a human being from the bread.
Optional: play some background music.
After a minute, choose the best shape and give out prizes if you have them.
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Show the image of George Müller.
The man in this picture has something to do with bread, milk and people. He was called George Müller and when he was young, he was no saint. As a boy growing up in Germany in the early 1800s, he often stole money from his dad. As a teenager, he sneaked out of a hotel twice without paying for the room. Once, he was caught by police and put in jail.
As a college student, George loved going to bars, drinking, gambling and being the life and soul of the party. He also loved making fun of people, especially Christians.
However, his life changed when, after studying the Bible, he decided to become a Christian. A Christian is a follower of Jesus. George became convinced that God wanted him to look after orphans and children living in poverty.
In 1829, George moved from Germany to London, and three years later, he moved to Bristol. In 1836, he and his wife turned their own home in Bristol into a home for 30 girls. By 1870, 34 years later, he had opened five orphanages in Bristol and these cared for 1,722 children in total. By the end of George’s life, he had provided a home for 10,024 children. He made sure that his homes were run to a very high standard and appointed an inspector to go round checking that the children were well cared for.
He believed that education was very important. During his life, he started 117 schools and gave a Christian education to over 120,000 children.
The amazing thing was that he did all this without ever asking anyone for any money. Whenever he needed anything, he would pray and wait for God to provide it.
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Tell the following story about George Müller and the bread, the milk and the people.
‘The children are dressed and ready for school. But there’s no food for them to eat,’ the housemother of the orphanage told George Müller.
George said, ‘Take all 300 children into the dining room and tell them to sit at the tables.’
He thanked God for the food they were about to eat and waited. George knew that God would provide food for the children, as he always did.
Within minutes, a baker knocked on the door. ‘Mr Müller,’ he said, ‘last night, I couldn’t sleep. Somehow, I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I’ll bring it in.’
Soon after, there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage.
The milkman said, ‘The milk will go off by the time the wheel’s been fixed. Would you like some free milk?’
He brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children.
Time for reflection
George Müller trusted God for everything he needed, and he helped hundreds of thousands of people, grown-ups as well as children.
Can we trust God for all that we need?
If we do, it doesn’t mean sitting and doing nothing, though. It means praying to God when we have a problem, and trusting that he will be with us as we live our lives each day, doing the best we can to do what God wants.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that you love us.
Help us to trust you for the big things and the small.
Amen.
Song/music
‘From the tiny ant’ (Come and Praise, 79)
