An Amazing Event

An assembly in the ‘Hello, Scruff!’ series

by the Revd Sylvia Burgoyne

Suitable for Reception / Key Stage 1

Aims

To consider the story of Jairus asking Jesus for help.

Preparation and materials

• You will need a glove puppet or sock puppet of a donkey, called Scruff.
• As the assembly begins, ensure that you already have Scruff the puppet on your hand.

Assembly

1. Scruff waves to the children. Encourage them to say, ‘Hello, Scruff!’
   
   If this is the first time the children have met Scruff, you will need to use the following introduction.
   
   Scruff lives on a farm with Lucy Jane, her mum, Mrs B, her dad, Farmer Brown, and her little brother, Tom. Lucy Jane loves Scruff. She looks after him. She plays with him and she talks to him – when she’s happy and when she’s sad. Scruff is her best friend!
   
   
2. Lucy Jane was in the stable, brushing Scruff, when her mum came bursting through the door.
   ‘Have you seen Tom, Lucy Jane?’ Mum asked. ‘I told him to stay in the house this morning because he had a bit of a temperature. I only turned my back for a minute and now I can’t find him anywhere.’
   Lucy Jane could see how worried her mum was.
   ‘I’ll help you look for him. He can’t be far away,’ she said.
   Lucy Jane knew that Tom’s favourite place was in the hay barn; they often played hide-and-seek there. That would be a good place to start.
   
   
3. Ask the children, ‘Do any of you have a favourite place where you like to hide?’
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
4. Continue with the story.
   
   Lucy Jane had guessed right. Tom had felt bored, so he had run across the farmyard into the barn when his mum wasn’t looking. He’d climbed up the ladder into the hay loft and settled down in the sweet-smelling hay. But when he heard his mum talking to his sister in the stable, he knew that he was in trouble. He needed to get back to the farmhouse as quickly as he could. In his hurry, he slipped on the top rung of the ladder and fell heavily to the floor beneath, hitting his head. He let out such a loud scream that his mum and Lucy Jane came running in. They found Tom in a crumpled heap.
   ‘Oh, what are we going to do, Mum?’ sobbed Lucy Jane.
   ‘Well, we can’t move him,’ replied her mum. ‘We don’t know if he’s broken any bones or hurt his back. We need help.’
   Lucy Jane’s mum turned to Tom. ‘Now listen, Tom,’ she said gently, squeezing his hand. ‘I know it hurts, but you must lie still while I go to ring the doctor. Lucy Jane will stay with you.’
   Lucy Jane held back her tears and knelt on the floor next to Tom, telling him that help was on the way and that everything would soon be OK.
   Soon, Lucy Jane’s mum came running back with a bowl of water to bathe Tom’s face.
   ‘An ambulance is on its way. All we can do is keep Tom warm and wait.’
   
   It felt like a very long wait! Mum and Lucy Jane kept talking to Tom while they listened for the ambulance. Suddenly, they heard a siren approaching. The paramedics had a good look at Tom and decided that he needed to go to hospital to be checked and have some X-rays taken. They lifted him gently onto a stretcher and put him in the back of the ambulance. Just then, Dad arrived home.
   ‘I’m going to go with Tom to the hospital,’ explained Mum. She knew that Lucy Jane was fighting back her tears. ‘Don’t worry, Lucy Jane, the doctor will make him better. Why don’t you go and check that Scruff is OK?’
   
   And that’s exactly what Lucy Jane did. When Scruff heard what had happened and saw Lucy Jane’s tearful face, he snuggled up close to her. He wanted to make her feel better.
   
   Mum came home with Tom later that day. He had a bump on his head and had broken his arm, but apart from that, he was absolutely fine. Tom was very proud of the plaster cast that had been put on his broken arm. He held it out in front of his sister.
   ‘You can be the first to write a message on the plaster, Lucy Jane,’ he said proudly.
   
   
5. Ask the children whether they have ever been to hospital or broken a bone.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   Ask the children what message they think Lucy Jane might have written on Tom’s cast.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   Take off Scruff.
   
   
6. Explain that you are going to tell the children a story from the Bible. You are going to pretend that you are the main character, who is called Jairus.
   
   Tell the following story.
   
   Hello! My name is Jairus and I have an amazing story to tell you. It all started when my 12-year-old daughter became ill. I asked several doctors to examine her, but their medicines didn’t help at all. She became sicker and sicker, and I was afraid that she was going to die. What could I do? I needed to find someone who could make her better.
   
   Suddenly, I remembered that people had talked about a man called Jesus, who had healed people who had all kinds of illnesses. Perhaps he could help. I joined the crowd that was following him and pushed my way through until I stood right in front of Jesus.
   ‘Jesus!’ I cried. ‘My little girl is very sick, but I believe that you can help her. Will you come with me right now? There isn’t a moment to lose!’
   Jesus agreed, and we set off for my house.
   
   However, on our way through the crowd, Jesus suddenly stopped. A woman had touched him, hoping to be healed of her illness, and Jesus wanted to talk to her, to tell her that because she believed, she wasn’t ill any more. I was getting very worried. I couldn’t understand why Jesus didn’t realize that we needed to reach my daughter urgently.
   
   In fact, it seemed that we were already too late, for just then, one of my servants ran up to tell me that my daughter had died and that it was pointless Jesus coming any further. I was too upset to speak, but Jesus said calmly, ‘Don’t be afraid, just believe!’
   Together, we hurried to my house, where there were lots of people crying. Imagine how shocked we were when Jesus said, ‘Why all this crying? The child is only asleep.’
   Many of them laughed, but not me. Deep inside, I knew that something incredible was about to happen.
   
   Jesus led my wife and me, along with three of his friends, into the room where my daughter was lying so still. He took her by the hand and said gently, ‘Little girl, get up!’
   And she did, just like that! We were amazed, but overjoyed and thankful for what Jesus had done. His first concern was that we give our daughter something to eat. I’ll never forget that day. I’ll never forget Jesus!

Time for reflection

Ask the children who looks after them when they are ill.

Listen to a range of responses.

Encourage them to think about parents, grandparents, carers and teachers.

Next, encourage them to think about nurses, doctors, police and firefighters too.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for all the people who care for us.
Thank you for . . . (ask the children to insert the names of the people whom they are thinking about).
Thank you for hospitals and those who work there.
Thank you for people who work hard to keep us safe.
Please help us to play our part in looking after others.
Please help us to be caring and kind.
Amen.

Song/music

‘He’s got the whole world’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDBJNQiugnM (1.55 minutes long)