This week, we travel to the country of Brazil where you’ll meet a lady named Marilene. She wasn’t very interested in learning about God, even though her mother always shared God’s love with her. Then, a tragedy struck, forcing Marilene to reconsider her purpose and faith. See how God used a sad event to grow Marilene into a spiritual leader whose church group outgrew its space. Without the means to build a new space, Marilene’s congregation met outside for worship, until Maranatha was able to help. We pray that your kids will also see how God can use any event, even sad ones, to bring us closer to Him.

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Pre-video Discussion Questions
- What is the saddest thing that has ever happened to you?

Watch the video
In today’s video, we’ll see how a sad event changed the course of one woman’s life in Brazil.

Post-video Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Marilene decided to follow God after her mom passed away?
- Even though sad events are terrible, do you think we can learn anything from those experiences? Why or why not?
- In the Bible, when Jesus died on the cross, everyone who was close with Him was very sad. They couldn’t believe he was actually gone. Their hearts hurt to realize that Jesus wasn’t with them anymore. But after Jesus reappeared to them, their joy was so overwhelming that they had to share the good news with everyone they saw. They realized that being close to Jesus was the most important thing, especially once he was gone. Have you ever learned something from a sad event? If so, what was it?

Prayer Points
- To trust God, even when sad things happen.
- Ask kids what they would add to the prayer list.

Did You Know?
- Maranatha normally facilitates two Family Projects each year—one in the summer and one around Christmas. These mission trips are specifically designed for families of all ages. There is even day camp programming for younger volunteers, where they can experience different aspects of local culture.