Holy Women of the Bible

Tell the class that there are women, both in the Old and New Testaments, who did important service (many different kinds) for the Lord. Have students read these passages about various women:

Divide the class into 3 groups, and assign each group 4 of the women. Give each group 8 small pieces of paper, and one larger piece.

On the smaller pieces of paper, each group should write two separate statements about each of the women assigned to it. (For example, about Lydia they might write, "seller of purple fabric" and "she was baptized with her household.") Then on the larger paper, they should list the statements, and put next to each one the name of the woman it applies to. They should fold the 8 smaller pieces of paper.

When everyone is finished, collect the folded statements in a container. One by one, call a member from each group to draw a statement from the container. That person will try to identify the woman described in the statement. The group that produced the statement should say whether the answer is right or wrong. (If the spokesperson draws a statement that was produced by his or her own group, that statement should be put back in the container and another one should be drawn.) Once a woman has been correctly identified from a statement, that statement should be put aside and not back in the container.

Have the groups take turns trying to identify women from the statements. Keep score, and declare as the winning group the one with the most correct answers.

Go over all the statements together when the contest is over. If need be, use the Bible to check the accuracy of the statements the groups have produced.   

Remind the class that God has called all of us to do important things. These women are noteworthy because they followed God's call. And the Theotokos is the one who answered the most important thing God has ever asked a human being to do: to be the mother of His Son on earth.