To begin the session:
Tell this story:
During the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, ice cream vendor Arnold Fornachou had an unexpected problem. He ran out of paper dishes in which to serve his ice cream! Next to Fornachou’s booth, Syrian immigrant Ernest Hamwi had a stand in which he was selling zalabia, waffle-like pastries.
Noting his fellow vendor’s predicament, Hamwi offered a solution that would benefit both of them. Hamwi rolled some of his waffles from his pastry cart into cones and sold them to Fornachou as edible ice cream containers. It was an instant success!
Throughout the remainder of the decade, Hamwi travelled throughout the United States introducing his “World’s Fair Cornucopia” as a new way of eating ice cream. The ice cream cone was born because these men had a creative solution to an unexpected problem.
Discuss the story by asking class members to tell of some ways people react when things do not go according to plan. Lead into Bible study by saying, “Life is filled with unexpected circumstances. Some react to those moments with anger, with despair, or with panic. Hamwi and Fornachou reacted to a disruption in plans by making a new plan! The Holy Spirit enabled the apostle Paul to do something quite similar. When the unexpected occurred, Paul turned disruption into opportunity. Let’s look at some examples of this.
To encourage personal application:
Download the “No Lost Causes” worksheet here.
Divide the class into three groups, giving each group a copy of the worksheet. Assign each group one of the case studies concerning believers being called to a difficult mission field. Groups should discuss how Paul and Barnabas might react to their assigned mission field and some other possible approaches to the challenge. They should also list some ways believers may pray for those facing that difficult mission field.
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