Andrew The Disciple: Leading People To Jesus (For Older Kids)

Recently, I wrote to my older teens about my favorite Disciple in the Bible: Andrew! The younger brother of the Apostle Peter, Andrew is often overlooked when talking about the more famous Disciples of Jesus. This letter was inspired by a daily devotion that I read some years ago highlighting Andrew's role among the 12 followers of Christ. I really enjoyed reading about Andrew, and my kids enjoyed learning about him as well! As always, please feel free to copy and paste this letter to your own kids!

Dear (Name),

Are you familiar with the 12 Disciples of Jesus? How many Disciples can you name from memory? Some of Jesus' followers are very well known... like Peter, who walked on water (Matthew 14:29), cut off a man's ear with his sword (John 18:10), and even denied knowing Jesus (Luke 22:54-62). Other well-known disciples include John, who wrote the Gospel of John; Matthew the Tax Collector, and of course, we know about Judas who betrayed the Lord. But there is one disciple that most people don't know much about, and it is Andrew, who was Peter's younger brother.
Andrew is my favorite disciple, because every time the Bible mentions Andrew, he is doing something to lead others to Jesus. Andrew was the very first man to follow Jesus, and he told his older brother Peter that Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour. (John 1:35-42)
The second mention of Andrew is in John chapter 6, when Jesus feeds the five thousand. The disciples were asking Jesus, "How will we feed all these hungry people?" Jesus replied, "You feed them!" The disciples were amazed and said, "Where will we find enough food for everyone?" But it was Andrew who first told the Lord, "Look, there is a young boy here with five loaves of bread and two small fish." And as you may know, Jesus miraculously multiplied the bread and fish to feed 5,000 hungry people! But this story shows that while the other disciples were worrying about how to feed the crowds, Andrew was just making friends with a little boy. He showed compassion and love towards others, and Jesus was able to perform a miracle because of Andrew. Andrew was the youngest brother, and when he first began to follow Jesus, he was probably still a youth. I'm sure he often felt like he was standing in Peter's shadow. While Peter was famous, Andrew was quietly in the background, making friends with people. You can read another story about Andrew bringing some Greek men to Jesus in John 12: 20-22. I think it's important to be like Andrew; to be kind and compassionate, and most of all, to focus on bringing people to Jesus! You can bring people to Jesus by praying for them, by telling them about Jesus, and living your life so that your words and actions point people to Jesus. The picture I am including is a famous old painting of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew.
Who is your favorite Disciple and why?
I love you and I will write again soon!

I included a copy of this beautiful painting of Jesus as He called the fishermen. I was not able to find out who painted this, but if you do, it would be nice to include that information in your letter!


If you like, you can also include this great coloring page called Jesus Calls The First Disciples from SuperColoring.com! SuperColoring has a ton of great Christian and Bible themed coloring pages for both older and younger kids!

Responses From My Kids:

"You ask my favorite disciple and why... I like Peter because he accepted to live catching fish and went with Jesus to preach the Word of God." ~Shakira, 18, Rwanda