Ten wonderful ways for your church to support Wonderfully Made

Transcription

1 Leader s guide

2 2 3 Ten wonderful ways for your church to support Wonderfully Made The Bible tells us that all human beings are wonderfully made. When you support BMS World Mission s 2017 appeal, you will transform the lives of wonderfully made children in Thailand and help others in need around the world. It s wonderful to see the joy of a child, especially when you know the struggles they have been through. The children at Hope Home in Thailand have had some very difficult starts to their lives due to their disabilities, but their courage and determination are truly inspiring. Your support has already transformed their lives. And by giving to BMS, you are enabling them to continue to be lovingly looked after 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by a dedicated team of carers led by BMS mission worker Judy Cook. Your church can help these amazing children, and others in need around the world, by supporting our Wonderfully Made appeal. Here are ten ways you can make a difference: 1 2 Watch the main feature video Wherever you show the Wonderfully Made video, be it at a church service, home group or harvest event, it will captivate people. Seeing the impact of Judy Cook and the other carers on the lives of Tada, Phil and Natalie will help your church understand how important the work that BMS is making possible in Thailand is and why it is worth supporting. And the fun, uplifting tone and pace make it a really enjoyable watch too! Use the sermon outline Get ideas for a sermon at your Wonderfully Made service by using the outline written by Claire Ord, Co-Director of the BMS International Mission Centre. This is a great way of unpacking the themes of Wonderfully Made and relating them to the Bible and harvest. Show the reflection video Separate from the main feature, the reflection video based on Psalm 139 is ideal to use when coming to a time of prayer or preparing for an offering at your harvest service or Wonderfully Made event. Have fun with the quiz Make things interactive! Test your church on their knowledge of Thailand and the work BMS is supporting among children with disabilities in this fun and informative quiz. Take up a special offering Encourage your church members to use the gift envelopes and Gift Aid their donations increasing the value of their gift by 25 per cent. Envelopes can be ordered at bmsworldmission.org/wonderfullymade 2

3 Sponsor your minister to be a superhero If your pastor is game, they could be sponsored to dress up as a superhero at your Wonderfully Made church service in aid of our appeal. It s one fun way of keeping people s attention during the sermon! How many items of the superhero costume they wear could be determined by how much sponsorship they receive. A sponsorship form is available at bmsworldmission.org/wonderfullymade Have a birthday party 2017 marks ten years since BMS work with children with disabilities in Thailand began. We are celebrating and we would love you to do so too! Hold a tenth birthday celebration at a church service when you show the Wonderfully Made video. To make it more of a party atmosphere you could have food and drinks after the service, organise games or do the Wonderfully Made quiz. Take up the superhero theme and encourage children (and maybe adults too!) to dress up as superheroes. It s a great opportunity to get the church together while raising money for an amazing cause. 3 Have a cake sale You could sell cakes to raise money for BMS at your Wonderfully Made party. Children could decorate cupcakes in their Sunday School classes. As the focus is BMS work in Thailand, one design could be the colours of the Thai flag. Get groups at your church fundraising Wonderfully Made will not only inspire those who attend your church on Sunday. Other groups that meet during the week, parents and toddlers for instance, may want to support the appeal too. Encourage group leaders to organise a Wonderfully Made fundraising event at their meeting. It could be a great way to show people on the edge of your church family that you not only care for children locally but for those around the world too. Collect loose change We have produced collection jar labels for the Wonderfully Made appeal. These labels can be stuck on empty jars, bottles or boxes to create your own collection box. Challenge your members to take one and collect change or perhaps give something up and save the money they would have spent on that (eg coffee) and donate it towards the appeal. The labels can be ordered at bmsworldmission.org/wonderfullymade Want ideas for how you can help the Wonderfully Made appeal yourself? Check out our fundraising ideas for individuals in the June issue of Engage. For other Wonderfully Made resources, including Welsh and British Sign-Language videos, go to bmsworldmission.org/wonderfullymade 3

4 Sermon outline Readings: Psalm 139: 13-18, John 9: 1-11 God is a wonderful creator The birth of a new baby is both a wonderful and terrifying experience: the wonder of a new creation coupled with anxiety about the possibility of something going wrong. When our children are having tantrums at two, 12 or 20 we can forget the wonder we experienced when they were first born and were so innocent. Psalm 139 reflects both this wonder and fear: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made (v 14). The Hebrew word translated fearfully conveys both being frightened about what is to come and standing in awe at that tiny creation. Perhaps if we knew what was to come later we would be even more afraid! Wonderfully, as well as marvellous, means being set apart and distinct from the rest of creation. As it says in Genesis, humanity is the culmination of God s creation, set apart and different and given a special task of stewarding the rest of creation. Jesus destroys stigma When a child is born with disabilities the words fearfully and wonderfully have special poignancy. There is fear for the future: will she suffer, how will he be looked after, can she go to school and lead a normal life? Wonderfully reaches back to something closer to its meaning of being set apart and different: how will they be accepted and have friends and family when they are different from the majority of people? In Thailand there is even more fear a disabled child is a stigma for both family and community, the parents are suspected of having sinned and it is believed they are being punished. This is a stubborn attitude which was current in Jesus time, as shown by the reaction of the disciples to the man born without sight. Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9: 2). Jesus is adamant. Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4

5 Jesus says that children are not disabled because of sin: theirs or their parents. The Message translation is helpful here where Jesus says in John 9, You re asking the wrong question. You re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. Disabilities physical, learning difficulties, mental health and disabilities that come with age can cause enormous challenges and suffering for children and adults, along with their families, and it is sometimes easier to blame someone or something. Jesus suggests we ask a different question; what can God do? A way of hope What can God do? Tada, Phil, Natalie and the other children who live at Hope Home are loved and love, they have an opportunity to be fostered or adopted, and can fulfil some of their potential, be empowered (be part of a team!) and live life to the full. As Jesus says, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10: 10). An abundant life is one that overflows with good things and includes spiritual, physical, social and economic wholeness; things that none of us possess completely, but to which we journey, with and in Christ. We celebrate and give thanks for what God is doing through the children and the team at the BMS-supported Hope Home. We may want to ask how, in different ways, our churches can be homes of hope for those people with disabilities with whom we share our lives. What does it mean to journey together, each of us, towards something closer to full potential? How are we moving closer to life in its fullness? A conversation between people with disabilities and the able-bodied in our churches about fullness of life and experiencing it together would be a good place to start! Thank you for supporting BMS through our Wonderfully Made appeal. 5