YOUR STEP INTO MY SHOES JOURNEY BEGINS HERE. Welcome to Uganda! You and your group are about to embark on a journey to discover together what it

Transcription

1 Leader s GUIDE

2 YOUR STEP INTO MY SHOES JOURNEY BEGINS HERE. Welcome to Uganda! You and your group are about to embark on a journey to discover together what it means to live from God s enough. We have assembled this Leader s Guide to help make your job as leader as easy as possible. Inside, you will find everything you need to lead your group through the Step Into My Shoes experience. We have geared this Leader s Guide for family, intergenerational and children s ministry groups of approximately 20 people. Step Into My Shoes can be scaled up for larger groups, but some adaptations may be necessary. While we have done our best to anticipate any needs or questions that you may have during your journey, please visit us at StepIntoMyShoes.org. You can find help from our FAQ section, order additional materials, or contact us personally at step@compassion. com for additional assistance. We hope you enjoy your journey into the lives of Pastor Tom, his wife Nancy and their children. We pray that God will give every member of your group a clear understanding of how God gives enough purpose and power to love Him and others as ourselves. 02

3 STEP 1: LET S START OUR JOURNEY STEP 2: LET S WALK FOR WATER STEP 3: LET S HAVE A SLEEPOVER STEP 4: CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP BONUS SESSION ONE-SESSION VERSION

4 TODAY S STEP: Our journey begins with meeting Isaac, a member of our host family. Isaac will show us how to make a soccer ball the way he does with his friends in Uganda. TODAY S BIG IDEA: Experience how God gives us enough to enjoy and enough to share by stepping into our host family s shoes and following in Jesus footsteps. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Things We Need - Flip chart or large butcher paper, large black marker. You may also wish to provide blank paper and pens to the group for the opening list-making portion of the activity. Today s videos and a way to play them: Welcome/Meet the Family [06:14] and Let s Make a Soccer Ball [02:20] SUPPLY LIST: Today s videos 1 flip chart 1 black marker Blank paper (a few pieces per group) Pens or pencils (1-2 per group) Plastic grocery bags (6 per group or 1 large black trash bag) Twine or yarn (approximately 3 feet per person) Step into my Shoes videos, Welcome/Meet the Family and Let s Make a Soccer Ball and projection or DVD player Optional PowerPoint to display photos or introduce your group to the experience (on flash drive) 04

5 01: LET S START OUR JOURNEY STEP Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:

6 1: INTRODUCTION Begin by saying: Today we will learn how to see the world in a whole new way, without leaving home. We ll do this by learning from a family who lives very simply and then by seeing how Jesus takes care of people. We re starting in the African nation of Uganda where we will follow the story of Pastor Tom, his wife Nancy and their 12 children. We ll learn about their family, their church, how they make meals and collect water, and more. At the end, we will look for ways we could help children near us or far away. GETTING STARTED - THINGS WE NEED Say: Whether you realize it or not, we all have things we need. Some are easier to think of than others. We all need food, water, clothes, friends and family. When you think about all of the things we need, they fall into two different categories things we can see and things we cannot see. Turn to your group and make a list of as many needs we can see. You have one minute. Ready? GO! After they have some time to talk, ask: What are some things we need that you can see? I m going to make a list for us all. (On a flip chart or large paper, create a list of physical/material needs. In other words, these are needs we can see. This will include things like: food, clothing, shelter, clean water, money, transportation, etc.) Say: Great job! Okay, so now turn back to your group and make another list. This time, list as many as you can of those needs we cannot see. You have 1 minute. Ready? GO! After they have some time to talk, ask: What are some things we need that you cannot see? I m going to make a list for us all. (Create a list of non-physical, non-material needs. This will include things like: love, safety, a relationship with God, family support, acceptance, forgiveness, etc. Don t worry about splitting hairs over needs like air which is a physical need, but we can t see it. Put it on both lists to satisfy everyone.) For older kids/teens: Consider holding a friendly debate about which list is more important and why. The idea is not to get a right answer, but for kids to see why both lists are so important. For preschoolers: Print pictures or bring objects that represent needs. Hold each one up and ask kids what that thing is. After each item they name, say: God knows we need. God wants to meet all our needs. 06

7 READ MATTHEW 22:36-40 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Ask: Why is it sometimes easy and other times hard to love your neighbor? Why do you think Jesus wants us to love our neighbors? When we love God and let his love fill us, we show love to our neighbors, both near and far. One way we show that love is by caring that they have all their needs met both the ones we can see and the ones we cannot. As we start this journey, let s ask God to show us how we can love our neighbors. PRAY God, we invite you to lead us on this journey. Help us to see the needs of others, even if the needs are invisible. Please show us how you want us to respond to our neighbors near and far. Amen. We are going to meet Tom and Nancy s family now. As we meet them, look for ways that they are like us and other families we know. WATCH VIDEO: WELCOME/MEET THE FAMILY [06:14] 07

8 1: TALK ABOUT IT Did you see ways that Pastor Tom and his family are like our family or people we know? What did you see that was different than your family? Was there anything else that was interesting to you in the video? Say: The last boy you met in the video is Isaac; he s 10 years old. While Isaac has enough of what he needs, that s not the case for everyone in his village. Some of them don t have enough food, water or shelter. But even the people who have what they need to survive might not have enough of what they need. That s because children in poverty often feel like no one cares about them. For them, feeling rejected or alone is part of their real, everyday life, and they need hope. Ask: What gives people real, lasting hope? Where does it come from? How do we get it? Affirm the ideas you hear and then say: Yes, hope comes from God, especially when we know we belong to Him and to His family. Some people in poverty do find hope, just like Pastor Tom s family has. They have seen God provide hope and care for them, and they take joy in helping others in their village. As we continue on this journey, we ll discover ways we have enough of God s love and hope to share, too. ACTIVITY- MAKE A SOCCER BALL Say: Right now, we are going to make something that will help us remember how important invisible needs like hope and belonging really are. Here s how we ll do that: one thing we cannot see but we all need is play. We are going to make something to play with, and every time we use it, we can be reminded that God wants to meet every kind of need, whether we can see it or not. So let s watch how two of Pastor Tom s sons, Isaac and Joshua, make a soccer ball. WATCH VIDEO: MAKE A SOCCER BALL [02:20] Say: We are going to make our own soccer ball! Every time we play with the soccer ball, we can remember that God wants us to have hope, joy, and to belong to him and his family. Those are things we can t see or touch, but are things we all need. 08

9 HOW TO MAKE A GROCERY BAG SOCCER BALL Wad plastic bags into a ball. Place the wad of bags into another bag. Close the bag. 3 Wrap the handles of the bag around the wad and tie the ends. Wrap the twine or yarn around the ball and tie the ends. You are now ready for a game of soccer! PRAY Say: As we continue our journey, we ll learn how we can help people in poverty have what they need. We will have a chance to show love to our neighbors, whether they live in our town or around the world. One thing we can always do is pray. We can pray for children who may still need hope. We can also pray for Pastor Tom and his family. Optional: You may wish to invite kids to step out of their shoes before they pray. If you do, say: We re going to pray, and in order to remember our friends around the world, we re going to step out of our own shoes. Let s gather around our shoes in a circle. If you don t want to do this part, just have kids make a circle. We ll take turns naming one need you can think of that all children need in order to become all that God created them to be. After each person names a need, everyone repeat together, Lord, may all children have enough. 09

10 TODAY S STEP: Tom and Nancy s youngest daughter, Rabecca, takes us to gather water for her family then puts it to use! TODAY S BIG IDEA: Let s gather water and consider how God fills us up to fill others. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Water collection relay: 1 large bucket, labeled WELL, 2 small cups, 2 medium buckets, marked with a line between 1/2-3/4 of the way up inside the bucket. Weight of Water activity: 1 jerry can, filled with water or something that weighs 40 pounds. (An Amazon.com search for jerry can or water can should yield some options. They hold about 5 gallons and should cost around $20 each.) If you do not have a jerry can, print a picture or put one in a PowerPoint slide for kids to see. Today s video and a way to play it: Enough Water [04:10] Compassion Water of Life (bucket and water filtration system). See instructions included in your kit for putting this together and filling it with dirty water. SUPPLY LIST: WATER COLLECTION RELAY: 1 large bucket, labeled WELL (per 20 people) 2 small cups (1 cup per team) 2 medium buckets, marked with a line between 1/2-3/4 of the way up inside the bucket Step Into My Shoes video Enough Water and projection or DVD player 10 WEIGHT OF WATER ACTIVITY: 1 jerry can, filled with water or something that weighs 40 pounds. If you do not have a jerry can, print a picture or put one in a PowerPoint slide for kids to see. Compassion Water of Life (bucket and filtration system and set-up instructions, included in your kit) 1 clear drinking cup per person

11 STEP 02: LET S WALK FOR WATER On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit. John 7:37-39a 11

12 2: INTRODUCTION Begin by saying: Raise your hand if you ve used water today for something. What are some of the ways you have used water in the past 24 hours? Give time for a few responses, and you might add a few that kids don t think of, like watering the lawn or washing the dishes. Continue: Our water is generally close, clean, and always available. However, if you did not live in a place where water was close, clean and always available, you would need to travel to collect your water each day. We re going to learn about how water is collected by many kids around the world today. GETTING STARTED - WATER COLLECTION RELAY Set up: Fill the large bucket with water. Place the medium-sized buckets 20 feet away from the large bucket and a few feet apart from each other. What you do: This relay will include some of the key steps in water collection to help kids learn about that process first-hand before they watch the video. Create two teams. Have them each line up behind a medium-sized bucket and give each team a small cup. Explain by saying, We will imagine that we do not have clean water close by. If that were the case, we would take our water collection container to the well and bring water back to our home. This (indicate the large bucket) is our well. Your team has a collecting cup (indicate the small cups). Your bucket (indicate the medium-sized bucket by their line) is your home base where you want to bring the water. You need to collect enough water for your family for the day by traveling to the well and bringing it back. After you make a trip, give the collecting cup to the next person in your group. When the water hits the line drawn inside your bucket, you have enough. Go! Afterwards, debrief the activity quickly by asking: Have you ever had to use less water than usual, maybe when you were camping or because there was work happening in your house? What was that like? If you had to spend time every day collecting water, what might you have to give up doing during that time? 12

13 VIDEO INTRODUCTION - THE WEIGHT OF WATER What you do: Help kids understand one of the challenges of collecting water by letting them see how heavy a jerry can is. Show kids the jerry can (or the picture) and explain, This is called a jerry can. It s a container that can carry a lot of water. When it s full of water, it s very heavy 40 pounds! Invite kids to attempt to lift the jerry can or other 40-pound object you brought. As they do, ask them questions like: What would you do if you needed to carry this for the next half hour? How far do you think you could carry this if you had to? If your group did the relay, point out how they pretended their small cups were collection cups for water, but this large jerry can is what kids around age 8 and older would really carry. Older kids might even carry two jerry cans and and younger children often carry jugs half this size. Transition to the video by saying, Let s learn a bit more about how Pastor Tom s family gets the water they need. As you watch, I want you to pick your favorite part. WATCH VIDEO: ENOUGH WATER [04:10] TALK ABOUT IT After the video, ask: What was your favorite part of the video? Why? We are learning what it means for all of us to have enough of what we need. We know that we need stuff we can see and touch, like water, food, shelter and clothes, and stuff we cannot see or touch, like play, safety, hope and God s love. Water is a great example of this. We all need clean water to drink. Without water, we can only survive a few days and dirty water can make people very sick, sometimes so sick that they die. That is not the only kind of water we need, though. Let s read this verse together. After we read it, I want to know what you think Jesus meant. 13

14 2: READ JOHN 7:37-39A On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit. Ask: I wonder what Jesus meant by let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink? What do you think? In another part of the book of John, Jesus calls Himself living water. Why do you think he chose to compare Himself to water? What is the connection between real water that we drink and Jesus the man, God s son? (We need them both to live, they refresh us, etc.) If someone has clean water, but doesn t know Jesus, do they have enough or not enough? Why do you think that? If someone knows Jesus, but does not have clean water, do they have enough or not enough? Why do you think that? Say: In these verses, Jesus talks about God s Spirit flowing through us like a river. When we think of a river, we know it gets its water from a source, and it flows all the way out to the ocean. God gives us His Spirit, and it flows through us to others. God s Spirit is what allows us to show love, to be generous and to live the way Jesus invites us to live. When the Spirit flows through us, others are blessed. 14

15 PRAYER- CLEAN AND LIVING WATER Demonstrate Compassion Water of Life (the bucket and filtration system included in your kit, set-up instructions provided). You might start by asking something like, I wonder what this is? I wonder what it does? as a way to get kids ideas churning before you demonstrate the process. After you show the group how the filtration system works, invite kids to come and get a cup of the water you just purified. Have them hold onto their cups and form a circle. Say: We are going to pray for people who need clean water and for people who need to know Jesus, the living water. I ll pray one sentence, then we ll all say, Give them the water they need, together. Lord, we know that everybody needs water. Give them the water they need. Some people need clean, fresh, safe water to drink today. Give them the water they need. Some people need to know you; you are Living Water. Give them the water they need. Use us to help bring both kinds of water to everyone who needs it. Give them the water they need. Amen. 15

16 TODAY S STEP: Tom and Nancy s youngest child, Joshua, invites us to come along and see the bedroom he shares with his brother Isaac. TODAY S BIG IDEA: Let s step into the shoes of our host family to see how, even when we feel vulnerable, Jesus is enough. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Today s video and a way to play it: Enough Safety [03:56] For Malaria Quiz: Copies of the Malaria Quiz for kids and one answer sheet for yourself. We recommend 1 quiz per 3 kids. If you have the capabilities, you could put the quiz questions on presentation slides for the group. Quiz: On your airplane flash drive or go to banners.compassion.com/biteback/resources/ BiteBackMalariaQuizQuestions.pdf Answers: On your airplane flash drive or go to banners.compassion.com/biteback/resources/ BiteBackMalariaQuizAnswers.pdf For Closing Prayer: Malaria bed net (included in your kit), paper mosquitos (printout from Mosquitos.pdf on your airplane flash drive), paper clips, pens/pencils You may wish to print the coloring pages for younger kids: it s on your airplane flash drive or go to compassion.com/biteback/resources/bitebackcoloringpages. 16 SUPPLY LIST: Today s video Malaria Quiz (We recommend 1 quiz per 3 kids) 1 answer sheet Malaria bed net (included in group kit) Paper mosquitos (on flash drive) Paper clips Pens/pencils Coloring pages for younger kids

17 STEP 03: LET S HAVE A SLEEPOVER Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. Psalm 34:3-5 17

18 3: MALARIA QUIZ Have kids work in groups to guess the answers to the 10 questions about malaria. When they ve tried, reveal the answers for them. Supplies: 10 malaria fact cards. To prepare these, print and cut the cards. If you can, purchase a fly swatter and Velcro. Add Velcro to the bug side of each card and to the fly swatter. (Be sure the texture on the fly swatter is the complement to the texture on the bug cards.) What you do: Place the cards bug side up. Invite one child to come up and swat a card with the Velcro fly swatter. Read them the question on the card and have them guess at the answer. Then reveal if they were correct. If you have a large group, you could make multiple sets of the game for smaller groups to play together. In this case, give an answer card to the small group leader. Say: How many of you have had a mosquito bite before? When you get bitten by a mosquito here in our part of the world, all you ve got is an itch and a bump on your skin. For too many people around the world, a simple mosquito bite can result in sickness and death. More than 625,000 people died from malaria in 2012 alone. Most of those people ninety percent of them lived in Africa. And most of those people were kids younger than age five. The truth is, malaria is treatable and preventable. In fact, there hasn t been any malaria in the United States since If we can make it totally go away here, we can also work to make it go away in other parts of the world. Each of us can do something to prevent a child from being infected. The mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite are active at night. A simple mosquito net hung over a bed can help a child not get bitten while sleeping. WATCH VIDEO ENOUGH SAFETY [03:56] What stood out to you? What are some things we have in our home to keep us safe? How do you imagine it feels to be afraid because of something as small as a mosquito? Say: Let s read about some times in the Bible when people did not feel safe. As we read, I want you to think about how God responds to those people. 17

19 Pick one or a few of these examples for the group. You can have someone read the story aloud, or tell it to the group in a creative way. After each story, have kids discuss how God responded to the people who felt unsafe. Passages: Mark 4:35-41, Deuteronomy 31:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, Psalm 34:3-5, or Psalm 55:1-5, Say: In light of what we just read, how do you think God wants us to respond to people who feel unsafe because of malaria? PRAYER Pull out the malaria net. Say: This is a malaria net. It costs about $20 to give someone a net, teach them how to use it, and follow up with them to be sure that they stay healthy. Today we ll use it to help us pray for everyone to have enough safety. Give each child a paper mosquito and a pen/pencil. Then say: We are going to pray for people who are at risk for malaria and ask God to give them the safety they need. On your mosquito, write or draw your prayer. When you re done, come add it to the net with a paper clip. To attach the mosquitos, loop the paper clips through the net and poke a hole in the paper. Close in prayer: God, we want everyone to have enough of what they need, including safety. So we ask that you would bring comfort and protection, especially to those who are in areas with malaria. Amen. 19

20 TODAY S STEP: We ll go to market with Momma Nancy and decide how we can help a child in need. TODAY S BIG IDEA: We can live from enough by following in Jesus footsteps to care for those in need. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Today s videos and a way to play them: Find Water and Food [04:34] and Choose Your Next Step [05:02]. Enough Child Cards (1 per kid) and Market Cards for your group size. To prepare these, take them out of the family kits, tear them apart, and sort them into piles. To print more of these cards, go to stepintomyshoes.org/resources, Getting Started. You may wish to replace the market cards with the physical objects to create a live market. In that case, put the items out together where kids can see them and shop. One Job Card per every 4 kids. Grab a handful of dirt from outside and put it in a clear pitcher or glass of water. For Watch and Discuss: Butcher paper or a large flip chart and a marker For Pray: one index card and a pen or pencil per child 20 SUPPLY LIST: Today s videos Child Cards (1 per kid) Market Cards One Job Card per every 4 kids Bucket or pitcher full of water and make the water dirty Butcher paper or a large flip chart Marker Index card (one per child) Pen or pencil (one per child)

21 04: CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP STEP Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:

22 4: INTRODUCTION For this activity, divide people into groups of five to be a family for the day. Give each person a Child Card and have them read their story out loud to their family group. Say: What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up this morning? Allow for a few responses, then ask, What was the first decision you had to make? For some kids that might mean what to eat for breakfast or what clothes to put on. Affirm all of these the point is not to make kids feel shameful for having so many options available to them, but to recognize that other kids options are more limited. Continue: Today we are going to think about what it might be like to wake up and have a different set of things to think about. We want to know what life might be like for a family who has to spend the day just finding ways to live. Let s think about these things: What are some of the things you d need to survive? One of the most important things you d need is water. We can only live a few days without water. What would you do right now if you had to get water for your family? Another important thing you d need is food. What would you do if you had to find food? Around the world there are places where children don t have enough food and do not have clean water. Let s see what that can look like. WATCH VIDEO: FIND WATER AND FOOD [04:34] Ask: What does this video make you wonder about? Say: So now it s our turn to get water and food. Each family group needs to know how much their parent made that day. Give each group a Job Card and have them read it aloud. Once all of the kids have heard the story on their Job Card, send them to the market, saying: Your family s task is to try to gather enough food and water for today. Take your Job Card to the market table and try to buy enough of what you need to survive today. As a family, you get to decide together what you need. Every item at the market costs 50 cents. 22 When you have visited the market and have your water, and have made choices for the family, we ll talk about it.

23 TALK ABOUT IT As you look at what you have in front of you, do you have enough? Why or why not? How does your water look? Would you drink it? What about the food? How do you feel right now? If you were the child on your Child Card, and most days were like today, how would that change your hopes and dreams? VIDEO AND DISCUSSION As we close our Step Into My Shoes journey, let s look at how we can take one simple step to help children in need near or far. Do you ever have a sense that God wants you to do something? Can you tell a story of when that happened? Say: We sometimes say that sense is a calling. It s a way to say that we think God has asked us to do something to show his love to others. Sometimes we talk about a calling very generally. There are some things that everyone who loves Jesus is called to do. Let s reflect on one example of a general calling together. We already looked at this passage during Step 01. It s so important, we re going to explore it together again. READ MATTHEW 22:36-39 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Say: Jesus gives two commandments here that apply to everyone who follows him. What are they? We are all called to love God and love others. This is a calling we have no matter where we are at home, school, church, work, even the drive-thru and the grocery store. When it comes to caring for people in poverty, how can we love God and love others? 23

24 4: Say: So how do we know what we are called to do? We can draw closer to people in our family and church while we listen for and live out our calling. We can also look to the Bible to help us understand our calling. In a little while, we re going to take time to listen for God s call about how we can help people in poverty. Maybe you could give away or sell some of your things and use the money for others. Maybe you want to give something up so you can have something extra to give. You might want to help kids nearby or far away. You could come up with a new idea to help. Say: We re going to watch our last video. Afterwards, we re going to brainstorm some next steps we can take together to answer God s call to love God and others. WATCH VIDEO: CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP [05:02] What are ways you can think of for loving children near your home, school, church or even in Africa? Write these on the butcher paper or flip chart for kids to see. PRAY Give each child an index card and pen(cil). 24

25 Say: We are going to ask God to show us how He might be calling us to care for people in poverty. Once we ask, we ll spend a minute or two silently listening before closing our prayer. God may or may not lead us during those couple of minutes. Either way is okay. We just want to practice listening for God s call. Pray: God, how might you be calling us to care for people in poverty? We invite you to speak to us. Give kids a couple of minutes to listen. After you pray, ask: Is there anything in particular you think God is asking you to do? If so, write that on your card. If not, that s okay. Just continue listening for another minute. Give kids a couple of minutes to write. Ask: While we continue to wait and listen for God, is there one step you d like to take to help people in poverty now? If so, write that on your card as well. Close by saying: As we close our journey together, it doesn t actually end. We can keep listening to God for ways we can show love to our neighbors both nearby and far away. So I m going to close our time in prayer, asking God to do just that. (Note: If you have chosen to invite your group to take a particular next step, such as serving once at a local children s shelter or sponsoring a child, have the kids hold a photo of the children or child they may be helping.) God, we want what you want, for everyone to have enough. Show us how we can continue this journey of loving you and loving our neighbors. We will listen to you and follow. Amen. 25

26 TODAY S STEP: Today s group lesson is in the style of a game focused on traveling the globe, allowing kids to be the contestants. Each activity invites several kids to participate while the leader serves as the host. TODAY S BIG IDEA: Celebrate that God gives us enough to love Him and others, even if we have little. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Round 1: 9 pieces of paper, 9 markers Round 2: 2 sets of the Bible verse, 2 rolls of tape Round 3: 2 pieces of paper, 2 markers Round 4: 2 world maps, 2 markers SUPPLY LIST: Today s video 11 pieces of paper 2 Bibles 2 rolls of tape 2 markers 2 world maps 26

27 SESSION: SHOWING LOVE TO GOD AND OTHERS BONUS This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:

28 INTRODUCTION Say: Welcome to the [your ministry name] game show! Today s game is all about showing love to God and others. Each round, you ll have a chance to answer questions and earn points. Our theme today is: Step into My Shoes! This means we ll be journeying to Uganda to learn about Pastor Tom and his family and how we are all connected as part of God s big family. ROUND 1: THINGS IN [NAME OF YOUR MINISTRY]! This round will help kids identify the types of experiences and practices that happen at church. Knowing that information will help them connect to the video later on. For this round, invite up two groups of 4 kids to be Team A and Team B. Or, if kids are already in small groups, you could use those groups, regardless of number. In addition to the two Teams, bring up two extra kids. Give all 10 kids a piece of paper and a marker. Say: For this round, each member of Team A and Team B will write one answer. My friends (name the additional kids you ve invited) will write an answer as well. For every match between Team A and (name the first extra kid) Team A gets a point. For every match between Team B and (name the second extra kid) Team B gets a point. Here s the question: Name one way we show God we love him. Give kids time to write their answers. Then have Team A share them, and affirm when they re on the right track. Compare Team A s answers with the first extra kid. Every match is worth 1 point. Do the same for Team B, comparing their answer to the second extra kid, then giving out points. ROUND 2: SCRIPTURE SCRAMBLE This round will reintroduce the main verse that supports the Step Into My Shoes experience. If possible, play this round by a wall, so kids can tape up the verse papers where the group can see as they play. Invite 2 groups of 4 kids each to be Team A and Team B. Give each group a set of verse papers and a roll of tape. Say: For this round, you will race to unscramble our key Bible verse. You ve heard it before as we ve done the Step Into My Shoes journey. I ll read it once, then say, go! You may also receive help from the audience. 28

29 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Say: Ok, teams, first one to tape it up in order wins 5 points. Go! Add the points to Team A or B s scores from Round 1 and invite kids to return to their seats. Say: Great work, teams! Now we have a bonus question. I need one person from Team A and one from Team B who can answer this: Name one way you can show love to a person you know who is left out. Call on one kid from each team to answer and give 2 bonus points if they give an authentic response (e.g. not, Yeah, what they said. ) ROUND 3: SAME OR DIFFERENT This round introduces today s video, inviting kids to draw on their answers from Round 1 to explore points of connection with the global church. It s also where you ll want to create a shift in tone from the more fun to the more serious. For this round, invite 2 pairs of kids (4 total) to be on Team A and Team B. Give each pair one piece of paper and a marker. Say: Our third round is called Same or Different! This round features a special video segment. In a minute, we ll travel to Uganda to see how Pastor Tom s church worships God together. Some things about their church time will be similar to ours. Some will be different. Before we see our video, here s your question: Name one thing you think will be the same in Pastor Tom s church as it is in ours and name one thing you think will be different. Write your guesses down. If you want, let the pairs use their teammates for ideas. After they ve written down their answers, set up the video before you play it. This is where you ll want to drop your Game Show voice and introduce a calmer, more serious tone as you say: Now, for everyone (not just our contestants) I want you to think about the ways that our time in church is similar to the time Pastor Tom and his family spend in church. What do we have in common? 29

30 VIDEO AND DISCUSSION Watch today s video, Enough Hope, together. After the video, ask kids to share the similarities they saw. Then return to your contestants and see if they correctly guessed a similarity and a difference. Give each correct guess 2 points and have them sit down again. Return to your calmer, focused tone and ask the whole group: Even though we live far from Uganda, we all come to church to worship and show love to the same big God. This is very important for us as we learn to show love to our neighbor, because our neighbor isn t just here in our town, they are also all over the world. This brings us to our final round ROUND 5: GOD S BIG FAMILY This last round will help kids understand their connection to not only Pastor Tom s family, but to all Christians around the globe. For this round, invite 2 groups of 4 kids to be on Teams A and B. You may want to say that a knack for geography will help in this round. Give each team a world map and a marker. Say: Our final round is called God s Big Family! To start, I need one person from Team A and one from Team B. Bring your map and marker with you. I will name a place. You will find it on the map and mark it with an X. If kids cannot find the exact location, give the point to the team that guesses the closest, then mark the true location of the country. Ready? (Name your city. Give a point to the kid who marks it first and invite them to sit down again.) Great! Now I need another person from Team A and Team B. Get the map and marker, please. Ready for your location? Uganda. (Give a point to the kid who marks it first and invite them to sit down again.) Alright, the third person from Team A and B, please. Got your map and marker? Find and mark Brazil. (Give a point to the kid who marks it first and invite them to sit down again.) Here it is, the very last contestant! Map and marker ready? Find and mark India! (Give a point to the kid who marks it first. Collect the maps and then invite them to sit down again.) Announce the winners here, wrapping up the Game Show, so kids can focus on this final response. 30

31 Hold up one of the maps as you say: Here is where we live. And here is where our host family lives in Uganda. There are members of God s family all over the world, on every continent. That is what we saw in our video as Pastor Tom and his family and community worshiped God in Uganda. Now, if we are in God s family, and they are in God s family, then we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. As you look at the map, these X s are places where our family lives. Even if you haven t met someone, even if they live far away, everyone who loves and follows Jesus is part of His family! God sure has a big family. Close by asking: If we belong to God s family here (point to where you live), and someone else in God s family needs something here in (name one of the X s), what does that mean for us? Repeat the question with each of the different locations kids marked. Kids may be challenged to think about how to respond given the distance, so this is a great opportunity to begin to explore ideas about how we serve each other even if we live far apart. PRAYER When Jesus lived on earth, He helped people understand God s family. God s family is not made up of people who are related to each other. It s made up of all the people who love and follow Jesus. And everyone in God s family has been praying a prayer together for over 2,000 years! To close today, we re going to pray that prayer too. Have participants look up, provide copies, or put the text of Matthew 6:9-13 on a screen. Ask: A lot of times when we pray, what do we say first? (Dear God, Dear Jesus, Heavenly Father, etc.) What are the first two words of this prayer? (Our Father) Why are those two words important? (They remind us we re all part of God s family) Pray the Lord s Prayer together as a group. 31

32 TODAY S STEP: Our journey begins with meeting our host family and growing in our understanding of what it means to have enough. We ll go to market with Momma Nancy and see what it is like to have enough or not enough of our daily needs. We ll end by considering a next step we can take to help a child who does not have enough. TODAY S BIG IDEA: This journey will help us see how God gives us enough to enjoy and enough to share by stepping into our host family s shoes and following in Jesus footsteps to care for those in need. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Today s videos and a way to play them: Welcome/Meet the Family [06:14]and Let s Make a Soccer Ball [02:20], Find Water and Food [04:34] and Choose Your Next Step [05:02] Market Cards. Take these out of the Step Into My Shoes Family Kit, tear them apart, and sort them into piles. You will need one full set of Market Cards for every 20 people participating. Option: You may wish to replace the market cards with the physical objects to create a live market. In that case, put the items out together where kids can see them. Family Cards, Job Cards. To prepare these, take them out of the Step Into My Shoes Family Kits, tear them apart, and sort them into sets of five. In each pile put four Family Cards and one Job Card. To print more of these cards, go to stepintomyshoes.org/resources, Getting Started. Prayer (Shoe)laces 1 per family and pens to write with To print more of these cards, go to stepintomyshoes.org/ resources, Getting Started. Put water into the Compassion Water of Life bucket and add dirt to the water. For Pray: one index card and a pen or pencil per child. 32

33 ONE SESSION: ONE-SESSION VERSION This 1-session version provides ideas for leaders who have limited time as a group. It can be used to help families get started on the Step Into My Shoes TM journey or bring families together after they have done the journey on their own. 33

34 ROOM SET UP: ENTRY TABLE 4 pieces of cardboard. Write on each, in large letters, one message on each side as follows: Welcome to Uganda / Write Thank you for visiting! on reverse I am worthless / God says I am His child No one cares / Someone was kind to me Things will never get better / God has a good future for me From Your Flashdrive: 3 or more photos of Uganda WATER TABLE Compassion Water of Life bucket and filter, filled with dirty water Clear cups TABLES WHERE FAMILIES WILL SIT At 20% of the tables put a sticky dot under one of the chairs to indicate that the people at that table will receive dirty water during the food-and-water experience. (Note: About 84% of people in developing nations, such as Uganda, have access to safe water. See water facts at poverty/water.htm). Or, if you prefer, put pitchers of dirty water on one of every five tables and invite the other tables to come up and get clean filtered water. Optional: Set tables with African cloth, burlap or large black trash bags. EXIT TABLE 4 pieces of cardboard. (Same ones as on the entry table, just flip them over to show the positive messages on the back side) Family Toolkits, 1 per family to take home 34

35 INTRODUCTION [TIME :00-:10] Greet Participants at Entry Table SUPPLIES & STAFFING Invite them to take off their shoes and choose either a Family Card or Job Card to symbolize who they will be for the next hour. Instruct groups to sit in families of one person with a Job Card and the remainder with Family Cards. Say: Welcome to Uganda! Today we re going to see another part of the world, without leaving home. We ll do this by stepping into the shoes of a family who lives very simply and then learning how Jesus invites us to love Him by caring for others. We re starting in Africa where we ll follow the story of our host family, Pastor Tom, his wife Nancy and their 12 children. As many children in Uganda do not have shoes, we would like to invite you to take off your shoes and leave them here while you step into this child s life. After we get to know our host family, we re going to choose a next step our family could take. While others arrive, invite those seated to read the stories on the back of their cards to each other and get to know their family. 1 person at Entry Table 1 person in the room, helping families read their Family and Job Cards WATCH VIDEO: WELCOME/MEET THE FAMILY [06:14] 35

36 SUPPLIES & STAFFING Water Table Leader: As families come up, show them the dirty water and ask: What would you do if that was the water you had to drink? Give those who have a sticker a cup of dirty water. Help those who do not have a sticker filter the dirty water using the Compassion Water of Life system. Market Table Leader: Instruct families to read the back of their Job Card and tell them that is what they have to spend at the store. Each item costs 50 cents. Ask: What do you need most to survive today? What will you need for tomorrow? The market leader can do a bit of play-negotiating such as, I ll take your nice pair of shoes in trade for malaria medicine. GROUP ACTIVITY [TIME :11-:26] (Welcome the Group to the Activity) Say: The last boy you met in the video that has been playing (Welcome/Meet the Family) is named Isaac and he s 10 years old. We want you to get to know what life might be like for a child in Isaac s village. When children live in poverty, often they have to spend their days just finding ways to survive. But first, let s meet Momma Nancy and go with her to see how she gets enough food for her family. WATCH VIDEO: FIND WATER AND FOOD [04:34] Say: So parents, in this next section you re off at work and your kids are the ones who need to answer these questions. They can ask you for advice, but they get to figure things out. Kids: If your parents were off at work and you had to survive, what kinds of things would you need? (Listen for what kids say and repeat back in your own words affirming each answer. Listen particularly until someone mentions water and food. As you ask these questions, you do not need to say much just nod and invite other answers.) Say: You ll notice in this area we have two tables set up one s a store where you can buy what you need and one s a place you can get water. (As one of you mentioned) one of the most important things you d need is water. We can only live a few days without water. What would you do right now if you had to get water for your family? (Listen and nod in agreement.) Take a look under your chairs to see if there is a sticker there. If you are at a table with a sticker, please bring it up to the water table in a few minutes to see what kind of water you will receive. 36

37 Say: So one of you mentioned food. What would you do if you had to find food? (Listen and nod.) Right now I d like the adult in your family to say his or her job and how much you can spend. What are some of the jobs in the room today? (Listen as two or three with Job Cards read their jobs and how much money they will make today.) Now take someone with a Job Card to these tables and bring your sticker if there was one under a chair. Bring back enough food and water for today. Remember, kids, you get to decide what to buy and you can ask your parent for advice. When you have visited the store and have your water, please go ahead and sit down. SUPPLIES & STAFFING Roving Leader [Optional]: Informs families when it s time to move to the next table, Invites waiting (still-seated) families when it is time to visit one of the tables. DISCUSSION [TIME :27-:40] Say: Let s come back together and see what we have. 1) How does your water look? Would you drink it? (Listen to answers.) 2) Who s eating today? Who is not? (Ask them to raise hands.) What could you do if you have an empty plate? What could you do if you have enough? (They could share.) 3) If you were most days were like today, how might you feel? (Listen.) (Hold up one of the cardboard signs that says, I am worthless, No one cares, I ll never matter. ) 37

38 Say: Could someone read this sign? What about this one? And this one? You re reading what children in poverty often feel. Because for them, this daily search to survive is real and it takes away their hope that things might change. But it doesn t have to be that way. Let s watch this video and see how many ideas come to mind about that we can do to make a difference. WATCH VIDEO: CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP [05:02] Say: The way our host family in Uganda lives might look poor to us, but they have water, food, school and a chance to realize their dreams. People came alongside them and made a difference in their lives and now they re making a difference for families in their community. Most of all this family belongs to Jesus family and our family. At one time Pastor Tom s family had to walk a long, long ways for water. But then some friends helped the church build a well right nearby. They loved Pastor Tom s community and wanted them to have water, just like they valued having water as well. Someone took a first step to help and we can do the same today. 38

39 To start, go ahead and take a prayer (shoe)lace. You can put it in one of your shoes to remind you to pray and maybe give another one to a friend or parent. Ask you pray, ask God to show you how you might want to simplify your stuff or give something up or do something else entirely to help a child who does not have enough. (Note: If your group does have an idea of a next step you want people to invite people to take or to pray about taking, you might mention it now and give instructions for how to take action.) SUPPLIES & STAFFING Table Leaders: Set-up near doors, turn cardboard signs over to reveal positive messages. Hand out Family Kits as families depart. Soon, we ll be leaving Uganda and putting our own shoes back on. For now, let s close by praying the prayer Jesus taught us, a prayer that families all over the world are praying together this very day. (Close with the Lord s Prayer) 39

40 HEAR WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT STEP INTO MY SHOES FAMILIES & SMALL GROUPS The combination of materials, topics discussed, and video content provided an excellent window into the lives of people living in poverty. I don t think it could have been better without actually experiencing it first hand. Step Into My Shoes Participant The videos were very stirring to our hearts. Especially to one of my twin boys. He began to earnestly pray for children in poverty and told me he wants to be a Pastor someday. It made us all appreciate what we have in our country. Step Into My Shoes Participant We loved stepping into other s shoes and seeing them through the eyes of Jesus. Helped us as a family to remember that Jesus is enough and we are thankful for this program and have already recommended it to others. Step Into My Shoes Participant The videos Enough Water and Enough Safety had the most impact on our girls. I was most convicted and inspired by the joy of the host family in each of the videos even though they have so little, especially when compared with what we have. Step Into My Shoes Participant CHURCH LEADERS The mutual goal of Willow Creek Association and Compassion is to create Jesus-centered disciples who pray and live God s Kingdom come, His will be done. This goal is well served by Step Into My Shoes. I urge you and your church to explore and use this to see transformation in your congregation by inspiring people to follow in Jesus footsteps, and serve. Steve Bell, Executive Vice President, Willow Creek Association I am so glad we got to participate in the Step Into My Shoes program. What a wonderful opportunity for our families. I like the idea of encouraging them to take a next step while they are still freshly impacted. I look forward to when this experience can be available to all Vineyard churches. Becky Olmstead, Vineyard USA Kids Ministry National Task Force Director It is one thing to hear about the lack of food or unclean drinking water. It was a different thing to experience it! It became very real when it was my children staring at a dirty jug of water and realizing that this was our only option to drink. As an American, it is easy to lose sight of what is meant by basic needs. This experience brought that into focus and deeply impacted our families understanding of what it means to provide and advocate for others basic needs. Julie Wright, Minister of Next Generation Outreach, Grace Church, Eden Prairie, MN