Ways to get involved Share your love this Advent by joining the Mary s Meals. As we come together with friends and family during Advent to celebrate the birth of Jesus our saviour please take time to remember the millions of children around the world who are missing out on school because of poverty and hunger. Your prayers and acts of love and kindness can help to shine a light in the darkness for hungry children in some of the world s poorest and most troubled communities. There are so many ways to get involved in our. Here are just a few suggestions: Remember the work of Mary s Meals in your prayers We rely on prayers for the work of Mary s Meals. Please remember Mary s Meals in your personal prayer time or when praying as a group. Feel free to use the Prayer for Mary s Meals. Set a place at our table Often, the greatest gifts cannot be wrapped. Change a life this by setting a place at our virtual dinner table and giving a hungry child the gift of nutritious daily meals for a whole school year. (From Thursday, 29 November.) bigfamilychristmas.com Our Father Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us for the times when we take more than our share of the bread that belongs to all. Let us help You fill the starving with good things, not with scraps from our table. Teach us how to share what is not ours to keep. Clothe us with Your love that we may complete each good work You created us to do. Place in our hearts Your compassion for each starving child and use our little acts of love so that they starve no more. Amen
coffee morning Hold a Mary s Meals coffee morning at your church or community centre this Advent. Put up posters, share stories about some of the children who benefit from our work, collect donations, and let people know how they can get involved. Just 13.90 will provide a hungry child with meals for a whole school year, so any festive fundraising will go a long way! Volunteer Mary s Meals work is only possible thanks to lots of little acts of love carried out by people all around the world, united by the belief that no child should have to endure a day without a meal. Everybody has an important role to play in our global family, so if you have a little time to spare, we d love to hear from you. Hope in an envelope Mary s Meals gift cards are the perfect way to show loved ones how much you care, while helping hungry children to learn and thrive. In return for a donation, we ll send you a beautiful card to pass on, telling the recipient about the gift you ve made in their name. Sing songs of praise Organise a carol service at your church, school or community centre and gather together to sing some of your favourite hymns in aid of Mary s Meals. Reverse Advent calendar Every time you open a door on your Advent calendar, take a moment to think about hungry children everywhere and add a small donation to an Advent jar. If you set aside 50p each day between 1 December and Eve and 1 on Sundays you could provide a child with Mary s Meals for an entire school year. To find out more about the many ways that you can join the Mary s Meals Big Family celebration, visit bigfamilychristmas.com
Advent talk Love in action an Advent message on sharing the love of Jesus The first letter of St John tells us: We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) We have all heard the phrase Love came down at and we know that God and by extension Jesus is love. As we reflect during Advent, we re reminded of God s love for us. We consider the amazing gift God gave us on the first and the joy that knowing Jesus brings to our lives. As well as being an important time to give thanks, has become a time to give gifts and to think of others. But Jesus calls us to love one another every day, not just around this one special day every year. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-5) Jesus gives us direct instructions to love as He loves in this new commandment. Many of the wonderful stories in the gospel show Jesus love in action and remind us He was willing to stop what he was doing to show mercy and love to those that others would ignore. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, spent time with those who were cast out by society, and showed His love to everyone, no matter who they were. So, today, how can we love in the way that Jesus loved? There are lots of ways, but here are a few: By forgiving people even when it s difficult or we feel very let down by their actions; by stepping in to help when it s not convenient or by being generous when it s not easy to be; by putting others needs before our own without seeking any reward for our actions; and by making room in our hearts and our lives for the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our world. When we consider these examples, two things are clear: 1) Jesus love is truly awesome and 2) it s not easy to love as He loved. Naturally, we fall short of this challenge Jesus gave us to love as He loved but we can all take small actions to reach out to others in love every day, knowing that these things will make a difference. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)
A small act of kindness can make a huge impact in someone else s life and every action we take to love like Jesus helps to improve others lives and bring glory to God. We don t need to make grand gestures to reach out to people with Jesus love. Every little act of love and kindness is powerful both to the person who receives it to and to God. We can all give something that will help to make life better for others. A great place to start is by asking God in prayer how He wants us to individually reach out to others with love. One child whose life has been touched by small acts of kindness is Gift, an 11-year-old schoolboy from Zambia who receives daily school meals from Mary s Meals. Before Mary s Meals reached his school, he would often skip lessons and go scavenging for food. Now, even when there is very little to eat at home, Gift knows that he can rely on a nutritious mug of porridge every day at school. He said: I m happy that even though she is a farmer, my mum can send me to school. Most of my family members have not gone to school. I want to make a better future for myself. School is the only way to do that. I want to be in a position where I can help my family. I don t feel as hungry at school anymore. I get energy when I eat the porridge. Becoming involved in a work of service is one practical way to show Jesus love. The work of Mary s Meals to provide more than one million of the world s poorest children with daily meals in school is only possible because of thousands of volunteers around the world. The chance to go to school and the guarantee of at least one meal each day is something most of us have probably taken for granted in our own lives; but for impoverished and vulnerable children like Gift, it opens the door to an education and a chance to escape from poverty. People all over the world dedicate their time, skills, and prayer to help to grow the Mary s Meals global movement so that more hungry children can be fed in school. Many thousands of these volunteers in countries like Malawi, Zambia, Haiti, Syria, and South Sudan give their time to cook and serve the meals that will help children from their communities to concentrate while they learn. No matter where in the world you live, you can reach out to these children by praying for the work of Mary s Meals or volunteering to help raise awareness in your church or community. You can find out more about this work of love and how you can help on the Mary s Meals website. On behalf of the 1.3 million children around the world who are finding hope in classrooms thanks to the promise of a daily meal in school, thank you and God bless you all.
Children s activity Sharing our love an Advent reflection activity for children Suggested discussion points What does mean to you? School holidays? Spending time with friends and family? Gathering together for a delicious dinner? Exchanging gifts with the people you love? Advent is a special time when we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift of all the gift of Jesus, given to us by God. God loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus to live among us. Who knows the story of the Nativity? Although the baby Jesus was born in a stable with just a manger for a bed, He was surrounded by love. The love of God, His father. The love of Mary and Joseph. The love of the angels who sang to welcome Him. The love of the animals that shared their stable with Him. The love of the shepherds who rushed to be by His side and the love of the three kings who followed a distant star to bring Him gifts. At we are reminded of how much God loves us, no matter who we are. It is also a time for showing our love for our friends, our family, and people around the world that need our help. We can all play a part in sharing the hope and love of Advent by carrying out little acts of love that help make the world a better and fairer place. How can we show our love for others? Has anybody heard of Mary s Meals? Mary s Meals shows love for others by providing tasty school meals for 1.3 million hungry children in 17 countries around the world. One of the children who eats Mary s Meals every day at school is 11-year-old Gift from Zambia in Africa. Gift s story Gift wants to be the first person in his family to finish school. His mum is a farmer, but it is very hot and dry in Zambia and sometimes there isn t enough rain for her to grow food for her five children. Before Mary s Meals came to his village, Gift used to be so hungry that he could not concentrate in class and would leave lessons early to go looking for food. Now, thanks to a daily serving of tasty Mary s Meals porridge, Gift has lots of energy and is doing really well in school. He told us: I don t feel as hungry anymore. When I finish school, I want to be a doctor, so I can help my family. You can help more children like Gift this by praying for the work of Mary s Meals or fundraising at your school or church. Mary s Meals can provide a hungry child with meals for a whole school year for just 13.90. That means each special school meal costs just 7p! Activity Hand out copies of the activity sheet, asking the children to colour in their baubles. They can take their activity sheet home with them at the end of the session to add the finishing touches to the decoration. Gift, from Zambia Prayer God our loving Father, Please watch over all the children in the world who do not have enough to eat this. Help us to show our love for others by sharing what we have with those who lack even the most basic things. Amen
Children s activity sheet Sharing our love an Advent reflection activity for children Step one Colour in your bauble to make a beautiful decoration. Step two Carefully cut around the outline and fold in half to create your bauble you might want to ask an adult for help. Step three Stick a loop of string or brightly-coloured ribbon to the back of your decoration with a piece of tape. Step four Proudly display your beautiful decoration or use it as a lovely gift for someone you love.