Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005 Projects for Small & Tall all Helping the church grow in stewardship and mission. Your support of KidsPak projects will make a difference in the lives of children at home, across the street and around the world. Route to: Children s Church Leaders Church Retreat Planners Advent Project 1 Advent Travel Tax Thailand Project 2 Ears that Hear and Learn China Lent Project 3 Toast, Bannock and Jam Native Ministries Project 4 Faith & Friends at the Waterfront Ukraine Club Leaders Intergenerational Small-group leaders Sunday School coordinators
KidsPak Mennonite Church MENNONITE CHURCH CANADA S ANNUAL PROJECT KIT FOR SMALL & TALL Canada Project for Lent Toast, Bannock & Jam Each of us has a story to tell. Some of our stories include bannock and some of our stories include toast. When those stories include jam, life is easier than when they don t. Resource Centre staff, Arlyn Friesen Epp and his children, starting the day with toast and jam. The daughters of Native Ministry staff, Donovan Jacobs, start their day with Bannock and jam. During Lent we re-enact the story of God s earthly journey with us in Jesus. We journey with Jesus who lived, suffered, was crucified and raised to help us journey to God. Journeying with Jesus opens our ears and hearts to the stories of others; others whose journeys through life have been marked by suffering and injustice. Jesus opens our eyes, minds, hearts and hands and frees us to celebrate the bread of life together as toast and bannock eaters. When this happens we can say, with our theme for Lent, This is the Lord s doing, it is marvelous in his eyes! Psalm 118:23. What Your Gift Can Do! 150 Toonies will help contract Native resource people for development of curriculum 100 Loonies will assist with the cost of publishing this curriculum which will help us build relationships with Canada s Native people 20 Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005
This KidsPak project invites you to journey with the children in First Nations communities across Canada. Did you know that one in three children in Canada is First Nations? These children love to have bannock and jam for breakfast or lunch. The story, Wilson s Bannock Lunch, will show you why these children sometimes have to choose between breakfast and lunch. Their journeys are often difficult. Many of them are placed in foster care because their parents suffering keeps them from providing a stable home life. It is hard for us to understand what it means for families and children when their people have suffered centuries of injustice. What does the good news and hope of Jesus Christ mean for Native people who are treated as second class citizens? What does it mean that Jesus came to announce good news to the poor to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord s favour? Mennonite Church Canada wants to participate with Jesus as he opens our eyes and hearts to what it means to journey with the Native people of Canada. We want to help build relationships with the hearts and minds of toast and bannock eaters. The late Chief Dan George said something like this: How can we talk of relationship until there is a relationship between hearts and minds? Unless you have this, you only have a physical presence, and the walls between us are as high as a mountain range. But there are passes in that mountain range which Jesus wants to help us find and use. In the coming year, the Native Ministry program area of Mennonite Church Canada will contract native writers to develop educational Club, VBS or Sunday school materials. This material will help our congregations take steps toward healthier relationships with Native people. Native Ministries will continue to resource and assist Native believers and congregations in their efforts to bring hope to their communities through the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ. Your support of this KidsPak project can help us all journey with Jesus to a place where white people and Native people will eat our toast and bannock together, maybe even with two kinds of jam. Story: The Bannock Lunch The wind blew into the church as little Wilson entered with his sack lunch under his arm. Smiling, Wilson ran up to Margaret and eagerly told her of the bannock that his mother had packed in his lunch. Margaret and the rest of the VBS team had been there for three days by now. They were having a week of fun and learning with the children of the reserve. Little Wilson was just four years old. From the first day, Margaret seemed to take special notice of his enthusiasm and friendliness. Every day seemed to be an adventure for him. Today was extra special for Wilson, because he had brought his own lunch. The three previous days he had arrived without anything to eat and Margaret had shared her lunch with him. Today, he shared his bannock proudly with Margaret. At the end of the day when Wilson and the other children had gone home, Margaret approached Nadine, a woman from the community who had offered her time to assist in VBS, and asked her why little Wilson and some of the other children did not bring lunches? Nadine told her that it was hard for some families to provide three meals a day because they simply lacked the money to buy enough food. She told Margaret that Wilson had most likely skipped eating his breakfast and had brought it with him to the church as his lunch. Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005 21
As Margaret was spreading jam on her toast the next morning, she thought of little Wilson and his breakfast bannock. She wondered how he could be so happy and excited to share his bannock, knowing that what he had to eat would not be enough to fill the average belly. Later that morning when the children arrived, they all sat down to watch the Veggie Tale: The Ballad of Little Joe. As usual, Wilson was sitting right in front, smiling as he watched. As the video played, Margaret wondered if Wilson s dreams were like Little Joe s. Did Wilson feel that God cared for him and was watching over him, too? After the video, Margaret led the learning time and asked if anyone knew why Little Joe was able to be happy even when it seemed that his dreams would not come true. Wilson spoke up first, saying, Because God promised Little Joe he would take care of him. Wilson had obviously understood the week s lessons about God caring for them. Maybe he did have dreams like Little Joe. She hoped so. When Sunday arrived and the weeklong VBS was over, Margaret and the others said their goodbyes. Margaret wondered what the future held for little Wilson and the other children. As she had worked alongside and become friends with Nadine, Margaret had learned many things about the history of Native people in Canada and how unfairly they have often been treated throughout the years. She now understood that the lack of money, food and clothing was often a result of this mistreatment. The lack of a clear way to help Wilson and other Native families have enough money and food made her sad. Doris Kozub, of Riverton, serving a bannock snack. As the bus rolled away, Margaret breathed a prayer, that God would help little Wilson and the rest of the children remember how much God loved and cared for them. She prayed for willing hands, hearts and minds to share God s love and fairness with Native families. She thanked God for the friendships that had begun and prayed that her new friends dreams of one day having enough would come true. Awareness Raising Activities: 1. Watch the Veggie Tale, The Ballad of Little Joe and then talk about what Wilson or other Native children might dream of for their families. 2. The following resources are recommended to help communicate the relationship between Native and non-native people over the years. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada offers a basic curriculum called Learning Circles which spans ages 4-14. Its focus is to provide activities that aid in understanding the culture of First Nations peoples. You can download this curriculum from the website: aincinac.gc.ca/ks/12010_e.html. The links to follow are Publications/Kidstuff/Teacher Materials/Learning Circles. The lessons on storytelling and seasons in the curriculum for 4 7 year olds provide a great starting point with stories you can read and compare with familiar Bible stories. Learning Circle material contains a wealth of well-described activities and well-formulated information and questions, 22 Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005
which are easy to build on. For people who can t download information from the web, Learning Circle materials can be reached at Publications and Public Enquiries, 10 Wellington Street, Room 1415, Ottawa, Ontario K1A OH4, by fax: (819) 953 3017 or email: learningcircle@inac-ainc.gc.ca Learn how to play Cat s Cradle in your Sunday school or Children s Club and remember that it is a game with a Native heritage. The project editor found excellent visual and written instructions at the following site: http:/ /www.ifyoulovetoread.com/book/ chten_cats.htm Cree Bannock This popular and authentic Cree bannock bread is made with either currants or raisins! Bake Bannock using the following recipe. Serve it with wild blueberry jam (a Native tradition) and peach jam (it might come from an orchard owned by Mennonite farmers in BC or Ontario). Gather the following ingredients: 6 Cups of flour 1 Cup of lard 3 Tablespoons of baking powder 1 Tablespoon of salt 2 Cups of currants or raisins 3 ½ Cups of water You ll also need a medium sized mixing bowl. Elsie Rempel and Peter Duck play Cat s Cradle and win! Crafts Cup and Ball Many First Nations children and adults play and enjoy this popular game. It was a diverting activity that helped children develop as hunters and care-givers. Make a simple cup and ball game by attaching a short piece of string to a small ball (stapling and tying works best) and to the bottom of a cup or tin can. Secure the string by tying a knot in the end of the rope that is inside the cup. In the bowl, mix the flour and lard together by hand. Then add the baking powder, salt and the currants or raisins. Once this is done, add the water and work the ingredients into a dough. Next, you have two options: the campfire or the oven. To cook over a campfire, divide the dough into four lumps and firmly wrap each lump around the end of a four foot stick and prop securely over the fire until golden brown. To cook in an oven, spread the dough out into a 16" square cake pan. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. The object of the game is to flip the ball into the air and catch it in the cup. The game is made easier or more difficult by the size of the cup relative to the ball. If the receptacle is small, the game becomes more difficult. If the cup is much larger than the ball, it is much easier to catch the ball. Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005 23
Puppets Some First Nations children played with puppets that they wore on their hands or fingers. These puppets were made by stuffing animal hair into hides that formed the shape of the puppet. Simple finger puppets can also be created with paper and glue. Cut out figures of Native and non-native children from construction paper. Glue two pieces of the same figure together to make a finger puppet. Ask children to perform a small play with the puppets where these children share in each other s lives and celebrate with a toast, bannock and jam tea party. 24 Mennonite Church Canada KidsPak 2004-2005