LEADER’S GUIDE

SUPPLY LIST: • Give Back Day Videos and a way to play

them

• Child Sponsorship packets

• 1 pen per person

• 5 Tables for Walk-In Activity (Comparison Tables)

• Items for each table: breakfast, cleaning, hygiene, school supplies, and cooking (See Set Up section for more detail.)

• 1 Comparison Sheet per person

• 1 Child Card per kid

• 1 Job Card per table group

• 1 set of Market Cards per table group

• 1 Market Table for every 3 table groups

• Market props (optional, see Set Up section for more detail.)

• 6 signs, handwritten on cardboard: “I am worthless,” “No one cares,” “I’ll never matter,” “God made me and loves me,” “I am valuable,” “I am God’s child.”

• 1 copy of the Soccer Ball Making directions per person

• 1 Brown bag per person

• 1 Large plastic trashbag or 3-5 plastic grocery bags per person

• 5' twine per person

Give Back Day is a cross-cultural, intergenerational, service learning experience that invites families to see the world from a different perspective, without leaving home. Give Back Day has three sections: 1: First, we’ll visit the African nation of Uganda. Pastor Tom, his wife Nancy and

their 12 children will be our host family. We’ll learn about their family and community from their perspective and how they share from their enough.

2: Second, we’ll imagine ourselves as members of a village similar to Pastor Tom’s and engage in activities and discussions together as we visit an African marketplace.

3: Finally, we will spend some time in Scripture and prayer, inviting God to show us where we might have enough to share and how we could take a next step to share with children near us or far away, so they can have enough too.

Below you’ll find a supply list for the event and a full script guiding you through the entire experience.

VOLUNTEER ROLES• Setup Team

You may wish to invite others to serve in the setup process by sourcing the supplies for the Comparison Tables, decorating the tables that groups will sit at and/or the room where you’ll do your Give Back Day experience.

• Greeting Team 2 people at your entrance 2 or more people wandering during the walk in activity to help families get started.

• Main Host This person will lead the experience for the group using this guide.

• Market Vendors 1-2 people per Market Table to act as a vendor to the group. When families visit the Market,

this person should provide them the Market Cards that represent their purchases. See more on this role in the Market section of the guide below.

Participant Seating: We recommend that participants also sit at tables with 1-2 groups per table. These tables should be located in the middle of the room and can hold supplies to begin the experience:

Market Experience: Finally, consider where you’d like to place your Market Tables. You might use the Comparison Tables and transition them during the event. You might choose new tables to create the market. Some churches have put out physical items to represent each of the items on the Market Cards, then provided participants with the experience card to represent their purchase. If you’d like to choose this option, you’ll need:

• chicken• candy• beans• rice

• fresh fruit• lantern• malaria net• medicine

• school supplies• toys

SET UP

SOCCER BALL PRAYER REMINDER You might choose to prepare the soccer ball supplies ahead, placing the plastic bag(s) and twine in a bag that a family could grab when the time comes. Include a direction sheet for each person (or family bag, if you pre-make the kits).

• nametags (if desired)• pens • direction sheets (if not on the screens)

• comparison sheets• child sponsorship packets

SET UPComparison Tables: Prior to the event, set up the comparison tables on the edges of the room. At each table, you’ll create a comparison of a typical U.S. expression and a typical expression in the developing world. Use the list below as a guide for what to include. If you cannot source these physical items, you can print the images we provide. Each person will then use a Comparison Sheet to help them engage with the tables, so print those ahead of time. You may also wish to provide clipboards for participants to have as they do this portion of the experience.

BREAKFASTFor the U.S. •Boxoffrozenwaffles • Egg (hardboiled) • Precooked bacon

(1 package) • Bagels (1 package) • Box of cereal • Nice ceramic plates (2) • Silverware

(fork, knife, spoon) • Cloth napkin • Placemats (3)

For the developing world • Microwave rice (cooked) • Ceramic bowl • Empty dirty ceramic plate • Wet wipes

(for cleaning plates)

COOKINGFor the U.S. • Microwave • Coleman stove • Spatula • Frying pan

For the developing world •Rocksforfirering •Woodforfirering

HYGIENEFor the U.S. • Shampoo • Soap • Hairbrush • New toothbrush • Lotion • Towel and washcloths

For the developing world • One towel • Bar of soap • Toothbrush

SCHOOL SUPPLIESFor the U.S. • Polo Shirt • Khaki pants • Backpack • School books • Pencils • Pens • Markers • Calculator

For the developing world • Slate and chalk • Hammer and a big rock

(this is to emphasize that some children have to work for their families and cannot go to school)

CLEANING SUPPLIESFor the U.S. • Vacuum cleaner • Broom • Comet and other misc.

cleaning solutions • Cleaning supplies • Dishpan with fancy brush • Dishsoap

For the developing world • Bucket • Rag • ‘Dirty water’

(to be obtained on the day of the event)

• Straw broom from ‘hut’

cookingcleaning

breakfast foods hygiene

school supplies

COMPARISON TABLESEXPERIENCE01:

WALK-IN ACTIVITY [-:10-0:10]

To begin the Give Back Day experience, invite participants to visit Comparison Tables as they arrive. These tables provide concrete representation of the choices available to many people in the United States and to most people in developing countries. This activity will help participants understand how important the power of choice is for all of us. Having choices is a large part of having enough and having hope. As families arrive, give directions on the screen using the printable version of the Comparison Tables Worksheet. Families can begin this activity as soon as they arrive; they don’t need to wait for the event to begin. We recommend to have greeters at the entrances telling each group,

Additionally, volunteers should walk around to help people get started and answer any questions they might have about the first activity. Participants will visit each station, completing the Comparison Sheet as they go along. This activity is for every person, not just kids or adults. The directions for participants read:

When everyone has arrived, visited the Comparison Tables and completed the worksheet, you’re ready to begin the stage-led portion of the experience. Have your host come in front of the group.

Welcome to “Give Back Day”! Thank you for joining us!

Our time today is going to help open our eyes to the struggles of children living in poverty. Before you start the activity, talk to your group or family about this question: what does it meantobepoor?Onceyou’vecomeupwithsomeanswers,walkaroundtothefivetables.As you are looking at the items, compare what you have here in the US to what a child that is poor might or might not have. Once your family has explored the differences, please returntoyourtableandfilloutthecomparisonsheetswe’veprovided.

We will begin our experience as soon as everyone has had the chance to visit the tables.

01:

Welcome,pleasegowithyourfamilytoanyofthetables.Youcanstartthefirstactivityright away, and each of you should participate—it’s not just for the kids or just for the adults.

COMPARISON TABLES

SAY

SAY

WELCOME [0:10-0:15]

This introduction will connect the Comparison Tables to our Big Idea: that God wants all people to have enough of what they need, and that when we share from our enough, we can help those in material poverty have the choices, hope, and opportunities God wants for them.

Transition to our ‘traveling experience’ by giving each kid a Child Card and having them read the story included on it out loud to their group.

01: COMPARISON TABLES

Based on what you saw at the tables, how do you think it would make you feel if you lived with poverty? (Take answers from kids and adults.) Those are all great answers. One thing we know is that God cares about people who live with poverty; God cares how they feel. We also know that God wants everyone to have enough of what they need. And when we share what we have, we get to be part of helping everyone have enough.

Welcome to Give Back Day! Today we are going to talk about children living in poverty in parts of the world called “developing countries”. We want to better understand what their lives are like and how we can help them to have hope for the future. We began today by traveling around the room to visit our comparison tables and answer some questions. As you visited the tables, did you notice how many choices we have here in the United States? Sometimes we have too many choices. But in many other parts of our world there are people who don’t have the choices we do because they live in very different andsometimesverydifficultcircumstances.Nothavingthechancetomakeyourownchoices is part of what it means to live with poverty.

We are about to travel around the world, to Africa. We’ll meet a wonderful family there who will help us learn. The kids on our cards are like the kids in this family’s village. So remember their stories as we meet our hosts—Pastor Tom, Momma Nancy, and their kids. Before we meet them, we have an opportunity to take another step together. Many children in Uganda do not have shoes, so we would like to invite you to take off your shoes for our experience tonight. It’s a small way for us to connect with our friends around the world today. Give them a few minutes to take off shoes and get settled. Now, let’s go to Africa and hear more of the story of our host family, Pastor Tom, his wife Nancy and their 12 children.

SAYASK

SAY

SAY

WATCH VIDEO: “WELCOME/MEET THE FAMILY” [0:15-0:20]

LIVING ON LESS [0:20-0:25]

This table discussion invites families to identify together some of the most basic things we need to survive. Having these needs in mind will prepare them for the market exercise.

Give groups time to discuss this together.

01: COMPARISON TABLES

Pastor Tom and Momma Nancy shared that God has given them what they need, but that many kids and families in their village do not yet have enough. For these people, they spend a lot of time every day trying to survive. Today we want to think about what life might be likeforafamilywhohastospendthedayjustfindingwaystolive.

I have a few questions for you to answer at your tables. Imagine you now represent the person on your card. Consider this: • 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? •Anotherimportantthingyou’dneedisfood.Whatwouldyoudoifyouhadtofindfood?

NOTE:If you are hosting Give Back Day for older kids or teens, consider using just one prompt with them: You are now in the shoes of a child in poverty – what do you need to survive? And how would you get it?

Let’s check in with Momma Nancy and learn more about how she, and others in her community, get the food they need.SAY

ASK

SAY

toys

beans

chicken

medicine

fruit

MARKETPLACEEXPERIENCE02:

WATCH VIDEO: “VISIT THE MARKET” [2:34]

MARKET EXPERIENCE [0:25-0:40]

This exercise invites families to imagine themselves living in the shoes of a family in material poverty. By having their own choices limited at the market, participants will see how many families in poverty struggle to survive and often have very difficult choices to make—such as food vs. medicine vs. schooling.

Give them time to read.

(Listen as two or three with Job Cards read their jobs and how much money they will make today.)

Most likely kids will lead the way, trying to acquire what they need. But if needed, encourage parents not to make decisions for their kids during this section. Invite families to visit the Market Tables and make their selections based on the income their Job Card states they have. Volunteer Market Vendors should welcome families, telling them,

For simplicity, every item in the Market is 50 cents. If a Market Card runs out, that item is no longer available for purchase. The volunteer can also facilitate the idea of “play negotiating” if a child has no money, saying things like, “I will give you 50 cents for your glasses.” (Or your shoes, etc.)

02: MARKETPLACE

You are still the person on your card. You’ve seen the market, but how much money do you make?

Right now, one adult from your group should take a Job Card and read it out loud to your family.

What are some of the jobs in the room today?

Now your task is to try to gather enough of what you need for today. At the market, there are several choices. Wheneveryonehasfinished,we’lltalkaboutittogether.

Thanks for coming! Let me know what item you are interested in purchasing and I will tell you how much it costs.

SAY

ASK

ASK

SAY

SAY

When they are done shopping, have the whole group engage in a discussion together using the following questions:

BIBLE FOCUS [0:40-0:55]

This section will invite participants to hear three truths from Scripture: God created us, values us, and loves us all. Part of what it means to have enough is to be connected to our identities as God’s children. Many of us forget these truths, and it can be particularly challenging for children in material poverty to know how God sees them. To begin, hold up each sign one at a time: “I am worthless,” “No one cares,” and “I’ll never matter.”

You may choose to do these readings in one of several ways—print them and distribute them to readers; put them on slides to be read by your host or a participant, or have them looked up in a physical Bible. We have found it effective—and highly recommend—to have three kids in the group each read one of the verses aloud to everyone.

02: MARKETPLACE

• Raise your hand and tell me something you wanted to buy and why. • As you look at what you have in front of you, do you have enough? Why or why not? • How do you feel right now? • If you were this child or their parent, and most days were like today, how would that

change your hopes and dreams?

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. The Bible helps us understand how God sees each and every one of us. Let’s check it out.

SAY

ASK

ASK

READ PSALM 139 :13-14A NIV For you [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

READ LUKE 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

READ 1 JOHN 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

One at a time, read the cardboard signs you made that say “God made me and loves me.” “I am valuable.” “I am God’s child.” You may read them, or select volunteers to read. We have found it effective—and highly recommend—to give the three signs to three kids ahead of time and have each hold up the sign as he/she reads it to the group.

Again, feel free to choose the best way to read this verse to the group: yourself aloud, a child aloud, the whole group in unison. Decide if you want to pre-print it, read from a Bible, or read from a screen.

READ JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Because God loves us, he gave his son, so that we could have life and joy and hope! In Christ, we have enough. And what’s so cool is that God invites us to give so that others can have enough too! So we’re going to take some time now to listen to God about what he might want us to do to bring hope to others and help everyone have enough.

02: MARKETPLACE

The Bible shows us that we are all made by God, who loves us and invites us into his family. Because of God’s love, children can know the truth about themselves, whether they are poor, have enough, or have more than enough.

This is how God feels about us—God loves us so much. And because God loves us so much, he did something amazing.

SAY

SAY

NEXT STEPS [0:55-1:10]

In order to give each participant enough space to ask God to lead them to respond to what they’ve learned, we will do three things: invite God to speak to each participant, offer them a glimpse of how sponsorship can be a next step; give participants a chance to pray for children awaiting sponsorship.

Pray the below prayer, or something similar in your own words.

WATCH VIDEO: “NEXT STEPS/SPONSORSHIP” [4:41]

(Give five minutes for this discussion.)

02: MARKETPLACE

Dear God, What would you like us to do to help everyone have enough? We want to listen to you now, and we ask you to use the next few minutes to help us know what we should each do to help others have enough. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God invites us to step into our world—on our street, in our schools, in our neighborhood, and around the globe—to help others have enough. Before we watch this video, let’s pray together.

Whether we have a lot or a little, we can always do something to help someone else have hope.Rightnow,yourfamilywillhavefiveminutestoanswerthesethreequestionstogether: • In what ways does our family have enough? • How is God leading us to spread hope to others who don’t have enough? • What is our next step? (Host, you can comment here that families might need to learn more,

or make a plan, or their next step might be to do something right away.)

SAY

PRAY

SAY

02: MARKETPLACE

Dear God, we all need to know that you made us, value us and love us. This is especially true for children in material poverty, and we see some of their faces and names right now. So we lift these children up to you. Provide a minute or two of quiet so people can pray by name, then say “Amen.”

If you are interested in sponsoring a child as a next step, here a few things we want you to know:

Sponsorship costs just $38 a month, and brings hope to a real child in another part of the world. Compassion uses a one-to-one sponsorship model: each child has only one sponsor. It takes just four minutes to sign up today, and you can begin building a relationship as you pray and write to that child and let his/her life and story change your family.

On your table are packets sharing the photo and some information about a real child living in poverty right now. These are children who often don’t have enough; they often go without what they need. We’d like to pray for each of these children, so would you pick a packet up and hold it while we pray? I’m going to open our prayer, and then there will be a time for you to pray for the child whose packet you are holding.

NOTE:Handle completed sign-up forms with care; they carry confidential information (credit card numbers). When Give Back Day ends, put all completed forms into the FedEx envelope provided by Compassion and drop the labeled envelope into a FedEx Ground drop box immediately after your event.

SAY

PRAY

SAY

SAY

SOCCER BALLEXPERIENCE03:

paper bags

plastic bags

twine

SOCCER BALL PRAYER REMINDER [1:20-1:35]

This final activity allows everyone to make a prayer reminder to take home so they can continue to pray for children in poverty and ask God to lead them in a response.

WATCH VIDEO: [2:29]

Give everyone time to make a soccer ball.

Give everyone time to pray together. Close by thanking them for coming, and saying a final time:

03: SOCCER BALL

Not only can we pray for kids awaiting sponsorship, we can also begin praying for kids all around the world to have enough. We can pray for kids on our street, on our teams, in our schools and in every country around the globe. For one great prayer idea, let’s check in with Isaac, one of Tom and Nancy’s sons, now.

You might be wondering—where was the prayer? They played soccer! One thing we cannot see but we ALL need is play. We saw God meet that need for Isaac and his friends in the video. We are going to make a soccer ball just like theirs, and every time we use it, it will be a prayer reminder. We can be reminded that God wants to meet every kind of need, whether we can see it or not. And we can be reminded that sometimes God uses us to meet others’ needs!

Every time we play with the soccer ball, we can remember that God wants us all 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. To close our time tonight, we’ll pass around the soccer ball. When it comes to you, you will name one need you can think of that all children need in order to become all that God created them to be. After each person holds the ball and names a need, everyone repeat together, “Lord, may all children have enough.”

Onceyougethome,findaplacetokeepyoursoccerball.Allweeklong,whenyouseeit,remember to pray for the child you met tonight and other children like them.

NOTE:We would encourage all participants to make a soccer ball! Of course, you can always choose to just have kids and students make the balls, but that we’d encourage everyone to do it if budget and preparation allow it.

SAY

SAY

SAY

SAY

Thank you for participating in Give Back Day with Compassion International.

As Give Back Day gets closer, if you encounter any questions or concerns, connect with a member of Compassion’s Church Engagement team by email (churches@compassion.com) or by phone at 866-607-5162.