when do we eat? - an educational curriculum

eat?do weWhenUnderstanding World Hunger and Doing Something About It

A teaching guide for grades 1-3

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Copyright © 2010 World Vision, Inc.

Editorial Director: Milana McLeadEditor-in-Chief: Jane Sutton-RednerProject Editor: Laurie DelgattoProject Coordinator: Ryan SmithCopyediting and Design: Creative SolutionsSales and Distribution Manager: Jojo Palmer

When Do We Eat? may be reproduced only with the written permission of World Vision United States, Mail Stop 321, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716. Fax: 253.815.3340 • E-mail: [email protected]

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-09819235-6-7

The Scripture in this resource is from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

During the preparation of this resource, all citations, facts, figures, names, addresses, telephone numbers, Internet URLs, and other pieces of information cited within were verified for accuracy. World Vision Resources has made every attempt to reference current and valid sources, but we cannot guarantee the content of any source and we are not responsible for any changes that may have occurred since our verification. If you find an error in, or have a question or concern about, any of the information or sources listed within, please contact World Vision Resources.

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Getting Started“When do we eat?” These words are common to the vocabulary of almost every child. When we’re hungry, we expect to have quick access to food. But in many parts of the world, hunger is a constant companion. Children growing up in impoverished countries get sick—and many even die—because they don’t have enough food.

Your students can relate to what it is like to be hungry. As Christians, they can be equipped to respond with love to people around the world who don’t have enough food to keep them healthy. This curriculum is designed to guide you through the process of teaching young people to understand the causes of world hunger, to know they can make a difference in the lives of hungry children, and to take some easy steps to help others.

These materials are intended to provide hands-on opportunities for participants to understand the issues surrounding world hunger. Since these are not always “happy” subjects, we encourage you to remind participants each week that God loves all people and that God uses us to take care of others, even people we do not know.

To make this study flexible, we designed the curriculum so you can integrate individual parts into a regular Sunday school or Bible class curriculum, or use the entire lesson to fill a complete hour. Each session will take approximately 55 minutes, leaving five minutes for start-up and dismissal. A map or globe will be useful for each session; other items needed are listed at the beginning of each session. Also, optional completion cer-tificates are included at the end of this study.

Your group will get the most from this curric-ulum if you incorporate a giving component into the activities. A suggestion for creating “giving jars” is included in the first lesson.

May you and the young people you serve be blessed as you learn about and care for hungry people!

• What it means to be hungry

• Why millions of children their age

are hungry

• How they can make a difference

by helping people who are hungry

Through this curriculum, participants will learn:

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Objectives

Participants will explore the role food plays in their lives, and understand that not all people have enough food to eat.

Needed materials A slice of bread and a small cup of water for

each participant

Large bag of jelly beans or some other type of small candy

A jar large enough to place the jelly beans in

Three sheets of construction paper

Small jars or containers (large enough to decorate), one for each participant; another option is small paper lunch bags

Food Feastsession one

3 Invite participants to eat their snack. As they are doing so, pose the following questions for discussion:

• How do you like your snack?

• How often do you eat plain bread and water for a snack?

• What else would you have liked to have?

2 Do It: Give each participant a slice of bread (no butter or other spreads) and a cup of water. Thank God for the food He provides for us;

pray for people who don’t have enough food.

4 Say It: For millions of children in the world, what you just ate—a slice of bread and a glass of clean water— is a wonderful treat. These children come from families

who are poor and live in countries that are poor. Sometimes they have to skip meals because there isn’t enough to eat. Sometimes they have no food at all.

Now, I’d like you to meet Hope A. Potamus and Binja. (Refer to the images you have posted.) Hope is a happy photog-rapher hippo, and Binja is her reporter friend. Hope and Binja have traveled around the world to bring us pictures and stories about kids in need. We’ll be hearing these stories and seeing some of these pictures each time we gather for a lesson.

Now, let’s talk about the food we have to eat and begin to see what millions of other children in the world have to eat.

1 Open with prayer.

Colored permanent markers, enough for each participant to have a few

Copies of “Meet Hope A. Potamus” and “Meet Binja,” found on pages 7-8

Copies of Lesson One coloring page, found on page 9, one for each participant

Preparation Before the session begins, estimate how many participants you will have. Place enough jelly beans in the jar so that one-quarter of the group gets six jelly beans each and one-half of the group gets two jelly beans each. The other quarter of the group will take their jelly beans from others.

Using the construction paper, make three signs: one that says “rich,” one that says “poor,” and one that says “poorest.”

Post the images of Hope A. Potamus and Binja somewhere in the front of the room.

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5 Ask the participants to name all of the foods they can remember eating yesterday and today. Make a list of these foods. Then ask and discuss the following questions:

• Have you ever been really hungry? What did it feel like?

• What do you think it would feel like if you didn’t eat for four or five days?

• Have you ever been worried that your family wouldn’t have a meal because there wasn’t enough food?

8 Ask and discuss the following questions:

• How did you feel about the number of jelly beans you got? (Allow members from each group to answer.)

• Did the way I gave out the jelly beans seem fair? Why? How could it have been fairer?

• What do you think this shows about how food is available in the world?

• Where do we get food?

• If we can get food from a store, a restaurant, or a garden, why do you think those who are poor can’t get food at these places too?

6 Say It: At some time you may have been hungry, but there are millions of children in the world who go so long without eating that their bodies become damaged. They

have so little food to eat that they run out of energy and their bodies don’t grow the way God planned them to. And because they have so little food, they spend a lot of their time trying to find or grow food. There are lots of reasons people don’t have food, and we’ll talk about those in our next lesson.

It may be hard for us to understand that while we have lots of food, other people don’t. That’s because the food in the world isn’t evenly divided among all the people in the world.

7 Do It: Divide the participants into two equal groups, and then divide one of the groups in half again. Give one of the smaller groups the “rich” sign, the other smaller group the

“poorest” sign, and the larger group the “poor” sign.

Explain that these groups represent all the people in the world. Show them the jelly beans you have placed in a jar, and tell them that the jelly beans represent all the food in the world. Tell them you will divide the jelly beans according to how much food each group gets in real life.

Give the “rich” group three-quarters of the jelly beans. (This group consumes 75 percent of the world’s food.) From the remaining jelly beans, pick out enough so that 1 out of every 6 children in the “poorest” group receive one jelly bean. Give the rest of the jelly beans to the “poor” group. (The poor group consumes 23 percent of the world’s food, while the poorest consume only 2 percent.)

Once each group gets their jelly beans, tell them to divide the beans among the members of their groups. Note: There will not be enough for all members of the poorest group to eat without dividing a jelly bean.

In the Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza region, families are hungry because of war. All these children have to eat for lunch is bits of bread with oil.

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11 Say It: We began our time together by eating bread. Now let’s take a few minutes to study a Bible verse about bread. This verse is part of the

prayer often called “the Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus gave this prayer to His followers when they asked Him how they should pray.

Let’s talk about what this verse means, and how we can apply it to our lives.

When we think about the bread we ate today, was it:

• Good or bad for our bodies? Why?

• Fancy, like a pastry with whipped cream? Or was it simple?

In Jesus’ time, like today, bread was a very important part of the food that people ate. It is a simple food that gives our bodies some of what they need to keep us healthy. Jesus instructed His followers (that includes us!) to pray this verse to God. When we do this, what are we asking God for? (Answer: We are asking God to give us what we need—not necessarily what we want.)

12 Do It: Give each child a jar (or lunch bag) and a few permanent markers. Invite everyone to use the markers to decorate their jar in whatever way

they choose, instructing them to include the words “Giving Jar” somewhere in their design. Allow ample time for them to decorate.

Invite participants to take their jars home and to put money in them each day for the next four weeks. They can use earnings from chores or their allowance and invite other family mem-bers to contribute as well. You might even suggest that they select a dollar amount (goal) to work toward. Remind them that all people need food to eat. In providing help to those who are hungry by collecting money with their giving jar, they are part of God’s answer to prayer by giving food to people who need it.

Close with prayer. Remember to thank God for using your group to answer the prayers of those in need.

Give each participant a copy of the Lesson One coloring page (page 9) to take home.

9 Say It: Most people who are poor don’t have money to buy food. Many others live in areas where there are no stores, electricity for refrigerators,

or restaurants. They can try to grow food themselves, but often the food will not grow or the amount of food is not enough.

10 Write the following verse on a sheet of poster paper or on a blackboard:

Give us each day our daily bread. —Luke 11:3

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7Permission to reproduce is granted. © 2010 World Vision, Inc.

meetHope A. Potamus

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meetBinja


Give us each day our daily bread.

—Luke 11:3

Say hello to two new friends! Hope A. Potamus is a happy photographer hippo. Binja, her constant companion, is a news reporter. Together, these explorers will take you around the world to learn how you can help kids in need.

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Objectives

Participants will explore what causes more than 1 billion people around the world to be hungry.

Needed materials Masking tape

Poster board or poster paper, one sheet for every three or four participants

Crayons, markers, or other drawing tools

Copies of Handout 1, “Not Enough to Eat,” found on page 14, one for each participant

Copies of Resource 1, “Hunger cards,” found on page 15 (you will need to create one set of cards)

Copies of Resource 2, “Who Will Eat? cards,” found on pages 16 and 17 (you will need to create one set of cards)

Copies of Lesson Two coloring page, found on page 18, one for each participant

Preparation Mark off the floor with 11 parallel strips of masking tape about 18 inches apart.

When the Cupboards Are Baresession two

3 Say It: During our time today we will look at some of the reasons why people who are poor are often hungry. Do you know what the word “famine” means? When

a group of people in one place don’t have enough food over a long period of time, we call this “famine.” Famine is caused by “drought,” which means there has not been enough rain to grow food.

People who are poor can be hungry for many reasons other than famine. In fact, Hope and Binja have a story to tell us of one child. As we read, pay close attention to why Kak Da, the boy in the story, is hungry.

2 Review It: Review what the participants learned in the last session:

• When we are hungry, where do we get food? (Answers: store, restaurant, garden)

• Is the world’s food divided evenly among all people? Who gets more? (Answer: Rich countries.) Who gets less? (Answer: Poor countries.)

• Last week’s verse was Luke 11:3, “Give us each day our daily bread.” When you put money in your giving jar, how are you being part of God’s answer to prayer for those who are hungry?

4 Do It: Give each participant a copy of Handout 1, “Not Enough to Eat,” and invite someone to read the story aloud to everyone. (If your group is too young

to read well, read the story aloud to them yourself.)

1 Open with prayer.

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5 Say It: Children growing up in poor countries are often hungry because their families don’t have things like money and jobs to make sure there is enough food.

• Why was Kak Da hungry?

7Ask the participants to name four things from the cards that cause hunger. The correct choices are no educa-tion, no farming tools, no seeds, and flooding. Then spend

some time discussing these causes as noted below:

• No education: When we get a good education, we learn skills to get a job and make money. People who are poor often haven’t had the chance to go to school or learn skills to get a job, so they must try to grow enough food to feed themselves.

• No farm tools or seeds: People who are poor often don’t have good seeds or the right tools, or know the best way to raise good crops.

• No water: Without faucets in their homes, people who are poor often have to walk a long way to a well or stream. It can take a long time to carry water back to their houses.

• Disaster: Disasters like floods, hurricanes, or a long time without rain can destroy crops. When a disaster happens here in the United States, we have ways to make sure we still have food. When a disaster happens in a poor country and crops are destroyed, people often have no way to replace their lost food.

6 Do It: Distribute each of the cards from the “Hunger cards” resource to the participants. Then ask each participant to come forward and post the

cards on the chalkboard or a nearby wall.

8Ask the participants to line up on the middle strip of masking tape (see “Preparation” on page 10; there should be five strips in front of them

and five strips behind them). Show the participants the stack of “Who Will Eat?” cards that you created from pages 16 and 17. Tell them that each strip is a “step” forward or backward, depending upon the card a player draws.

9Allow each participant to draw a card from the pile. Have the participants take turns reading their cards aloud and then moving according to

the direction on the card. Then have each participant draw another card and move again. When you run out of cards, shuffle the deck and start over. If a participant moves behind the last strip in back, he or she is out. The first participant to move ahead of the very first strip wins.

When the game is over, have participants go back to their seats.

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10 Say It: Each of these cards [point to the Hunger cards] shows something that causes those who are poor to be without food. If you were poor, could you control

any of these things that happened to you? (Answer: No. If a participant says something like “I’d move out of that country,” challenge their idea by asking how they would do so without any money, any job skills, or a place to live. Many poor countries are surrounded by other countries that are also poor.)

12 Say It: Before we start our assignment, let’s learn a bit more about what life is like for people in poor countries.

Remember, there are no restaurants or supermarkets. There might be a small local market of people selling whatever extra food they have grown in their gardens—potatoes, beans, or fruit, for example.

Gardens often don’t produce enough food. This could be because the soil is very bad, or because people do not have tools, seeds, or water. People who are poor often have no way to learn how to grow food better.

Disasters like floods or too little rain can also ruin garden crops, leaving people with no food.

Wars can force people to run from their homes, leaving them without any land to grow food.

11 Do It: Divide participants into groups of three or four. Provide each group with a sheet of poster board or poster paper and some markers. Ask them to

create a poster that shows what keeps people in poor countries from being able to get enough to eat.

13Allow ample time for the groups to create their posters, then ask each group to present to the larger group.

Revisit the conversation you began last week about the giving jars. Ask participants to share with one another how things are going in their daily collection of money. Discuss some of the various items that poor children might need.

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14 Say It: People in many other countries have a lot less food than we do. We might not be able to send them our food, but we can share

some of what we have. That’s what you will be doing with the donations you put into your giving jars.

15Write the following verse on a sheet of poster paper or on a blackboard:

Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. —Hebrews 13:16

16 Say It: Today we talked about some reasons why people are hungry.

• What does this verse say God is asking us to do?

• What does “sacrifice” mean? Does this means it’s always easy to help others?

God loves all the people in the world, including people who are hungry. That’s why God gives us opportunities to share with others—and to show them that God loves them too.

Close with prayer. Pray that more people who are hungry will get the basic things to grow or buy the food they need.

Give each participant a copy of the Lesson Two coloring page (page 18) to take home.

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India

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IndonesiaIndonesia

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Mongolia

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World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

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Almost every day, 10-year-old Kak Da and his cousin walk to the murky stream near their home and wade ankle-deep in mud to search for tiny fish. But the boys are not playing a game. They are hoping to find food for their families.

Kak Da lives in the country of Cambodia. His parents are farm-ers who grow and sell rice. Lately, they have not been able to make enough money to buy food for Kak Da and his younger sister. In Cambodia, some of the farmland has been ruined by floods and long periods without rain. Because so much food has been destroyed, the food that is left costs twice as much as it did just two years ago.

Some days, Kak Da goes without breakfast because there is not enough food for three meals. Lunch is usually very simple. “Sometimes it’s just rice with salt,” he says. If his fishing has been successful, then they get to add small fish, snails, or crabs. Dinner is usually very similar.

Kak Da also works as a cattle herder to earn money for his family. His father gets paid to help the harvesters and is rarely home. Even with the money his father makes, Kak Da and his family struggle to stay alive. If they get sick, they cannot afford both food and medicine. As food gets even more expensive, Kak Da’s mother worries that he will have to leave school to work longer days.

Kak Da (above) lives in Cambodia. The little fish

he catches in the stream near his house are his

family«s only source of protein.

Not Enough to Eat

Where is Cambodia?

handout 1

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Permission to reproduce is granted. © 2010 World Vision, Inc.

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Hunger cards

no education

flooding

no toys

babies

trees

no farm tools

no telephones

animals

no seeds

leaky roof

resource 1


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Who Will Eat? cardsresource 2

Go back 2 steps

Go back 2 steps Go back

2 steps

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Go back 1 step

Your part of the country has had no rain for six months.

Your house is destroyed by an earthquake and you have no food.

You move to a big city so your parents can look for work. But there are

no jobs—and now you have no land to grow food.

You live in a cardboard house on the edge of a garbage dump, where you spend all day picking through garbage to find food and scraps to sell.

Soldiers come to your village and fighting starts. You must run to safety.

Your family has no tools to prepare your soil for planting.

Your family has never learned how to grow good crops, so there is

not enough in your garden to feed everyone.

Your village is flooded by rain.

Bugs eat your crops and you have no way to stop them.

Last year’s harvest was terrible and you had to eat the seeds you were going to save for this year. Now you have no seeds to plant.


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Go back 2 steps

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 2 steps

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 2 steps

Go forward 1 step

Go forward 1 step

Go back 1 step

You live in an area where the land is bad and doesn’t produce good crops.

Generous people give money to provide food for you during a drought.

World Vision helps you build a better way to water your garden. It uses less water and grows better vegetables!

Someone gives you some corn.

Generous people give money to provide new farming tools for you.

Someone gives you some bananas.

Someone gives you some beans.

Someone gives you some tomatoes.

Someone gives you some rice.

Generous people give money to provide you with better seeds.

Your dad is sick, can’t afford medicine, and doesn’t have enough energy to plant your garden.


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Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

—Hebrews 13:16


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Hungry for Changesession three

Objectives

Participants will understand that people who are hungry and living in impoverished countries have few resources to help them break the cycle of poverty that is passed on from parents to children—unless others take action to help them break this cycle.

Needed materials A ball of yarn

One pair of children’s scissors

Copies of Handout 2, “When There Is No Food,” found on page 23, one for each participant

Copies of Resource 3, “What We Need photos,” found on pages 24-28

Copy of Resource 4, “Cycle of Poverty cards,” found on page 29 (you will need to create enough cards for each participant to have one)

Copies of Lesson Three coloring page, found on page 30, one for each participant


• Last week we learned about some reasons why people are hungry. What reasons can you think of now? (Possible answers include: No farming tools or seeds, no water, disasters, war.)

• Last week’s verse was Hebrews 13:16, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” How can we

“do good” and share with people who are hungry?

3 Say It: Today Hope and Binja introduce us to Julius.

Julius’s Story

Julius is a 14-year-old boy who lives in a village called Kayunga in the African country of Uganda. (Locate

1 Open with prayer. Uganda on a map or globe.) Julius’s mother died when he was only 2 years old. His father could not take care of him alone. Even though Julius’s uncle already had five children to provide for, he said that he would take care of Julius. Today, Julius lives with his uncle and aunt and thinks of his cousins as brothers and sisters.

Life in Uganda is very different from life in the United States. The home that Julius lives in is much simpler than most of our homes. The windows are covered with wooden shutters and do not have glass to keep out wind and bugs. When Julius goes to bed at night, he sleeps under a special net to keep mosquitoes from biting him.

Julius and his family do not have a television. In fact, they don’t have electricity at all. This means that there is no refrigerator to keep food cold and no microwave to cook things. Clothes and dishes must be washed by hand.

In Uganda, many families are hungry because crops will not grow and food prices keep going up. Julius’s uncle

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4 Say It: Let’s imagine what it would be like to be poor and not have enough food. Close your eyes and think about your house.

Now:

• Turn off your electricity—now you have no lights, refrigerator, television, computer, radio, or anything else that runs on electricity.

• Give away all the food in your cupboards except a small amount of flour, sugar, and salt, and a few cups of dried beans.

• Take away your telephone.

• Remove your car.

• Turn off your heat and air-conditioning.

• Get rid of all your furniture except two chairs.

• Replace your bed with a mat.

• Give away all your clothes except your two oldest outfits.

• Shut off the running water.

• Remove all medicine.

Now your house looks like the house Julius and his family live in.

Note: You can make the above exercise more realistic by setting up a “house” in the room where you are meet-ing. This can be done by using masking tape to outline the house, then adding various objects to represent the items taken away. Instead of asking the participants to imagine removing the items, allow them to remove those objects from the “house.”

5 Do It: Give participants a copy of Handout 2, “When There Is No Food.” Invite someone to read the story aloud. (If your group is too young to read

well, read the story aloud to them yourself.)

Julius (second from left), his uncle, and several

of his cousins stand outside their home in Uganda.

Julius hopes to become a doctor when he is older.

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and aunt are farmers who work hard to give Julius and his cousins enough to eat. They also run a small grocery store where they sell salt, biscuits, cooking oil, and spices to earn extra money.

Every day, Julius walks almost two miles to go to school at Kakuuto Church of Uganda Primary School. There are no school buses to pick children up. Until recently, Julius and his friends had to sit on the floor while they were learning.

Though Julius’s life is very different from yours, there are also things that are similar. Julius has dreams for the future, just like you. When he grows up, he wants to be a doctor, just like the doctors who helped him when he had measles. Julius also likes sports. His favorite sport is football, which is played like American soccer. Julius plays football with his friends after school.

Today Julius has a better chance of reaching his dream of becoming a doctor. World Vision now works in Julius’s community, and he is able to go to school. People in the United States give money that helps Julius and other children to get:

• School supplies, school fees, and new classrooms.

• A water tank so that children can get clean drinking water without walking long distances to streams or wells.

• Farming, training, tools, and seeds so that people like Julius’s uncle can grow better food.

• Training on how to stay healthy by eating nutritious foods and cleaning things like hands and food.

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6 Say It: Take a minute to think about the things you need to live. You know we need food. Can you guess what our other needs might be? Invite some responses.

9 Do It: Invite the participants to sit in a circle on the floor. Give each participant one of the cards you created from Resource 4, “Cycle of Poverty cards.”

Tell them they are going to list the things that often make people poor. Give the ball of yarn to the first participant; ask him or her to read what is on their card and then hand the ball of yarn to the next participant. Instruct each participant to hold onto the unrolling piece of yarn when they pass the ball. Tell the participants to stop when the ball has gone around the entire circle once and the yarn has returned to the participant who started.

8 Say It: People who are poor want to work hard to have better lives. But often they do not have the basic things we’ve just talked about to improve the

way they live.

Parents who are poor do not have ways to make life better for either themselves or their children. They usually do not have enough money to make sure their families have enough food, medical care, education, and work skills that can help them earn enough money. When parents who are poor raise children who are poor, it is likely that the children will grow up to be poor too, and then they will raise more children who are poor. This is called the “cycle of poverty,” and it goes on and on—unless someone like one of us is willing to help those who are poor to break the cycle.

Let’s talk about this “cycle of poverty.” Do you know what “poverty” means? (Answer: Being poor.) Now, think of a wheel on your bicycle. When you ride your bike, what are the wheels doing? (Answer: Going around and around.) Being poor is like this wheel. Hunger and poverty go around from parents to children, and when those children grow up, it goes to their children.

7 Do It: Hold up copies of the photos from Resource 3, “What We Need,” one at a time. As you do so, ask the participants to name the

other basic needs depicted in the photographs. Then discuss how they get each of these basic needs met in their own community.

• When you need water, where do you go? What would you do if there were no faucets?

• When you are sick, where do you go? What would you do if there were no doctors or hospitals?

• When you need shelter, where do you go? What would you do if you didn’t have a house?

• When you need education, where do you go? What would you do if you didn’t have a school?

• When you want to earn money, what do you do? What would you do if you had no way to earn money?

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10 Say It: When we use the word “bicycle” or “tricycle,” the “cycle” part of the word refers to the wheels. What did we decide earlier that

wheels do? (Answer: They go around and around.)

The cycle of poverty is like that—it keeps going from parents to children until someone stops the cycle. In the game we’re playing right now, this circle of yarn stands for the cycle of poverty, and each of you stands for the cause of poverty you read from your cards. Remembering that a cycle goes around and around, what do you think will happen to the children if they don’t get any help? (Answer: The cycle will begin again because neither the parents nor the children have the things they need to break the cycle themselves.)

13 Say It: The Bible tells us many times that we are to care for people in need. Why do you think God wants us to care about

people we don’t even know? (Answer: Because God loves all people.)

This verse tells us that God is honored when we are kind to those in need. What do you think it means to honor God? (Answer: To put God ahead of what we want.)

11 Say It: What kind of help have you learned people need to break the cycle of poverty?

As participants answer, hand them the scissors and ask them to carefully cut the yarn in front of them. The cycle of poverty has been broken!


Whoever is kind to the needy honors God …

—Proverbs 14:31

14Ask the participants to share with one another how things are going in their daily collection of money. Discuss some of

the various items that can be provided to children in need. Remind participants that they have only one week left in their efforts. Remind them to stay focused during these final days.

Close with prayer. Pray that God will continue to use your group to break the cycle of poverty.

Give each participant a copy of the Lesson Three coloring page (page 30) to take home.

Africa

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Mugiraneza lives in the African country of Rwanda. Even though he is 5 years old, he is only about as tall as a 1-1/2-year-old boy. Most boys his age would be in school or playing. But Mugiraneza has no energy. Like many other children who live in this part of Rwanda, he nearly starved to death.

His father has brought him to a local health clinic that helps children who are near starvation. He is slowly recovering— but it could take months.

Mugiraneza’s family is very poor. Just the year before, his mother got sick and died because they did not have money for doctors or medicine. His father is a farmer, but most of what he plants does not grow. Many other people in Rwanda are having the same problem, because there has not been enough rain.

Mugiraneza and his sister often go hungry. “It depends on what is available,” says his father. “Some days, they don’t have any food.”

Mugiraneza went so long without enough to eat that he stopped growing. Because his body was missing many impor-tant vitamins, his hair turned orange and his skin became yellow. He stopped playing and even stopped talking.

Now the nurses at the clinic are giving Mugiraneza food to help him get stronger. But it could be months before he is well enough to go home, and his father can’t go back to farming while his son is in the hospital. This will only make things worse.

“When I don’t farm, we don’t have food,” explains the boy’s father. But he hopes that things will change. “I wish he would get better,” he says. “I want to farm for him so he has enough to eat. I want him to go to school … and have a better standard of living.”

Mugiraneza is small for his age. He received so

little food when he was younger that his body

stopped growing.

When There Is No Food

Where is Rwanda?


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What We Need photosresource 3


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no schools

no skills to earn money

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Cycle of Poverty cardsresource 4


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Whoever is kind to the needy honors God …

—Proverbs 14:31


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Sharing God’s Blessingssession four

Objectives

Participants will understand that they can make a difference in helping people who are poor and will learn specific ways they can continue to do so even after this study is over.

Needed materials Crayons, glitter, and other craft items for decorating a

bookmark

Yarn or string to make a “tassel” for each bookmark

Copies of Handout 3, “A Better Future,” found on page 34, one for each participant

Four copies of Resource 5, “Skit: Count Pennies—Pennies Count!” found on page 35

Copies of Resource 6, “Bookmark template,” found on page 36, one bookmark for each participant (copy this page onto heavy paper such as cardstock)

Copies of Resource 7, “Certificate of completion,” found on page 37, one for each participant

Copies of Handout 4, “How You Can Help,” found on page 38, one for each participant

Preparation Using copies of Resource 6, “Bookmark template,” cut

out enough bookmarks so that you have one for each participant. Punch a hole in the top of each.

Fill out a “Certificate of completion” for each participant.

The lesson includes a short drama which is found on page 35. You will want to review the drama, determine how you will conduct it (role playing or puppet show, for example), assign necessary roles, and practice a few times.

3 Say It: Last time we were together, we talked about the cycle of poverty and how it is difficult for people who are poor to get even the basics without help. It’s hard to

believe, but one of every two people in the world has less than $2 every day for everything they need—including food, water, clothes, and shelter.


• When people are hungry and poor, they have few ways to make their lives better. They often don’t have a way to find clean water or grow more food. They may not have been to school or learned job skills, so they have no way to earn money. They are often sick, but they have no way to get medical care.

• How can we help them break the cycle of poverty? (Answer: Help people to get clean water, grow better

1 Open with prayer. food, get medical care, go to school, and learn job skills to earn money.)

• Last week’s verse was Proverbs 14:31, “Whoever is kind to the needy honors God …”

• Why do you think God wants us to care for people who we don’t even know? (Answer: Because God loves all people.)

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Working together, we can help! By putting donations in your giving jars, you are proving that even one person can make a difference for people far away who are hungry and poor. These people know the help they get comes from people like you who care—and they are very thankful for what you share so they can learn to grow better food, go to school, and be healthy.

Once again, Hope and Binja have a story to share with us about how people who are poor often cannot help themselves until other people—like you and I—help them first.

4 Do It: Give each participant a copy of Handout 3, “A Better Future.” Invite someone to read the story aloud. (If your group is

too young to read well, read the story aloud to them yourself.)

8 Do It: Give each participant one of the bookmarks you created from the bookmark template. Also hand out the crayons, markers, glitter, paint, and other

decorating items. Invite participants to add their own artistic touches to these bookmarks. Finish the bookmark by attaching a piece of yarn or string to the hole at the top.

6 Do It: Conduct the drama found on page 35. Intro-duce it by noting that its purpose is to demonstrate that helping people in need can be easy, rewarding—

and even fun!

5 Say It: Can one person your age make a difference for a child like Taranna? All across the United States, children are doing amazing things

to help others. Here are a couple of examples:

• Forrest and his mom were visiting World Vision’s Web site when they read a story about a young African boy who was so hungry he had to eat rats to survive. Forrest’s mother writes, “We talked about those who are poor in the world and how blessed we are to have a nice home and food to eat whenever we are hungry.” Then Forrest asked if his mother thought that the boy who had to eat rats had any toys. His mother said he probably had no toys. Forrest realized that he had enough toys, so when his 7th birthday came he asked his party guests to bring a cash donation instead of a gift. When the guests arrived, Forrest was also able to tell them about the poor of the world who can use their help. Forrest collected $195 at his birthday party and sent it to World Vision to help children in need.

• Lauren was 9 years old when she went to a Christian concert and heard about children who are poor and in need of help. She asked her parents if she could sponsor a child. This means Lauren had decided to give $30 every month to help a child have things like clean water, food, healthcare, and education. “I’ll do anything,” Lauren told her parents. Since Lauren’s allowance is much less than $30 a month, she had to find new ways to make money so


Do not merely listen to the Word … Do what it says.

—James 1:22

7 Say It: God has placed you in a country where people have plenty of money, good education, and lots of food. But more than half the people in the world don’t have

these things.

• What ideas do you have for helping people in the world who are poor?

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she could sponsor a child. Now she helps with yard work, unloads the dishwasher, folds laundry, sweeps the garage, and waters plants to earn extra money. Today Lauren is working twice as hard because she now sponsors two children.

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10 Ask and discuss the following questions:

• This verse says to listen to the Word. What is “the Word”?

• Why do you think the Bible tells us not just to listen to the words in it, but to do what it says?

• When we think about the needs of those who are poor, how can we do what God’s Word says?

11 Do It: Distribute to each participant a Certificate of Completion, as well as a copy of Handout 4, “How You Can

Help.” Ask them to take some time to fill out the action step portion of their certificate. If time permits, you can invite participants to share what actions they plan to take.

Tell participants that the handout will give them information about what they can do with the money they have collected in their giving jars over the last four weeks. Encourage each participant to spend some time with a parent to determine how and where they wish to donate the funds they have collected.

Close with prayer. Pray that God will continue to show your group ways you can help people who are poor.

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Taranna’s story

Fourteen-year-old Taranna lives in a very poor area in India called a slum. Life is very hard for her family. Taranna’s father is sick with asthma and needs medicine to stay healthy. Although he works, he does not make enough money to pay for his medicine and take care of the rest of his family.

“Whatever he earn[s], he spends on his medicines,” says Taranna’s mother. This means that there is not much money left for food.

At a young age, Taranna went to work polishing gemstones to make money so that her family would not go hungry. Polishing gems is hard work. Taranna gets tired, and sometimes the gems cut her hands. Taranna’s mother wishes that her daughter did not have to work, but the family is so poor that she has no choice.

Taranna used to work 12 hours a day—from early in the morning until late at night. This meant that there was no time for her to go to school. Even though education would give her skills to get a job as an adult, making money for her family’s daily survival was more important. As her family struggled day after day, it looked like Taranna would not be able to create a better life than her parents had.

• How do you think you would feel if you had to spend your days polishing gems? What things could help Taranna have a better life? (Answer: Taranna needs food, education, and healthcare if she is to have a better future.)

Today Taranna still lives in the slum, but her life is improving. World Vision began working with the children in this area, providing support and encouragement for them to attend school. Now, Taranna only works for one hour a day and is going to school. She is the first woman in her family who has learned to read and write. Soon, she will finish high school.

Taranna knows that the education she is getting can help her break free from poverty, and she wants to help other children understand this too. She has become a leader at a World Vision children’s club, where she and her friends are passing along what they have learned to other boys and girls. “Our dream is to see that every child … know[s] how to read and write well,” says Taranna.

Because of the help she got from World Vision, Taranna has a bright future. The money you have saved in your giving jars can help more children like Taranna and her friends break free from poverty by helping them get enough food and go to school.

Taranna (second from left) used to work

12 hours every day polishing gems. Now she is

going to school and helping other children learn.

A Better Future

Where is India?

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Megan and Sarah are walking to the local candy store with money jingling in their pockets.

Megan: Hey Sarah, what kind of candy are you going to buy today?

Sarah: I don’t know. My mom didn’t have much change, and the candy there is expensive. I think I might have enough for two of those yummy watermelon candies. You know, the big ones?

Megan: I’ve been dying all day for some fudge. I hope they have the kind with nuts in it.

Sarah (pointing to the ground, says without enthusiasm): Hey, a couple of pennies.

Megan (shrugs): Yeah.

The girls keep walking.

Sarah (laughing): Did you hear what happened when …

Brian comes in, interrupts Sarah.

Brian: Hey! Look! I found two pennies.

Megan and Sarah turn and stare at Brian.

Megan: Yeah. We saw those, but you can’t buy anything with a couple of pennies.

Sarah: Especially at the candy store—and that’s where we’re going.

Brian (holding out the pennies): Are you kidding? I always pick up pennies. Sure, they may not buy much here. But in other countries they can do a lot to help people who are poor.

Sarah: I don’t know any people who are poor.

Brian: Well, you don’t have to know them to help them. I put all the pennies I get in a big jar, and then I use the money to buy a family in need some chickens, or a blanket, or seeds for planting a vegetable garden.

Megan: How do you do that? Do you pack the chickens in a box and send them to Africa?

Brian: No. It’s really easy. I send the money to World Vision, and they give the chickens to families in poor countries so they have eggs to eat and sell. Or I can send seeds to families in need for $17. The seeds grow into vegetables and provide food for families who are hungry. Isn’t that great?

Sarah: I’m not sure. $17 could buy lots of candy …

Brian: Or it could help a family have food for a long time.

Megan: But why should we? This is our money.

Sarah: But, wait, Megan. Do you remember when we learned last week in Sunday school that every-thing we own really belongs to God—and that He wants us to share with people who don’t have as much?

Megan (smiling): Oh, yeah. I guess we can share some of what we have. And I already have an idea! I think I’ll get a smaller piece of fudge and save the rest of my money to give to someone else.

Sarah: And I can buy just one piece of candy— not two—and give the money I save away.

Brian: See? You’re already coming up with great ways to help people who are poor.

All three turn to the audience and say: “What ways can you think of to help people who are poor?”

“ Count Pennies—Pennies Count!”

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Bookmark templateresource 6

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Pray for them.

Sponsor a child in another country. Go to www.worldvision.org or call 1.800.423.4200.

Learn more about people who are poor. Visit www.worldvision.org.

Organize a fundraiser and buy a gift for an impoverished family. Visit www.worldvisiongifts.org.

Create a family “giving jar” to collect donations year-round.

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Certificate of completionresource 7


Certificate

Certificate

of completion

of completion

______________________________________________________________(name)

has completed World Vision’s “When Do We Eat?” program and is now a partner-friend of children around the world. Together we have learned that we can help people who are hungry and in need—and help break the cycle of poverty!

To help those who are poor in my community and around the world, I will:

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________(name)

has completed World Vision’s “When Do We Eat?” program and is now a partner-friend of children around the world. Together we have learned that we can help people who are hungry and in need—and help break the cycle of poverty!

To help those who are poor in my community and around the world, I will:

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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Give a gift

World Vision’s Gift Catalog allows your family to give life-changing gifts to children and families in need—things like goats, clean-water wells, or seeds. You can even donate in the name of someone special. Go to www.worldvisiongifts.org to see and order items from the catalog.

Sponsor a child

Thousands of children need help. You and your family can sponsor a child and help his or her whole family and community through World Vision’s Child Sponsorship program. You can choose the country, gender, age, and even birth date of your sponsored child. Think about sponsoring someone who shares your birthday! Visit www.worldvision.org for more information.

Educate others

World Vision Resources provides wonderful educational books and tools to help children and families learn more about hunger and poverty. Use your giving jar money to order one of our books and donate it to your church, or present it to your teacher as a tool to help others learn how they too can reach out to those who are poor. Go to www.worldvisionresources.com to see the growing number of books available.

How You Can Helphandout 4

For the past few weeks, you and your family have been collecting money for those who are hungry and poor. Now you must decide what to do with that money. Spend some time with a parent discussing some of the ideas below. These are various ways your money can help those in need.


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About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, World Vision serves alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people. We envision a world in which each child experiences “fullness of life” as described in John 10:10. And we know this can be achieved only by addressing the problems of poverty and injustice in a holistic way. That’s how World Vision is unique: We bring 60 years of experience in three key areas needed to help children and families thrive: emergency relief, long-term development, and advocacy. And we bring all of our skills across many areas of expertise to each community we work in, enabling us to care for children’s physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Partnering with World Vision provides tangible ways to honor God and put faith into action. By working together, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families who are struggling to overcome poverty. To find out more about how you can help, visit www.worldvision.org.

About World Vision Resources

Ending global poverty and injustice begins with education: understanding the magnitude and causes of poverty, its impact on human dignity, and our connection to those in need around the world.

World Vision Resources is the publishing ministry of World Vision. World Vision Resources educates Christians about global poverty, inspires them to respond, and equips them with innovative resources to make a difference in the world.

For more information, contact:

World Vision ResourcesMail Stop 321P.O. Box 9716Federal Way, WA 98063-9716

Fax: 253.815.3340

[email protected]

“When do we eat?” These words are common to the vocabulary of almost every child. When we’re hungry, we expect to have quick access to food. But in many parts of the world, hunger is a constant companion. Children growing up in impoverished countries get sick—and many even die—because they don’t have enough food.

When Do We Eat? A Guide to Understanding World Hunger and Doing Something About It is designed to teach young people in grades 1-3 to understand the causes of world hunger, to learn how they can make a difference in the lives of those who are hungry, and to give them an opportunity to respond.

Through this curriculum, young people learn:

• What it means to be hungry

• Why millions of boys and girls their age are hungry

• How they can make a difference by helping those who are hungry

The study is designed so leaders can integrate individual parts into a regular Sunday school or Bible class curriculum or use an entire lesson to fill a full class hour.

34834 Weyerhaeuser Way S.P.O. Box 9716Federal Way, WA 98063-9716

www.worldvision.org


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when do we eat? - an educational curriculum

Documents

world vision resources

causes of world hunger

bible class curriculum

holy bible

international bible

lives of hungry children

united states of americaisbn

ita teaching guide