Week 1: Oceania

Week 2: Asia

Week 3: Central Asia/Eastern Europe

Week 4: Middle East

Week 5: Africa

Week 6: Western Europe

Week 7: South America

Week 8: Central America/Caribbean

Week 9: North America

Bible lessons and activities help you get a glimpse into other cultures. General prayer requests for each region are included. Here’s a sample activity for Colombia, South America:

In Colombia, older members of the family are greatly respected for their wisdom. They are always served first at mealtimes. At your next meal, serve the people at the table in order from oldest to youngest. Leviticus 19:32

If you’d like to pray specifically for unreached peoples who live in these regions, go to Joshua Project. Click on the country you’d like to learn about to read about specific people groups and their needs.

Their Fun Fact Activity Page series features different regions of the world: Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific. Downloadable two-page documents include regional maps, cultural facts, recipes, crafts, puzzles, and information on Bible translation. Two sets are available–one for grade-school children and one for pre-readers.

Need something meatier? Wycliffe also created a 12-lesson series for elementary ages called Steps to Bible Translation. Free, downloadable lessons are 20-40 minutes in length. Content focuses on both translation and literacy. Suggestions for how to use these lessons in smaller units or for shorter chunks of time is provided. This set is available in Spanish as well.

Looking for a mission project for your kids? The Seed Company’s OneVerse project was perfect for the elementary-age children at my church. OneVerse helps fund Bible translation among groups with no scriptures in their heart language. On their website, you can choose the group you’d like to sponsor and get some general information about their culture and religious beliefs. Because much of their translation work is in sensitive areas, OneVerse assigns the culture and language a code name. We called our mission giving project “Adopt a Verse.” Here’s what we did:

1. We started by showing the OneVerse video Without (free to download) and then talked about what it would be like to live your whole life without a Bible or any knowledge of the true God.

2. We introduced the people group we would be helping and showed the country where they lived on a world map. The kids thought it was cool that they had a code name because the translators were working in secret. We talked about reasons why translators may need to do their job “undercover.”

2. We explained that each verse costs $26 to translate and showed them the Bible box that we would use to collect money. Each child took home a parent letter explaining our project.

3.  Over several weeks, we taught about the religion of our group, Hinduism, and what it would be like to grow up with Hindu beliefs instead of the truths of God’s word. We used a lesson called Meet Amita for this.

4. I found a website that has John 3:16 in many different languages and created samples of some of these to use as a progress chart. Each time we collected enough money to translate a verse — $26, $52, $78 — I put up a new sheet with a John 3:16 translation on our missions bulletin board. This was a quick, visual way for kids to keep track of how we were doing.

5. On the final day of our project, we donated our money online, using the screen and projector so the kids could see what was happening. Afterwards, we prayed for the Hindu families who would receive Bibles.

6. The following week, we told the children the exact verses that they had helped to translate.

You might also want to tell your parents about this online game that teaches children about Bible translation. The Seed Company partnered with the Duggar family to create MakaziVille. After creating this own avatar, children visit a fictitious village in the African country of Tanzania. They learn about village life and see how important it is to have God’s word in your own language.

There’s a book for kids with the same thrust – If the World Were a Village: A book about the World’s People by David J. Smith. (2^nd Edition, 2011) It’s a great way to expand kids’ worldview. This book is available in public libraries and through Amazon.com.

Stand4Kids created Small World, a children’s mission lesson for grades 1-5 that uses stats from this book. Because “100” is a difficult number for concrete thinkers to imagine, this lesson shrinks the world population to 20 people. Children learn about:

• the major languages spoken in the world
• inequities in resources like food, clean air and water, and electricity
• the spiritual condition of the world’s peoples

This downloadable lesson (PDF format) includes a prayer activity. It takes 25 minutes, the perfect length for Children’s Church, mid-week activities, Christian School chapel, or a home school gathering.

I did this lesson with my 1st-6th grade AWANA classes and they learned so much (AWANA has a children at risk initiative that children can donate to, like the Adopt-a-Club program.) The thing the children loved most was the dirty water demonstration. The thought of families drinking water from the same source used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, and also used by animals grossed them out. For the prayer time, I added props for the children to hold that reminded them of water issues kids face. Here’s what I used:

• ruler: the long distances children must walk to get water
• slinky: carrying heavy water compresses and damages neck bones and the spine
• diploma (rolled piece of paper tied with ribbon): hours spent fetching water prevents kids from going to school
• medicine bottle: drinking dirty water makes children sick
• Bible: children not only need access to clean water, but also the hope of Jesus

WMU created a downloadable Children’s Ministry Day booklet with project suggestions, planning tips, a skit, and learning activities to enhance your project as well as colorful posters for promoting your event ($8.99). Other free resources like clip art, flyers, and a Powerpoint presentation overview are also available for download.

Ready to plan a project that kids can carry out in your community? Make sure to invite others to assist you. If you can’t hold your event on February 16, pick a day that works for you. Here are 10 ideas to get those creative juices flowing:

• prepare hygiene packs at a ministry center
• serve a meal at a homeless shelter
• provide snacks for children at a local ministry’s after-school program
• sort clothes at a clothes closet
• collect canned goods and donate to a local food pantry
• collect gently worn toys/children’s books and donate to a homeless shelter that houses families
• collect baby diapers and donate to a homeless shelter that houses families
• collect white tube socks and donate to a homeless shelter
• collect and donate school supplies to an organization that provides these to families who cannot afford them
• plant a community garden

Invite your church leaders, teachers, and parents to be involved by praying for your kids and the people they will serve. And don’t forget to take lots of pictures!

Engage your kids in learning about this issue and becoming a part of the solution. We presented this topic to the elementary kids at my church last year in connection with a service project. It grew into a 30-minute lesson for ages 5-11 called Choose Shoes. We created a PowerPoint to introduce kids to shoe issues around the world. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. The lesson also includes a small group activity, Bible time, prayer, and project suggestions.

If you decide to do a suggested project, the lesson also has related books and movie clips to keep the momentum going. Since our project spanned several months, we created a bulletin board graph. Our goal was 400 pairs of shoes. I cut the shoes off four bulletin board children and gave them construction paper bare feet. Every time we collected 50 pairs of shoes, the bulletin board children received one of their shoes back.

These projects are fun because they are so hands-on, but don’t forget the spiritual aspect. During your project wrap-up, have a shoe dedication ceremony. Let your kids hold a pair of shoes they donated. Lead your children in praying for those who will receive the shoes. Pray that they will have the opportunity to learn about Jesus and follow him for a lifetime.

DVD
“Eric Liddell Story” animated movie, 30 min. DVD includes an “Eric Liddell: Champion of Conviction, ” 60-minute documentary. Vision Video, 2007. Click on the Downloads tab for a free Teacher’s Guide with four lesson plans as well as 16 pages of student handouts (comprehension and discussion questions, puzzles, activities, coloring, and more). For ages 8-12.

BOOKS

• Eric Liddell Are You Ready? by Catherine Mackenzie. Paperback, 24 pp., CF4K, 2012. For ages 3-8.

• Eric Liddell: Running for a Higher Prize by Renee Meloche. Illustrated, book written in rhyme. Hardcover, 32 pp. YWAM Publishing, 2001. For ages 5-10.

• Ten Boys Who Changed the World by Irene Howat. Short stories of ten boys, including Eric Liddell,  who were used by Christ to change the world in their times. Paperback, 160 pp. Christian Focus Publications, 2003. For ages 9-12.

• Eric Liddell: Something Greater than Gold by Janet and Geoff Benge. A missionary biography chapter book. Paperback, 199 pp. ,YWAM, 1998. Also available as Kindle edition. For ages 9-13.

• Eric Liddell: Greater than Gold by Christian History Institute. Free article for upper elementary/middle school.

CRAFT
Make an Olympic torch and use it in a relay race.

ERIC LIDDELL QUOTES

• “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure.”

• “In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one has done his best.”

• “We are all missionaries. Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ.”

SCRIPTURE ON RUNNING THE CHRISTIAN RACE

• Acts 20:23-25

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

• 2 Timothy 4:7

• Hebrews 12:1-3

LESSONS

• Home Away from Home: How Children Find Hope When they Lose Their Homes is a 1–hour lesson from World Vision that explores reasons for homelessness with an emphasis on refugees. Grades 1-3.

• Christian Aid in the UK created Far From Home, lessons to use in a school assembly context to help students empathize with the situation of people who have to leave their homes. Case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, and Burma explore some of the reasons that force people to become refugees. Includes Powerpoint of photos. You can download free lessons for ages 7-11 and 11-14

BOOKS (available from Amazon.com)

• Brothers of Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams. Driven from his village home by the soldiers, Garang treks with other boys nearly 1,000 miles across the Sudan border—first to Ethiopia, and later to Kenya. He finds shelter in refugee camps and meets an American aid worker. Can Tom help? 40 pp., ages 9-12.

• Dia’s Story Cloth by Dia Cha. Based on the author’s life, this book chronicles the experiences of a Hmong family who fled their native Laos, lived in a refugee camp in Thailand, and eventually emigrated to the United States. Illustrations are based on a traditional Hmong story cloth. 24 pp., ages 7-10.

• Four Feet Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams. When relief workers bring clothing to a refugee camp in Pakistan, Lina is thrilled to find a sandal that fits her foot perfectly – until she spots another girl holding the matching shoe. Describes daily life in a refugee camp – washing clothes in the river, waiting in line for water, and watching for their names to appear on the list to go to America. 32 pp., ages 6-9.

• Give Me Shelter: Stories About Children Who Seek Asylum by Miriam Halahmy. Short stories from youth around the world — Kosovo, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Eritrea, Zaire, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Zimbabwe, and Kurdistan. Spotlights people who have been forced to leave their homes or families to seek help and shelter elsewhere. 127 pp., ages 9-12.

• The Long Road by Luis Garay. When civil war breaks out in Jose’s Central American country, he and his mother are forced to flee their home. Addresses paperwork and red tape, nights in a refugee hostel, and the family’s struggle to survive from the viewpoint of a child. 32 pp., ages 6-9.

• Making It Home: Real-Life Stories from Children Forced to Flee by Beverly Naidoo. First-person accounts of children displaced by war describe the horror left behind, the family separation, and the struggle to adjust to a new place, whether as a refugee in a camp or as an asylum seeker in the U.S. 128 pp., ages 9-16.

-May 27: Global Day of Prayer

-June 2-3: World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk

It’s a Small World gives your kids the background they need before they pray. This fun lesson introduces 1st-5th graders to the global village through a demonstration that shrinks the world population to 20 people. Children learn about the major languages spoken in the world and issues that many of their peers face on a daily basis (lack of healthy food, clean air, safe water, and electricity). The lesson also addresses the spiritual condition of the peoples of the world, including those who have never heard of Jesus. It’s a Small World takes 25-30 minutes and is highly interactive. It’s great for mixed-age groups. The lesson comes as a downloadable PDF and costs $5.

After the demonstration, lead a time of prayer using some of these free materials for children:

-Global Day of Prayer’s downloadable, 10-day prayer guide for children.

-Viva International’s downloadable, children’s prayer booklet for the World Weekend of Prayer.