Soap Saves Lives

OK, fess up. How many bars of hotel soap and little shampoo bottles reside in your bathroom cabinet? Maybe you’ll pack them next time you travel, but often, they collect dust. Could they be put to better use? What about the partially used toiletries you leave in the hotel room? Every day in North America, hotels discard millions of pounds of soap and little plastic bottles of shampoo. These products usually end up in landfills.

Meanwhile, millions of children around the world don’t have any soap at all – not one bar! According to clinical studies, the combination of bar soap and proper hygiene education can reduce the effects of acute respiratory illness (pneumonia) and diarrheal disease by up to 65%. Combined, these diseases are the leading causes of death amongst children under the age of 5, killing 3.5 million children annually (World Health Organization).

Wasting soap – no soap. What’s the solution? What if the partially used bars of soap that you leave behind in your hotel shower could be recycled and potentially save lives? Well, it’s happening. A non-profit group called Clean the World recycles old hotel soaps into new soap and shampoo for developing countries and homeless shelters in the United States.

How does it work? First, Clean the World collects and sorts discarded soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion product donations from participating hospitality partners. Hundreds of hotels and bed and breakfasts collect used soap for Clean the World. Manufacturers donate additional hygiene products. Next, in its Orlando, Florida lab, Clean the World cooks the soap in a process to remove impurities before reshaping it into 2-ounce bars. Then Clean the World, in conjunction with partner organizations, distributes recycled soap products, along with appropriate educational materials, to impoverished countries worldwide as well as homeless shelters in the United States.

For example, Clean the World partners with World Vision in their ongoing WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) program. With operations in more than 100 countries, World Vision has the on-the-ground capability to distribute the recycled soap and provide essential hygiene education where it is most needed.

Ways you can help?

• Check those bathroom cabinets. Maybe you have soap to donate.

• Do you know someone who runs a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast who could donate soap? Someone who works for a company that manufactures soap or shampoo? Let them know about Clean the World.

• Considering hosting a Million Bars of Soap for Hope drive in your community.

Get more details here.

Teaching Kids About Ramadan

Join millions of Christians worldwide in praying for the Muslim world August 11-September. 9. During this period, Muslims will observe of the fast of Ramadan. Here’s an easy way to involve children in your family, class, or club in interceding for Muslim kids around the world. The 30-Days Prayer Network produces a “Just for Kids” booklet for children and families with information on Muslim people groups in many countries, activities, and prayer points.To learn more about Ramadan, download Ramadan Basics in the “Free Stuff” section of Resources on our website.

If you’d like to introduce children to kids around the world who live in Muslim cultures, check out the Kids Around the World CD/DVD elementary sets. The series includes the following Muslim people groups: the Turks of Turkey, three Central Asian groups (Kazakhs, Tajiks, Uzbeks), the Malay of Southeast Asia, and two groups in Africa (Riffi Berbers and Fulani). Each DVD has a 5-10 minute video shot on site and narrated by children. CDs include activities on geography, flags, language, food, games, crafts, Bible lessons, and prayer activities for the specific people group.

Soccer Balls and Children at Risk

Leading up to the World Cup, a photographer named Jessica Hilltout, made a seven-month road trip throughout Africa She took pictures of children playing soccer on a variety of “fields” and collected homemade balls and stories from locals along the way. Here’s a poem from Jessica’s travels:

These words got me thinking. If I deleted the poem’s title and last line, the remaining phrases would describe the lives of millions children, not only in Africa, but around the world. It’s true that children don’t require much to be happy and that they seem to bounce back from adversity much easier than adults. It’s also true that harsh circumstances often make children stronger. This is where the similarity between soccer balls and children end. Soccer balls are created for the express purpose of being kicked around. Children are not. God created children in his own image and has harsh words for anyone who would abuse them or hinder them from becoming all that He intends.

For ideas on how you can take a stand for children at risk and provide God’s hope, check out Red Card Kids.

Bringing Hope Through Jesus

When we mobilize children (or even adults) to pray and take a stand for children who are poor, sick, abandoned, exploited, or forced to fend for themselves, it is easy for our students to get overwhelmed by the enormity of the issues. Statistics first produce a “deer in the headlights” response. This is often followed by a kind of paralysis –a reaction stemming from pure human reasoning–”I can’t begin to make a dent in the problem so I won’t do anything.”

Any lessons we teach should include the element of hope. Yes, the problems are too big for us to solve, but God is not asking us to solve them on our own. God is inviting us to partner with him to change the way things are. How does this partnership work? God provides power and authority, we act in faith. When I first saw this video, it reminded me that God asks us to bring hurting children to him, the author of transformation. He will do the rest. Watch it and pass it on. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Book Review: One Million Arrows

One Million Arrows, a new book by Julie Ferwerda, invites parents and mentors to think of children as arrows. The biblical concept of arrows comes straight from Psalm 127:4-5a: “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them …”

Created by God to penetrate their own culture and the world for Christ, children can leave a mark for eternity. This book includes ideas for raising children to change the world from parents who already have this God-sized vision for their sons and daughters. According to the author, “Being an arrow is a lot like signing up for Fear Factor. You know there’s going to be a lot of suspense, some fun and interesting challenges, some really hard mental and physical obstacles, and of course, plenty of fear as you’re stretched way out of your comfort zone.” Reaching beyond the family unit, One Million Arrows encourages the body of Christ to consider the latent potential of children at risk around the world. The author relates the vision that God gave M.A. “Papa” Thomas for serving the millions of overlooked children of India. “Gather one million broken branches – the native-born, orphaned, and abandoned children – sharpen them with education, faith, and a heart for the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), and launch them like arrows back into the regions of India that have never heard about Jesus. In fact, why limit it to India?”

Hmmm. This book starting me thinking …

• What are some ways I can hone arrows, even if I don’t homeschool my kids?
• How can God use my willingness to sponsor a child in poverty or partner with a Christian ministry that serves street children and orphans lead to a new generation of arrows who are strategically positioned to impact cultures and subcultures that I can’t?
• What other books and websites address this subject?

Check out this book. What do you think? Join the conversation.

Trinity Object Lessons

This summer, I taught 2nd-4th graders at Bible camp. The children asked lots of questions, some of which I’d never thought about before. “Did Adam and Eve ever get married?” “So did animals talk way back then before the fall like the serpent did?” “Will we celebrate birthdays in heaven?” Having the option to respond with “I don’t know because the Bible doesn’t tell us” was helpful. As I continued to unfold little scraps of paper with scribbled questions, I noticed a pattern emerging. Many children were confused about the Trinity. Should I tell them that adults don’t understand the Trinity either, or that we won’t fully grasp how God can be three in one until we get to heaven? Though both statements are true, and possibly useful in responding to questions about the Trinity, I decided that young children needed some concrete demonstrations as well. Here’s how I addressed two of their questions.

Children’s Mission Conference Visuals

When it comes to getting your kids to connect at a heart level with children from other cultures, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Are you hunting for visuals for an upcoming children’s mission festival or conference? I’ve been there. A few years back, I scoured children’s magazines and calendars for colorful, engaging photos of boys and girls from around the world. I also looked for simple maps that would help my students locate where these international children lived. Here are some ready-made visuals that can make your preparation easier and bring your kids face-to-face with a lost world.