Show Hope Advocates Toolkit: Change For Orphans Curriculum

Transcription

1

2 Show Hope Advocates Toolkit: Change For Orphans Curriculum This event toolkit includes curriculum and instructions for how to teach Show Hope s Change for Orphans Children s Curriculum. Our kids ministry curriculum will take children through the global nature of the orphan crisis and adoption. The curriculum provides real ways children can actively care for the needs of orphans right now, including collecting spare change for the work of Show Hope. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Curriculum Overview... 3 Curriculum... 5 Lesson 1: The Crisis Lesson 2: God s Love for His Children Lesson 3: Orphans Need Care Lesson 4: Orphans Need Families Lesson 5: God s Great Invitation Teaching Tips Change for Orphans Challenge Guidelines for Raising Funds Frequently Asked Questions Coloring Sheets Memory Verses

3 WHAT IS THE CHANGE FOR ORPHANS CHILDREN S CURRICULUM? Our children s ministry curriculum will lead children through the global nature of the orphan crisis and adoption. Designed with a Sunday School class or a Vacation Bible School in mind, the curriculum provides real ways children can actively care for the needs of orphans right now, including collecting spare change for Show Hope. SNAPSHOT OF THE CURRICULUM LESSON 1: The Crisis + Lesson aim: To learn about the global orphan crisis, so that we can tell others. + Main point: People need to hear about those who are in distress. + Activity: Visualizing the orphan crisis + Scripture: Proverbs 31:8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves + Challenge: + Tell 3 Challenge encourage children to tell 3 people about the needs of the fatherless + Change for Orphans Challenge LESSON 2: God s Love for His Children + Lesson aim: To learn about God s love for His children, and how we should love others, especially those in distress. + Main point: God has adopted us as His children so that His love can overflow out of us! + Activity: Treasure Box + Scripture: Ephesians 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ + Challenge: Thank 3 Challenge Thank God and 2 others for how they love you

4 LESSON 3: Orphans Need Care + Lesson aim: To learn to care for the needs of orphans. + Main point: We all have physical and emotional needs. When these needs are not being met, things can seem dark and hopeless. In those times, we look to God who brings hope. God calls us to help bring hope to those in distress by taking care of their needs. + Activity: Lean On Me + Scripture: Matthew 25:40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. + Challenge: Make a card or write a note to someone who is in need of care. Whether it s a sick family member, a child at Maria s Big House of Hope, or a patient in a local nursing home, let one person who is hurting know that God cares for them, and so do you! LESSON 4: Orphans Need Families + Lesson Aim: To learn the importance of a family to a waiting child and how we can help the fatherless join their forever families. + Main point: A child who is adopted makes the transition from an orphan to a beloved son or daughter, just like when God adopts us into his family. + Activity: Family Paper Chains + Scripture: Psalm 68:5-6 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families + Challenge: Pray with your family this week: + Thanking God that he placed you in a family + Asking that God will help waiting children around the world find their forever families. LESSON 5: God s Great Invitation! + Lesson aim: To understand that God invites us to care for orphans right now. + Main point: God invites each of us to help meet the pressing needs of orphans. + Activity: Hands & Feet + Scripture: James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. + Challenge: Be Jesus hands and feet to orphans this week. Do one thing that you listed on your hands & feet activity

5 LESSON 1: THE CRISIS Lesson aim: To learn about the global orphan crisis, so that we can tell others. Main point: People need to hear about those who are in distress. Activity: Visualizing the Orphan Crisis Scripture: Proverbs 31:8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves Challenge: + Tell 3 Challenge encourage children to tell 3 people about the needs of the fatherless + Change for Orphans Challenge (optional) + Supplies: empty milk jug, water, Change for Orphan Challenge materials LESSON MATERIAL: Use the following questions and facts to introduce your children to the global orphan crisis. Use discretion about the level of detail you want to use based on the age and maturity of your class. What is an orphan? + An orphan is a child under 18 years old who has lost one or both parents. What is the orphan crisis? + More than 153 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents. + Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan without a mother or a father. Why are there orphans? + Some causes of orphans include: + Disease, Addiction Parents can become ill or die due to sickness and/or disease making it impossible for them to care for their children. + Famine, malnutrition, poverty Parents can be faced with unimaginably difficult choices regarding the care and viability of their children s lives due to famine, malnutrition, and extreme poverty. + Government policies or cultural stigmas Policies that limit family size or stigmas that prefer one gender over another often impact choices that lead to children being orphaned - 5 -

6 What about the United States? + There are currently about 408,000 children in foster care. + Over 100,000 of those children are waiting to be adopted. + Most children stay in foster care at least three years while they are waiting to be adopted. + The average age of children in the foster system is 9 years old. Why should we care for orphans? + Throughout the Old Testament, God calls us to care for fatherless children, because these children were seen as vulnerable, having lost their primary provider and protector, and in need of special care. By losing his or her parents, the orphan has lost the primary relationships that provide protection, leadership, care, and provision. + God calls us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. So He asks us to tell other people about the orphan crisis and to do all we can to address the needs of waiting children. ACTIVITY: Help children visualize the extent of the orphan crisis Supplies: One empty gallon milk jug, water, a bucket + Fill a gallon milk jug with water. Explain that it takes around 18 seconds for that jug to be emptied, and pour the water into a bucket. Tell the group that every 18 seconds, a child becomes an orphan without a mother or father. + As you share, keep in mind that the reality of living without a family can be challenging for a young child to grasp. Remind them that God sees and protects the fatherless (Psalm 27:10, Psalm 68:5, Psalm 146:9) and that He has a plan for each child (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 68:6, John 14:18). + ALTERNATIVE FOR OLDER CHILDREN: You can set a timer at the beginning of the class time. As a group at the end of class, figure out how many children were orphaned during the length of time of your meeting based on the every 18 seconds statistic. MEMORY VERSE: Proverbs 31:8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves + Have younger children repeat this verse after you. + Challenge older children to memorize the verse and come ready to recite it during the next class

7 CLOSING: Prayer: Challenges: + Ask the children to thank God for one aspect of their family that they are thankful for. + Ask them to pray for waiting children around the world to find forever families. If you would like to give them a specific child to pray for each class time, you can use past Show Hope prayer focuses to help the children put a name and a face with the orphan crisis. You can find past prayer focuses here: Tell 3 Challenge + Encourage each child to tell 3 people about the needs of the fatherless. Brainstorm some of the needs of waiting children before they leave class (i.e. a forever family, medical care, education, housing, etc.) Change for Orphan Challenge (Optional) + Register your class as a Show Hope Advocate¹. + We will send you free Change for Orphans buckets to use during your collection. Pass out the Change for Orphans buckets to the children. Explain that one way that they can begin to care for waiting children is by filling the bucket with change. Help the children to understand the financial challenges associated with adoption and how Show Hope is involved in adoption aid and orphan care. + Show your class our Change for Orphans ² video narrated by Steven Curtis Chapman, which will help explain the work of Show Hope as well as give the children ideas of how to fill their own buckets. + Help the children brainstorm ways that they can use their gifts to make a difference in the life of an orphan by filling their bucket. Dream about some of the possibilities, such as a fundraising event or individual projects and pray for God to guide each child and meet each need as they care for orphans. Encourage the children that anything they do makes a difference no matter how big or how small. It all matters, just like every child matters to God! + Ask the children to bring their bucket back for the last class. + During each class time ask the children to volunteer to share what they have been doing to fill their bucket. + See page 21 for more details on how to host a Change for Orphan Challenge ¹ ²

8 NOTE TO TEACHERS: Language matters. In order to love and serve well, we must be careful of the language we use: So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! (James 3:12). + Use people-first language where you put the person before the disability, identifying the person as a person first, not labeling the person with the disability: + Person with a disability instead of disabled person + Child with special needs instead of special needs child + Child in foster care instead of foster child + Person who is unable to speak instead of a mute. + Child who was adopted instead of adopted child. + Often the term orphan itself carries negative connotations and induces shame. It is important to be very aware when using this word, especially to or about specific children. You can refer to a child as a waiting child or a child who lacks parental care or a vulnerable child or simply a child. + Children in foster care or orphanages are also stigmatized because of their situation, so singling a child out because they are in foster care or are an orphan can be harmful. Instead, value and relate to each child as a child of God, not based on the situation they are in

9 LESSON 2: GOD S LOVE FOR HIS CHILDREN Lesson aim: To learn about God s love for His children, and how we should love others, especially those in distress. Main point: God has adopted us as His children so that His love can overflow out of us! Activity: Treasure Box Scripture: Ephesians 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ Challenge: Thank 3 Challenge Thank God and 2 others for how they love you. Supplies: Shoe box, hand-held mirror, paper, markers/crayons LESSON MATERIAL: 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us. + Regardless of anything we say or do, we are God s children. He created us. He loves us. He loves us so much that He was willing to send His son, Jesus, to save us from our sins and bring us to Himself. James 14:18 says, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. + God has promised us that He is going to take care of us and not abandon us. Not only is that true for us, it is also true for children around the world who have not experienced the love of a family. Ephesians 1:5 says God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ Ask the children: + What does adoption mean? + What does it mean that we are adopted into God s family? Explain that Ephesians 1:5 says that we can come to know our Heavenly Father through Jesus. It says that, without Jesus, we are just like an orphan who is separated from his father. Like an orphan who does not have the protection of his parents, when we are sinners without Jesus, we live outside the family of God. However, when we accept Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, God adopts us into His family once more and becomes our Heavenly Father who protects us

10 ACTIVITY: Lift the lid off kids true identities as children God loves and treasures. + Supplies: a box with a removable lid, a small mirror, paper, and markers + Before kids arrive, place the mirror in the bottom of the box and put the lid on. + Give kids paper and markers, and have them sit apart from each other. Ask kids to pass the box around in silence, taking off the lid and looking inside before passing it on to the next person. After kids look inside the box, ask them to draw what they saw. + When everyone has drawn a self-portrait, have kids talk about how recognizable their drawings are. Ask: What could someone see about you from your drawing of yourself? What things couldn t others see about you from your drawing that you d like them to know? Read aloud 1 John 3:1-2. Ask: What does this verse tell us about the way we look at ourselves and others? + Remind the kids that everyone is unique and loved by God. And since God loves each of us, we should love each other as well since we are all part of God s family. MEMORY VERSE: Ephesians 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ + Have younger children repeat this verse after you. + Challenge older children to memorize the verse and come ready to recite it during the next class. CLOSING: Remind the children that when they accept Jesus into their hearts, they are adopted into God s family. He becomes their Heavenly Father who protects and loves them. And since God has adopted us as His children, we can let His love overflow out of us into the lives of the people around us! We should show that same love to our parents, our brothers and sisters, our friends, and even to the orphans around the world who are without their own families. Prayer: + Ask the children to thank God for adopting them into His heavenly family. + Ask the children to pray for the orphans around the world who are without the love and protection of their own families. Challenge: Thank 3 Challenge Encourage each child to thank God and 2 others for how they love them

11 LESSON 3: ORPHANS NEED CARE Lesson aim: To learn to care for the needs of orphans. Main point: We all have physical and emotional needs. When these needs are not being met, things can seem dark and hopeless. In those times we look to God who brings hope. God calls us to help bring hope to those in distress by taking care of their needs. Activity: Lean On Me Scripture: Matthew 25:40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Challenge: Make a card or write a note to someone who is in need of care. Whether it s a sick family member, a child at Maria s Big House of Hope, or a patient in a local nursing home, let one person who is hurting know that God cares for them, and so do you! Supplies: None LESSON MATERIAL: Ask the children to remember a time when they needed help. Was it learning to tie their shoes? Falling off their bike? Feeling scared at bedtime? Explain that we all need help from time to time. We all need love and care. Orphans, however, do not always have people to look out for them when they are sick or scared or hurting. Discuss the differences between the daily routines and activities of an orphan and the children in the group. Have children imagine what may be different about an orphan s living situation, bedtime routine, or dinner rituals. Process with the children how these thoughts and differences are affecting them. If they need help expressing their emotions, list several adjectives, such as angry, scared, hurt, lonely, sad, guilty, and happy and ask which one best describes their feelings. Explain to the children that God cares for each person in the world deeply and is with them when they are hurting. He never leaves us alone. But also, explain that God asks His people (you and me) to reach out to those who are hurting to help them. He says that every time we help someone in need, like an orphan, we are doing it for Jesus himself. The orphans in the world need each of us to reach out and care for them, and by doing so we are showing them God s love. The parable from Matthew 25: will illustrate to the children how, when we meet the needs of those less fortunate, we are serving. Read the following passage to the class: 34 Then the king will say to the godly people on his right, Come, my Father has great blessings for you. The kingdom he promised is now yours. It has been prepared for you since the world

12 was made. 35 It is yours because when I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I had no place to stay, you welcomed me into your home. 36 When I was without clothes, you gave me something to wear. When I was sick, you cared for me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me. 37 Then the godly people will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you with no place to stay and welcome you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you? 40 Then the king will answer, The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me. Because statistics associated with the orphan crisis are so vast, it is helpful to connect the children to one child and to pray for that child by name. You can share about a personal relationship you have with a waiting child or use Show Hope Prayer Focus ( to introduce them to children at Maria s Big House of Hope. Each focus lists a few details about the child s personality, likes, and needs, as well as specific ways to pray for that child. You can also show your class the following video, which details the care given to orphans with special needs at Show Hope s Special Care Centers in China.¹ ACTIVITY: Lean on Me + Have kids form pairs and sit on the floor, back-to-back, with their arms folded across their chests. On go, have kids attempt to stand up together without using their arms. Kids will quickly discover that the task is difficult unless they work together to succeed. + Afterward, have kids talk about what kinds of tasks are easier to accomplish with others. Read aloud Hebrews 10:24 (Let us think of ways to motivate another to acts of love and good deeds.) Have kids come up with ways they can work together to share Jesus love with those who are in need, like the many waiting children around the world. + Explain that just like we sometimes need help to succeed, children who have been orphaned need help to succeed and feel loved as well. ¹ Watch Show Hope s Special Care Centers video here:

13 MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 25:40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. + Have younger children repeat this verse after you. + Challenge older children to memorize the verse and come ready to recite it during the next class. CLOSING: Remind the children that we all have physical and emotional needs, and when these needs are not being met, things can seem dark and hopeless. In those times we look to God who brings hope. God calls us to also bring this hope to the orphans of the world who are in need of care. Prayer: + Ask the children to thank God for a need he has met for them (ex: helped them not feel scared, gave them loving parents, give them food to eat everyday). + Ask the children to pray for the needs of the orphan that you learned about in your lesson. Ask them to pray that God would bring one of His people to meet that child s needs. Challenge: Make a card or write a note to someone who is in need of care. Whether it s a sick family member, a child at Maria s Big House of Hope, or a patient in a local nursing home, let one person who is hurting know that God cares for them, and so do you!

14 LESSON 4: ORPHANS NEED FAMILIES Lesson aim: To learn the importance of a family to a waiting child and how we can help the fatherless join their forever families. Main point: A child who is adopted makes the transition from an orphan to a beloved son or daughter, just like when God adopts us into his family. Activity: Family Paper Chains Scripture: Psalm 68:5-6 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families Challenge: Pray with your family this week. + Thanking God for your family + Asking that God will help waiting children around the world find their forever families. Supplies: Masking tape or chalkboard, computer with internet connection, colored paper strips, glue/tape/stapler, markers LESSON MATERIAL: Draw or tape an outline of a house on a chalkboard or the wall. Have the children fill the house with pictures or words (depending on the children s ages) of their favorite things about home (i.e. family, beds, food, video games, toys, books, swing sets, etc.) One by one, ask the children to come up and erase/take down one thing they could live without if they had to. Hopefully, with the guidance of the teacher, the only items left at the end will be their family. Ask the children what their families do for them. Keep them safe? Give them hugs? Provide meals for them? Explain to the children that a family provides love and protection, and that orphans need families too. Without a family to guide them, life is often very uncertain and scary for children who have been orphaned. They are left all alone, and are often lonely and hungry. They often get sick, because no one is there to give them medicine or take them to the doctor. They may fall behind in school because they have no one to pay for their school fees or take them to school each day. These children do not have parents to hold them when they are scared, provide for their needs, or even teach them about Jesus. But through adoption, God takes the lonely children of the world and places them back in a family (Psalms 68:6). He brings them back to parents who will love them forever. The dictionary defines adoption as the process of giving official acceptance or approval to something. This is what adoption does for a waiting child. It lets them know that they are loved and accepted just as they are. Just like God shows us we are loved and accepted when He adopts us into His heavenly family (Ephesians 1:5), when a mom and dad welcome a waiting child into their forever family, they are letting that child know that they belong and that they matter

15 Next, have the children watch Show Hope s I Believe in Families ¹ video. Ask the children what they learned about the importance of family from the video. ACTIVITY: Family Paper Chains + Supplies: Colored paper strips (1-2 ), glue/tape/stapler, markers + Before class, cut out strips of construction paper 1 wide and 8 long. + Allow the children to write the names of their family members on the strips. Make paper chains with the strips of paper by gluing the ends of one together and putting the second strip through the first one before gluing. Glue sticks work best! (You can staple them as well.) + Alternative: Give one link that says The links of my family are important to God! to each child and allow the children to add enough other links to represent their family. + Remind the children that families are a gift from God. MEMORY VERSE: Psalm 68:5-6 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families + Have younger children repeat this verse after you. + Challenge older children to memorize the verse and come ready to recite it during the next class. CLOSING: Remind the children that there are millions of children around the world who are waiting for a mommy and daddy to welcome them into their family. A child who is adopted makes the transition from an orphan to a beloved son or daughter, just like when God adopts us into His family. Prayer: + Ask the children to thank God for their families, and all that their families do for them. + Ask the children to thank God for putting the lonely in families. Pray for the waiting children around the world to find their forever families. ¹ Watch the I Believe In Families video here: -

16 Challenge: Pray with your family this week + Thanking God that he placed you in a family + Asking that God will help waiting children around the world find their forever families

17 LESSON 5: GOD S GREAT INVITATION Lesson aim: To understand that God invites us to care for orphans right now. Main point: God invites each of us to help meet the pressing needs of orphans. Activity: Hands & Feet Scripture: James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Challenge: Be Jesus hands and feet to orphans this week. Do one thing that you listed on your hands & feet activity. Supplies: Construction paper, markers, scissors, party supplies for Change for Orphans Celebration LESSON MATERIAL: God is inviting each of us to help meet the needs of orphans right now. But the plight of orphans around the world can be overwhelming, leaving us to ask, What can we really do to help? It is important to realize that behind all the statistics about orphans are faces, hearts, lives, and names. God doesn t call us to solve the whole world s problems, but He does call us to love and join Him in caring for orphans. God knows each child by name, and He knows the number of hairs upon each of their heads. If we love God, we should also love the children he cares about so much. Invite a child to look up and read each of the following verses: James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Psalm 82:3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. God is a big God. He does not need us to rescue orphans. He can do it on his own. However, He invites us to be part of His Story, and invites us to be His hands and feet in this world. We are to be His hands extended in caring for the orphans just as God Himself would. God s plan for His people has always been for us to represent Him to the world and be about the work of redeeming and healing what has been broken, the very thing He will do in fullness when he returns

18 In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul addresses God s people, Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Ask the children what this means to them we are God s representatives in the world. By loving the most vulnerable children in the world, we are showing them His love. We have established that God sees and has a plan for each orphan and He invites us to be His representatives to care for these vulnerable children! Although we are all invited to take action, He leads us to be involved in different ways. Some people are called to be involved by adopting a waiting child into their family, while others are called to be a doctor and care for sick children who do not have parents. Some people are asked to give their money to orphan care, while others are asked to give their career to orphan care. Some people are asked to travel around the world to care for vulnerable children, while others are asked to care for children who find themselves in foster care in their own city. ACTIVITY: Hands & Feet. Use this idea to help kids visualize the ways they can serve Jesus and care for orphans around the world. + Supplies: Construction paper, markers, and scissors + Trace kids hands and shoes onto white paper, and then cut out the shapes. Have kids write or draw on the appropriate cutouts ways they can use their hands or feet to serve Jesus and care for orphans around the world. Then display the hands and feet in a prominent place in your classroom. + Here are some ideas for how they can care for orphans this week: + Pray for children through the Show Hope Monthly Prayer Focus: + Hold a bake sale or lemonade stand to raise money for your Change for Orphan bucket. + Become a Show Hope Advocate to help raise funds or awareness for waiting children around the world: + Bake cookies for a local foster home MEMORY VERSE: James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. + Have younger children repeat this verse after you. + Challenge older children to memorize the verse and come ready to recite it during the next class

19 CLOSING: Remind the children that God invites us to start caring for orphans right now. Prayer: + Ask the children to thank God that He has invited them into His story in caring for vulnerable children around the world. + Ask the children to pray that God would show them how He would like them to care for orphans right now. Challenge: Be Jesus hands and feet to orphans this week. Do one thing that you listed on your hands & feet activity

20 TEACHING TIPS: + Color Sheets: This curriculum includes a color sheet for each week of class. This is a great activity to have children work on as they are coming into class. It will introduce them to the topic of the week, and give them something to keep them busy as they wait for their classmates. At the end of the class, send the sheets home with each child. This will allow parents to continue to engage their child in discussing the class topic throughout the week. + Memory Verse: If possible print the memory verse and challenge for the week on a piece of paper to give to each parent as they pick up their child from class. Encourage the parents to help their child memorize their verse, and complete their challenge for the week. This will help the child remember the lesson all week long, and allow the family to discuss the Bible lesson throughout the week

21 CHANGE FOR ORPHANS CHALLENGE Show Hope s Change for Orphans Challenge is a visual reminder that something small can make a big difference in the life of an orphan. We at Show Hope believe someone small can also have a BIG impact. It was the prayers and persistence of their ten-year-old daughter that convinced Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to consider adoption. It s the faith and passion of children like those in your Sunday School or VBS classes that remind us God uses His children to make a difference. A Change for Orphans collection provides your students with a means to put what they are learning about God s heart for vulnerable children into action as they go through the curriculum. Whether you are teaching the material over the course of 5 weeks in Sunday School or 5 days in VBS, challenge your students to use that time to collect spare change for the children served by Show Hope who are each waiting for their own forever family. How To Launch Your Collection: 1. Register your class as a Show Hope Advocate. 2. We will send you free Change for Orphans buckets to use during your collection. Pass out the Change for Orphans buckets to the children. Explain that one way that they can begin to care for waiting children is by filling the bucket with change. Help the children to understand the financial challenges associated with adoption and how Show Hope is involved in adoption aid and orphan care. 3. Show your class our Change for Orphans video narrated by Steven Curtis Chapman, which will help explain the work of Show Hope as well as give the children ideas of how to fill their own buckets. 4. Help the children brainstorm ways that they can use their gifts to make a difference in the life of a waiting child by filling their bucket. Dream about some of the possibilities, such as a fundraising event or individual projects and pray for God to guide each child and meet each need as they care for orphans. 5. Ask the children to bring their bucket back for the last class making sure to affirm each child that no matter how large or small, their efforts do make a difference in the lives of waiting children. 6. During each class time ask the children to volunteer to share what they have been doing to fill their bucket

22 CHANGE FOR ORPHANS CELEBRATION After your last class session, plan a celebration for your students to honor what they have done through their Change for Orphans campaign. Make the event a family affair, inviting parents and other siblings to participate in the celebration as well. At the beginning of the celebration show the What if? Join the Movement video to the children and families as a reminder of how God will use their collection to care for orphans around the world. Have each child s parents help them count up their collection and bring the number to you. Tally together each donation. To demonstrate to the children the impact they have when they all work together to serve vulnerable children, place a large clear bucket at the front of the room. Let each child take a turn pouring in their collection. Note: Make sure to make every child feel valued for their efforts, no matter how large or small their collection. After all the change has been collected, announce the final total to the room. If you chose to have a friendly competition (see below), announce the winning team. Close the celebration by having children and families share stories or lessons that they learned throughout the Change for Orphans campaign. Close in prayer thanking God for what He will do with the offering the children have collected, and asking Him to continue to work through the group to serve the many vulnerable children who are still waiting for their forever families. Ideas For Friendly Competition: Divide the class up into two teams, or have a competition with another class. + Penny Wars: Assign each team a bucket for collecting coins or dollar bills. The value of any pennies collected by a group count positively toward that group s point total, while the value of other coins or dollar bills are subtracted. So, in a competition between Group A and Group B, a contributor who wants Group A to win will place pennies into Group A s bucket and nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollar bills into Group B s bucket. + Weight Challenge: Assign each team a bucket for collecting coins or dollar bills. At the end of the challenge, the team whose bucket weighs the most wins. + Boys v. Girls: Assign the boys a bucket and girls a bucket for collecting coins or dollar bills. At the end of the challenge, the team whose collects the most wins

23 INTRODUCTION Show Hope s Guidelines for Raising Funds Show Hope Advocate Protocol Thank you for your willingness to raise awareness and funds for Show Hope as an Advocate! On behalf of the orphans around the world whose lives you will help transform, thank you. We rely on the grassroots support of so many who are mobilizing a movement to care for orphans, and you are a vital part of this ministry. The following policy will govern all individuals who seek to raise funds for Show Hope independent of the ministry. All people raising funds will be required to adhere to these policies, utilizing approved materials and logos supplied by Show Hope. All individuals must receive written consent from Show Hope before hosting an event using Show Hope s name, marks, or content. Individuals will receive and sign a simple agreement form along with guidelines for how they represent Show Hope and what promotional materials they use. Materials will be provided by Show Hope. Materials will utilize Show Hope branding, positioning statements, 501c3 information as well as information on how donated money will be used. WHAT TO SHARE Please feel free to share any content that would help raise funds and awareness for orphans in distress, preserving the dignity of the children we seek to serve and the integrity of the Show Hope brand. Show Hope provides logos and materials for efforts that have expressed permission for raising funds and awareness on behalf of Show Hope. Please do not use: + Any indecent, objectionable, false, insensitive, illegal, or tasteless content. + Any names, logos, materials, or photos belonging to other people or organizations without their written consent. + Any commercial, advertising, or promotional materials for any goods or services. EVENT FUNDRAISER If you create an event specifically to raise funds for Show Hope, you must be a registered Show Hope Advocate, and you must be either 18 years or older, or in the event you are between 13 and 17 years old you must have the permission of a parent or guardian. Please do not host events that include gaming, lobbying, sweepstakes, raffle, auctions, or anything illegal. We encourage you to be creative and use your gifts as you determine the best method for you to raise funds and awareness for orphans

24 SHOW HOPE LOGO USAGE Show Hope and the Show Hope logo mark and all parts therein are a registered trademark of Shaohannah s Hope, Inc. and may not be reproduced, copied, distributed, displayed or used to create derivative works without expressed written consent. This is to protect Show Hope and prevent confusion for donors, supporters, and partners. You may use Show Hope s name and/or logo with expressed written consent by Show Hope. All final usages must be approved by Show Hope after samples have been submitted. Please contact us at advocates@showhope.org for permissions. Please be sure to download and abide by Show Hope s Logo Guidelines from our Media Resources page located here. The following are examples of ways you may and may not use the Show Hope logos in conjunction with your efforts: Appropriate Format: + The Race for the benefit of Show Hope + The Group-A-Thon in support of Show Hope Advocates Inappropriate Format: + The Show Hope Race Sponsored by Church + The Show Hope Bike-Across-America Tour If you choose to use the Show Hope logos, please send us samples of any printed or electronic materials in which the logos are used to advertise your efforts. You may send samples to one of the following addresses clearly identifying your name and in your correspondence: Show Hope Attn: Advocates PO Box 647 Franklin, TN or by to: advocates@showhope.org

25 REPRESENTATION GUIDELINES + Individuals representing Show Hope will not refer to themselves as Show Hope employees + Individuals will utilize materials provided by Show Hope, customizing it to fit their specific fundraising program + Individuals will communicate with Show Hope staff a clear fundraising campaign timeline and alert staff when their donation is to be made + Individuals will not be allowed to make any promises on behalf of Show Hope and/or Steven Curtis or Mary Beth Chapman CHARGING FOR GOODS OR SERVICES If you want to raise money for Show Hope by offering goods or services, you can do that. If you offer the good or service for free, the checks or donations collected from donors will be tax deductible to the full extent that the law allows and as long as the donor information is clearly attached to the donation. If you exchange donations for goods or services, the donor will not be able to receive a tax deduction for that gift. If you use Show Hope s name in connection to the sale of goods or services, 100% of the proceeds (proceeds less expenses) must go to Show Hope. This is also true for event registrations. If you charge for entry to the event, the donations are not tax deductible. If the event is free, donations that are contributed will be eligible for a tax deduction provided they write a check to Show Hope. COLLECTING CHECKS If you are collecting checks for your fundraising effort, all checks should be made out to Show Hope. Collect your checks and mail them to the address below, and be sure to include a note explaining who you are and what your effort was. Show Hope PO Box 647 Franklin, TN FUND DESIGNATION All donations raised by advocates will go to our Most Urgently Needed fund which will be used to help Show Hope meet the most pressing needs of orphans through adoption aid, orphan care, and mobilizing a movement

26 CONCLUSION Show Hope is excited about all those willing to raise funds to help provide lasting love and life-giving care for orphans around the world. However there is a need to control the messaging and artistic presentation that are presented on our behalf in order to protect our name, brand, organization, ministry, and the children we serve. Thank you for your willingness to abide by these protocols

27 Frequently Asked Questions WHAT IS SHOW HOPE? Show Hope is a movement to care for orphans. We mobilize individuals and communities to change the world for orphans and help provide waiting orphans with forever families. We primarily do this by awarding financial grants to help loving families adopt waiting children, while also focusing on providing life-giving medical treatment for at-risk orphans with special needs. Compelled by God s love for us and His heart for orphans, this ministry, founded by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, engages the body of Christ to embrace waiting children with God s love and look after them in their distress. WHY DOES IT MATTER? There are more than 140 million orphans around the world, and God has called His people to be the ones who will manifest His love to them (James 1:27). This is an invitation for the church to truly experience and glorify God. One way to care for orphans is through adoption, but unfortunately an adoption can cost between $10,000-$45,000. There is a real need to overcome these financial barriers and link generous hearts with willing families and waiting children. WHAT IS THE NEED? Since its inception, Show Hope donors have financially helped provide forever families for more than 4,000 orphans from 50+ countries. In addition, more than 1,000 orphans with special needs have received care through Show Hope s Special Care Centers in China. Despite this impact, millions of orphaned children are still waiting for a forever family. Approximately 1,000 families apply annually to Show Hope for adoption assistance. Due to the lack of funding, more than 8,000 grant requests have been turned away since Show Hope was founded. HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED? Each orphan has a name and a story. It is time for each of us to stand up and speak up for orphans! Participating in this Restore Hope Clothing Swap is the first step, but there are other ways to be involved in the movement to care for orphans. One is to become a Show Hope sponsor and give to provide grants and medical care on a monthly or annual basis. You can also become a Show Hope advocate and raise awareness and funds to help provide an orphan with a lifetime of love. Other opportunities include partnering with Show Hope in prayer, volunteering, or joining us on a shortterm trip. Visit to read more and get involved

28 COLORING SHEETS COMING SOON!

29 People need to know about those who are in distress. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves Proverbs 31:8 God has adopted us into his family so we can overflow with love. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ Ephesians 1:5 God calls us to care for those who are in distress. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40 Children who are adopted are beloved sons and daughters. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families Psalm 68:5-6 God invites each of us to meet the pressing need of orphans. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27