Theme: Jesus helps us

Jesus wants us to build a new world.
We build the new world
when we help each other.
We build the new world
when we share together and have fun together.

Our parents love us,
and so they also are building the new world.
Our teachers help us in the classroom and in the playground
to learn about life and the skills we will need.
Doctors and nurses build the new world
by helping people all the time in hospitals.

Jesus loves to see people building the new world.
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to encourage us to build the new world
at home and at school and wherever we are.

Story: Building a new world

Their village always had plenty of  water for the local people but when they tried to channell that to the fields it all got used up very quickly as their well was only 25 feet deep. They lived near the desert. A small community.

Fruit and crops were plentiful enough when the rain fell, but that wasn't very often. Water was a constant worry. They had a well but it wasn't deep enough. The well had dried up more than once in the last five years. Animals died and crops shrivelled in the fields. The people managed to survive by dragging water from another well two miles away. Next time it could be a real disaster.

A much deeper well was needed. Everyone was agreed on that. A government engineer had visited their community and said a drilling rig would be sent to bore a deeper well. The community were on the list. But nothing ever happened.After the last drought they decided to do something themselves. A delegation was elected to go to the city to plead with the Council for Development for a drilling rig.

The delegation prepared for the meeting and the journey, and went off to the city. They walked up to the great city hall. After a long time they  got to speak to a manager from the Council for Development. Even while they were speaking he was shaking his head. A drilling rig was not possible in the near future. Maybe later on. Too few drills, too many communities. They would have to wait. He said he would do his best, and bade them good day.

They went home and told a disappointed community the news that their pleas for a drilling rig were not successful. The community was not prepared to accept this bad news. The delegation were sent back to the city to plead again. This time they argued their case with the manager more strongly. They felt more confident. They were assured their community was on a list. Maybe next year the drill would come. It sounded like a hollow promise. It was no good.

They stayed all night in the square outside the building. Next morning they were back in the hall again pleading their case. The Senior Manager heard the commotion. What was going on! All these country people filling the city hall! A disgrace!And the newspapers were beginning to ask questions. Photographers were arriving. The country people were already being interviewed. A story with the wrong slant could look bad for the Council for Development. The Senior Manager held a press conference at which he announced that the Council for Development were glad to be able to help the community whose people were present making their case. A drilling rig would be on its way the very next day with the very latest equipment.

After a few days a great truck arrived at the community fitted out with a drilling rig. Drilling began in earnest. The steel bit dug into the ground. Round and round it spun, twisting deeper into the soil. It bored right down into the hard stony ground all that day and the next day. Deeper and deeper. There was a buzz of excitement when the ground around the bore-hole became soggy and wet. It was now 40 metres deep They had finally reached the underground reservoir. But still they drilled. Another four metres. Now the water began to flow, first a trickle, then a steady little stream. At last the community had water that wouldn't go away in the first dry spell.

The men in the truck packed away their gear and headed back to the city. The whole community of men, women and children gathered round the bore hole.

The sides of the new well were tiled with flat stones. A wall was built. They made a ceremony of thanksgiving for water and for their new well.

There would now have plenty of water for their crops, fruits and vegitables

Short Prayers : about helping

Dear God,

I know that making things happen it difficult,
How did you ever manage to make a whole world on your own.
Help me to build a new world of love right here and now.
Amen

Dear God,

Many people are helping to build a new world,
my parents, teachers, lollipop lady, shopkeepers,
postmen, priests, nurses, policemen and my friends.

Bless them all and keep them safely in your care. Amen.

Thank you Jesus

God our Father,

I thank you for my life,

for my books, toys friends and
especially for .....(Name your favourite thing in the whole world).

If I could not play games
with my friends I would feel sad.

Thank you, God our Father. Amen. John 9 yrs.

Dear God,

I would like to do something helpful everyday.

Please help me to look out for someone who needs my help.

Amen.

Games:

1. Mime the message
The children are divided up into teams of four or six. A leader is picked by each team. The leaders are given a message written on a piece of paper, or they are taken outside the door and the message is given verbally, a different message for each team. The leader then mimes the message to his or her own team. No words are allowed.
2. Whisper the message

Let the children form a circle and whisper the message to the first person in the circle and get then to whisper the message on.

The first team to get the message is the winner, but let the game continue until all the teams have got it.

Suggestions for messages:

Make a cup of tea. Do your home-work. Make your bed.

Turn off the television. Cut the grass. It's time to go to bed.

The game can be played several times so that each child in the team gets a chance to be the leader and do the mime.

A Q&A

SACRED SPACE FOR THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT

Open your class bible on the Gospel passage St Luke 13:1-9.
You could place a plant in your sacred space to remind you of the Gospel message.
During prayer time this week,pray that you will be able to give people another chance, just like Jesus gives you another chance.