MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE Explaining the Millennium Development Goals to Kids and their Parents
Cross and Book created by The J2A Youth Group of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church Rector: Rev. Beth Royalty 901 Portland Ave. St. Paul, MN 55104 www.stclements-stp.org Group Members Tristan Allen Rosa Berry Ellen Brand Alexander Edgerton James Gage Courtney Gill Allie Moore Maggie Scimeca Micaela Shellenberger Kyra Stephenson Group Leaders Liz Brine Shannon Geno Hunter Olsen Editing and Layout Susan Mallison, Director of Christian Formation
Created at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul, MN 2007-2009
What is this MDG Cross all about? Our church youth group made this cross, using donations from church parishioners of little, everyday items. We asked for objects that were being discarded as insignificant. We decided to decorate this cross with 1500 of these insignificant items. Each item on this cross stands for one of the 1500 children in the world who dies each hour of each day from preventable disease and starvation.
We wonder, are these children insignificant?
About carrying the MDG Cross After we finished creating the cross, it was used for Sunday services on Children’s Sabbath, a day when our church focuses on remembering the needs of children around the world.
Then, we decided to take it to lots of places in the neighborhood around our church—places that kids go all the time—like the playground, the book store, the ice cream shop, even up in the tree in our church yard! We took pictures of the cross at those places of childhood because we wanted to show how children who die each hour from preventable diseases and starvation don’t get to do the things that kids like us get to do in our own neighborhoods. At first it was hard for us to walk around our neighborhood carrying a cross, but it got easier after we started taking the pictures. During all of our excursions, not a single person ever asked us what we were doing carrying a cross around in our neighborhood!
About our church, neighborhood, and group Our church—St. Clement’s Episcopal—is located in a prosperous, residential and commercial urban neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. We made this cross and book as an activity with our J2A group, which includes ten of us, ages 14-16.
We know that we are very fortunate in that we do not see many of the problems addressed by the Millennium Development Goals in our church, in the neighborhood around our church, or in our daily lives. We were amazed and saddened to realize how many children die each hour of the day from preventable disease and from starvation. We made the cross to demonstrate this horrible sadness to our congregation.
Why do kids need to know about the Millennium Development Goals? We believe that kids in every country on earth deserve to live—to have the medicine that they need to be healthy and the food that they need to survive. We know that we are so blessed in our own country, our own neighborhood, and at our own church.
We want to help every child get what they need to survive and to thrive. We believe that kids can make a difference for other kids in the world. We believe that the life of a child is significant and that we can make a difference in the lives of these children.
What are the Millennium Development Goals?
In 2000, the United Nations, representing the international community of 191 countries, established eight goals to help people who are living in extreme poverty. Our national Church—the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA)—endorsed these goals and is working with other religious bodies and other groups to make significant progress towards these goals by the year 2015. These goals all work towards healing the world in all of the places that it hurts.
THE GOALS IN KID-FRIENDLY LANGUAGE GOAL 1 No more empty tummies; everyone can have what they need. There is plenty of food for everyone to have enough. GOAL 2 Primary school for all kids. All children can go to at least a few years of school regardless of where they live or how much money their family has. GOAL 3 Let boys and girls, men and women, be equal. Women are treated fairly and with respect both when they go to work and when they are at home with their families. GOAL 4 No more child deaths when they could have easily been made well. Children under the age of five don’t get sick or die from diseases that can be cured with a visit to the doctor and good medicine.
GOAL 5 Improve health for pregnant women. Pregnant women visit a midwife, nurse or doctor during their pregnancy and when they have their baby. Medicine is available to them. GOAL 6 Work to end AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. People are protected from mosquitoes and other bugs that spread disease and make them sick, with mosquito nets and with medicine when they are sick.
GOAL 7 Create a healthy environment for everyone, always. Everyone has access to clean water to drink. The environment is better protected so that all children, and their children, can enjoy it. GOAL 8 “Thumbs up” to the whole world working together for good. Rich governments help poor governments, and people help other people by sharing and by paying fair prices.
Goal # 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
NO MORE EMPTY TUMMIES. ALL CAN HAVE WHAT THEY NEED. Some Facts about Goal #1 1500 children die from starvation and preventable disease each hour of each day. 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. More than 6 million children under the age of five die each year from malnutrition.
Kids everywhere need food to be healthy and strong. Healthy and strong kids stay alive. Nobody likes the feeling of an empty stomach. Well-fed kids can grow up to work together to make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --a time when you felt hungry --the last time you went to an ice cream shop
Goal #2 Achieve universal primary education.
PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR ALL KIDS. Some Facts about Goal #2 Around the world, 77 million schoolaged children are not in school. 2/3 of the children that are denied primary education are girls. In the world’s poorest countries, 46% of girls have no access to primary education.
Education helps kids. At school kids learn to read; then they can learn anything that they need to learn to live a better life. Learning math and writing also helps kids to have the skills they need to make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the first day you went to school --things that you love to do at school
Goal #3 Promote gender equality and empower women.
LET BOYS AND GIRLS, MEN AND WOMEN, BE EQUAL. Some Facts about Goal #3 One in four adults living in the developing world is illiterate. Of the 872 million illiterate adults, 2/3 of them are women. Women do about 66% of the world’s work but earn less than 5% of its income.
When girls aren’t allowed to go to school, they don’t learn to read and write. When they grow up, it will be harder for them to take care of their own kids. When girls and boys are treated equally, they can work together to makes the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --how you share the work of your household --ways that girls and boys can work together
Goal #4 Reduce child mortality.
NO MORE CHILD DEATHS WHEN THEY COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN MADE WELL. Some Facts about Goal #4 1 in 10 children of poor countries dies before age five. Most of these deaths are from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, and malaria. Malnutrition is associated with 54% of deaths of children under age five.
Nobody likes to be really sick. It is especially hard to stay really sick with diseases that are easy to treat. No kid should die from a disease that can be prevented. When diseases are prevented, then kids can make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the last time you went to the doctor --the last time you played at a playground
Goal #5 Improve maternal health.
IMPROVE HEALTH FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND MOMS. Some Facts about Goal #5 Every year, at least 529,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in the developing world. Every year, almost 10 million women suffer injury, infection or disease with childbirth. Babies and children need their mothers!
Everyone is someone’s child. If Moms are healthy, it is better for both them and for their babies and children. Every Mom deserves care and enough food before and after having a baby. Having a healthy Mom can help kids make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the day that you were born --things you do to keep healthy
Goal #6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
WORK TO END AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES. Some Facts about Goal #6 Every day, 8000 people die of AIDS-related conditions. There are almost 300 million acute cases of malaria each year. More than a million of them are fatal. In tropical Africa, malaria is a major cause of death for children under age five.
It can feel scary when your parents get sick. It can feel even scarier when there isn’t medicine or money to buy medicine that can help them get better. When everyone has the medicine that they need to be healthy, then kids can make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: what happens in your house when a parent gets sick how far your family travels to go to a pharmacy
Goal #7 Ensure environmental sustainability.
CREATE A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERYONE, ALWAYS. Some Facts about Goal #7 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe and sufficient drinking water. 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation. 3.4 million people die from insufficient and unsafe drinking water each year.
Everyone deserves clean air and clean water. We need to take care of the earth because it is everyone’s home. If every kid on earth works on this goal together, the world will be a better place. Families can talk together about: --ways that you can “reduce, reuse, recycle” --your favorite places on earth
Goal #8 Develop a global partnership for development.
“THUMBS UP” TO THE WHOLE WORLD WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD. Some facts about Goal #8 This goal makes the MDGs unique by being a compact between North and South, developing countries and donors. It is a reminder that global security and prosperity depend on a more equitable world for all.
We want the leaders of our church, our community and our country to work together for peace with all of the people of the whole world. When everyone works together, then kids can help to make the world a better place. In fact, by working together, maybe we can even save the world! Families can talk together about: --what part of the world each of the things in your house come from
CAN YOU FIND IT? When we were little kids, we loved finding little things in pictures. Maybe you would like to try to find the following in the pictures of this book. You can find them by looking in all of the pictures!! Remember that each thing represents a child sharing this earth with you!
bottle cap
angel
toothpick
puzzle piece
stamp
Q-tip
butterfly
red pushpin
feather
coin
paper clips
buttons
owl
clothespin
hair clip
ticket stub
bell
rock
rose
deer
flags
pony bead
blue pushpin
key
bunny
cakes
pencil
IDEAS FOR WAYS THAT KIDS AND FAMILIES CAN HELP ACCOMPLISH THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Check out these fun websites where you can contribute food: www.freerice.com Play games and for each answer you get right, the organization donates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end world hunger. www.hungersite.com Click every day, and sponsors will pay for cups of food to help end world hunger.
Check out these organizations that are helping to meet the Millennium Development Goals www.er-d.org Episcopal Relief and Development works around the world to alleviate hunger and improve food supply, to create economic opportunities and strengthen communities to promote health and fight disease and respond to disasters and rebuild communities. Contributions to ERD can be made to purchase gifts of livestock and plants to communities as well as mosquito nets and medicine for childhood immunizations.
www.e4gr.org Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation is an Episcopal grassroots movement of connection and collaboration to seek and serve Christ in the extreme poor around the world. www.unicef.org UNICEF focuses on child survival and development, basic education and gender equality, child protection, helping children with HIV/AIDS, and policy advocacy and partnerships. www.kiva.org kiva.org is an on-line site where you can lend money to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world—empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. www.one.org ONE is a grassroots organization committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. www.heifer.org Heifer International is dedicated to relieving global hunger and poverty by providing gifts of livestock and plants, as well as education in sustainable agriculture to financially disadvantaged families around the world. www.globalgood.org globalgood.org is a resource portal for Episcopalians working together to support the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce global poverty.
Check out these great children’s books: Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. by Jeanette Winter. Harcourt, Inc. 2008 One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference. by Katie Smith Milway. Kids Can Press. 2008 The Peace Book. by Todd Parr. Little, Brown and Company. 2004 Beatrice’s Goat. by Page McBrier. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2001 If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World’s People. by David J. Smith. Kids Can Press. 2002, information updated 2008
Check out these great Bible Stories: Goal #1 John 6:1-15--Feeding of the Five Thousand. Goal # 2 Luke 2:52--"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor." Goal #3 Galatians 3:28--“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Goal #4 Matthew 18:3-4--“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Goal #5 John 19:27 --“Then Jesus said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” Goal #6 Matthew 8:16-17--“That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick.” Goal #7 Genesis 1:10--“God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” Goal #8 Psalm 133:1--“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”
Some other things for families to talk about together: Where do you find children in your neighborhood? Which Millennium Development Goal do you think is the most urgent and important one? What can you do to help others learn about the importance of the Millennium Development Goals? What could your family do to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals?
A PRAYER FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
“Children’s Window” in the sanctuary of St. Clement’s
We pray for understanding about what it means to be hungry so that we will help to fix the causes of hunger. We can make the world a better place. We pray that at all girls and boys will be able to go to a good school, learning everything they need to create full and happy lives. We can make the world a better place. We pray that women and men will work together equally, and that women will have the chance to reach their dreams. We can make the world a better place. We pray that children everywhere will have the medicine, the food and the clean water that they need to live healthy lives. We can make the world a better place. We pray that all mothers-to-be and mothers will have the chance to get the medical care and medicine that they need. We can make the world a better place. We pray that all people everywhere will receive the education and medicine they need to protect them against diseases carried by mosquitoes and other bugs. We can make the world a better place. We pray that we all will work together for clean air and water, so that everyone will have good places to live, work and play. We can make the world a better place. We pray for the help we need to understand and work together with others. We can make the world a better place.
Special thanks to those who supported our group in making the cross and booklet possible, especially:
Our leaders—Liz Brine, Shannon Geno and Hunter Olsen Tom Kingrey Susan Mallison Heather Moore Michael Moore Jan OlsenStone Gerry Skerbitz Lorin Velikonja and all of the parishioners of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church who shared their “discarded” items with us.
Credits The MDG Goals in Kids Language from the Kenyon Conference Children’s Program: Experiencing the MDGs, sponsored by the Dioceses of Ohio & Southern Ohio. Compiled & edited by Tracey E. Herzer. Goal Facts and Scriptural Resources from Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation website: http://www.e4gr.org Prayer for the Millennium Development Goals written by the J2A Group, the Rite 13 Group and the Adult Forum of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer according to the use of The Episcopal Church. Seabury Press. 1977.
And now, Father, send us out to do the work that you have given us to do… From the post-communion prayer of The Book of Common Prayer (p. 366)
Cross and Book created by The J2A Youth Group of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church Rector: Rev. Beth Royalty 901 Portland Ave. St. Paul, MN 55104 www.stclements-stp.org Group Members Tristan Allen Rosa Berry Ellen Brand Alexander Edgerton James Gage Courtney Gill Allie Moore Maggie Scimeca Micaela Shellenberger Kyra Stephenson Group Leaders Liz Brine Shannon Geno Hunter Olsen Editing and Layout Susan Mallison, Director of Christian Formation
Created at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul, MN 2007-2009
What is this MDG Cross all about? Our church youth group made this cross, using donations from church parishioners of little, everyday items. We asked for objects that were being discarded as insignificant. We decided to decorate this cross with 1500 of these insignificant items. Each item on this cross stands for one of the 1500 children in the world who dies each hour of each day from preventable disease and starvation.
We wonder, are these children insignificant?
About carrying the MDG Cross After we finished creating the cross, it was used for Sunday services on Children’s Sabbath, a day when our church focuses on remembering the needs of children around the world.
Then, we decided to take it to lots of places in the neighborhood around our church—places that kids go all the time—like the playground, the book store, the ice cream shop, even up in the tree in our church yard! We took pictures of the cross at those places of childhood because we wanted to show how children who die each hour from preventable diseases and starvation don’t get to do the things that kids like us get to do in our own neighborhoods. At first it was hard for us to walk around our neighborhood carrying a cross, but it got easier after we started taking the pictures. During all of our excursions, not a single person ever asked us what we were doing carrying a cross around in our neighborhood!
About our church, neighborhood, and group Our church—St. Clement’s Episcopal—is located in a prosperous, residential and commercial urban neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. We made this cross and book as an activity with our J2A group, which includes ten of us, ages 14-16.
We know that we are very fortunate in that we do not see many of the problems addressed by the Millennium Development Goals in our church, in the neighborhood around our church, or in our daily lives. We were amazed and saddened to realize how many children die each hour of the day from preventable disease and from starvation. We made the cross to demonstrate this horrible sadness to our congregation.
Why do kids need to know about the Millennium Development Goals? We believe that kids in every country on earth deserve to live—to have the medicine that they need to be healthy and the food that they need to survive. We know that we are so blessed in our own country, our own neighborhood, and at our own church.
We want to help every child get what they need to survive and to thrive. We believe that kids can make a difference for other kids in the world. We believe that the life of a child is significant and that we can make a difference in the lives of these children.
What are the Millennium Development Goals?
In 2000, the United Nations, representing the international community of 191 countries, established eight goals to help people who are living in extreme poverty. Our national Church—the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA)—endorsed these goals and is working with other religious bodies and other groups to make significant progress towards these goals by the year 2015. These goals all work towards healing the world in all of the places that it hurts.
THE GOALS IN KID-FRIENDLY LANGUAGE GOAL 1 No more empty tummies; everyone can have what they need. There is plenty of food for everyone to have enough. GOAL 2 Primary school for all kids. All children can go to at least a few years of school regardless of where they live or how much money their family has. GOAL 3 Let boys and girls, men and women, be equal. Women are treated fairly and with respect both when they go to work and when they are at home with their families. GOAL 4 No more child deaths when they could have easily been made well. Children under the age of five don’t get sick or die from diseases that can be cured with a visit to the doctor and good medicine.
GOAL 5 Improve health for pregnant women. Pregnant women visit a midwife, nurse or doctor during their pregnancy and when they have their baby. Medicine is available to them. GOAL 6 Work to end AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. People are protected from mosquitoes and other bugs that spread disease and make them sick, with mosquito nets and with medicine when they are sick.
GOAL 7 Create a healthy environment for everyone, always. Everyone has access to clean water to drink. The environment is better protected so that all children, and their children, can enjoy it. GOAL 8 “Thumbs up” to the whole world working together for good. Rich governments help poor governments, and people help other people by sharing and by paying fair prices.
Goal # 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
NO MORE EMPTY TUMMIES. ALL CAN HAVE WHAT THEY NEED. Some Facts about Goal #1 1500 children die from starvation and preventable disease each hour of each day. 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. More than 6 million children under the age of five die each year from malnutrition.
Kids everywhere need food to be healthy and strong. Healthy and strong kids stay alive. Nobody likes the feeling of an empty stomach. Well-fed kids can grow up to work together to make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --a time when you felt hungry --the last time you went to an ice cream shop
Goal #2 Achieve universal primary education.
PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR ALL KIDS. Some Facts about Goal #2 Around the world, 77 million schoolaged children are not in school. 2/3 of the children that are denied primary education are girls. In the world’s poorest countries, 46% of girls have no access to primary education.
Education helps kids. At school kids learn to read; then they can learn anything that they need to learn to live a better life. Learning math and writing also helps kids to have the skills they need to make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the first day you went to school --things that you love to do at school
Goal #3 Promote gender equality and empower women.
LET BOYS AND GIRLS, MEN AND WOMEN, BE EQUAL. Some Facts about Goal #3 One in four adults living in the developing world is illiterate. Of the 872 million illiterate adults, 2/3 of them are women. Women do about 66% of the world’s work but earn less than 5% of its income.
When girls aren’t allowed to go to school, they don’t learn to read and write. When they grow up, it will be harder for them to take care of their own kids. When girls and boys are treated equally, they can work together to makes the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --how you share the work of your household --ways that girls and boys can work together
Goal #4 Reduce child mortality.
NO MORE CHILD DEATHS WHEN THEY COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN MADE WELL. Some Facts about Goal #4 1 in 10 children of poor countries dies before age five. Most of these deaths are from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, and malaria. Malnutrition is associated with 54% of deaths of children under age five.
Nobody likes to be really sick. It is especially hard to stay really sick with diseases that are easy to treat. No kid should die from a disease that can be prevented. When diseases are prevented, then kids can make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the last time you went to the doctor --the last time you played at a playground
Goal #5 Improve maternal health.
IMPROVE HEALTH FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND MOMS. Some Facts about Goal #5 Every year, at least 529,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in the developing world. Every year, almost 10 million women suffer injury, infection or disease with childbirth. Babies and children need their mothers!
Everyone is someone’s child. If Moms are healthy, it is better for both them and for their babies and children. Every Mom deserves care and enough food before and after having a baby. Having a healthy Mom can help kids make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: --the day that you were born --things you do to keep healthy
Goal #6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
WORK TO END AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES. Some Facts about Goal #6 Every day, 8000 people die of AIDS-related conditions. There are almost 300 million acute cases of malaria each year. More than a million of them are fatal. In tropical Africa, malaria is a major cause of death for children under age five.
It can feel scary when your parents get sick. It can feel even scarier when there isn’t medicine or money to buy medicine that can help them get better. When everyone has the medicine that they need to be healthy, then kids can make the world a better place. Families can talk together about: what happens in your house when a parent gets sick how far your family travels to go to a pharmacy
Goal #7 Ensure environmental sustainability.
CREATE A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERYONE, ALWAYS. Some Facts about Goal #7 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe and sufficient drinking water. 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation. 3.4 million people die from insufficient and unsafe drinking water each year.
Everyone deserves clean air and clean water. We need to take care of the earth because it is everyone’s home. If every kid on earth works on this goal together, the world will be a better place. Families can talk together about: --ways that you can “reduce, reuse, recycle” --your favorite places on earth
Goal #8 Develop a global partnership for development.
“THUMBS UP” TO THE WHOLE WORLD WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD. Some facts about Goal #8 This goal makes the MDGs unique by being a compact between North and South, developing countries and donors. It is a reminder that global security and prosperity depend on a more equitable world for all.
We want the leaders of our church, our community and our country to work together for peace with all of the people of the whole world. When everyone works together, then kids can help to make the world a better place. In fact, by working together, maybe we can even save the world! Families can talk together about: --what part of the world each of the things in your house come from
CAN YOU FIND IT? When we were little kids, we loved finding little things in pictures. Maybe you would like to try to find the following in the pictures of this book. You can find them by looking in all of the pictures!! Remember that each thing represents a child sharing this earth with you!
bottle cap
angel
toothpick
puzzle piece
stamp
Q-tip
butterfly
red pushpin
feather
coin
paper clips
buttons
owl
clothespin
hair clip
ticket stub
bell
rock
rose
deer
flags
pony bead
blue pushpin
key
bunny
cakes
pencil
IDEAS FOR WAYS THAT KIDS AND FAMILIES CAN HELP ACCOMPLISH THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Check out these fun websites where you can contribute food: www.freerice.com Play games and for each answer you get right, the organization donates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end world hunger. www.hungersite.com Click every day, and sponsors will pay for cups of food to help end world hunger.
Check out these organizations that are helping to meet the Millennium Development Goals www.er-d.org Episcopal Relief and Development works around the world to alleviate hunger and improve food supply, to create economic opportunities and strengthen communities to promote health and fight disease and respond to disasters and rebuild communities. Contributions to ERD can be made to purchase gifts of livestock and plants to communities as well as mosquito nets and medicine for childhood immunizations.
www.e4gr.org Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation is an Episcopal grassroots movement of connection and collaboration to seek and serve Christ in the extreme poor around the world. www.unicef.org UNICEF focuses on child survival and development, basic education and gender equality, child protection, helping children with HIV/AIDS, and policy advocacy and partnerships. www.kiva.org kiva.org is an on-line site where you can lend money to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world—empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. www.one.org ONE is a grassroots organization committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. www.heifer.org Heifer International is dedicated to relieving global hunger and poverty by providing gifts of livestock and plants, as well as education in sustainable agriculture to financially disadvantaged families around the world. www.globalgood.org globalgood.org is a resource portal for Episcopalians working together to support the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce global poverty.
Check out these great children’s books: Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. by Jeanette Winter. Harcourt, Inc. 2008 One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference. by Katie Smith Milway. Kids Can Press. 2008 The Peace Book. by Todd Parr. Little, Brown and Company. 2004 Beatrice’s Goat. by Page McBrier. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2001 If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World’s People. by David J. Smith. Kids Can Press. 2002, information updated 2008
Check out these great Bible Stories: Goal #1 John 6:1-15--Feeding of the Five Thousand. Goal # 2 Luke 2:52--"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor." Goal #3 Galatians 3:28--“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Goal #4 Matthew 18:3-4--“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Goal #5 John 19:27 --“Then Jesus said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” Goal #6 Matthew 8:16-17--“That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick.” Goal #7 Genesis 1:10--“God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” Goal #8 Psalm 133:1--“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”
Some other things for families to talk about together: Where do you find children in your neighborhood? Which Millennium Development Goal do you think is the most urgent and important one? What can you do to help others learn about the importance of the Millennium Development Goals? What could your family do to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals?
A PRAYER FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
“Children’s Window” in the sanctuary of St. Clement’s
We pray for understanding about what it means to be hungry so that we will help to fix the causes of hunger. We can make the world a better place. We pray that at all girls and boys will be able to go to a good school, learning everything they need to create full and happy lives. We can make the world a better place. We pray that women and men will work together equally, and that women will have the chance to reach their dreams. We can make the world a better place. We pray that children everywhere will have the medicine, the food and the clean water that they need to live healthy lives. We can make the world a better place. We pray that all mothers-to-be and mothers will have the chance to get the medical care and medicine that they need. We can make the world a better place. We pray that all people everywhere will receive the education and medicine they need to protect them against diseases carried by mosquitoes and other bugs. We can make the world a better place. We pray that we all will work together for clean air and water, so that everyone will have good places to live, work and play. We can make the world a better place. We pray for the help we need to understand and work together with others. We can make the world a better place.
Special thanks to those who supported our group in making the cross and booklet possible, especially:
Our leaders—Liz Brine, Shannon Geno and Hunter Olsen Tom Kingrey Susan Mallison Heather Moore Michael Moore Jan OlsenStone Gerry Skerbitz Lorin Velikonja and all of the parishioners of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church who shared their “discarded” items with us.
Credits The MDG Goals in Kids Language from the Kenyon Conference Children’s Program: Experiencing the MDGs, sponsored by the Dioceses of Ohio & Southern Ohio. Compiled & edited by Tracey E. Herzer. Goal Facts and Scriptural Resources from Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation website: http://www.e4gr.org Prayer for the Millennium Development Goals written by the J2A Group, the Rite 13 Group and the Adult Forum of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer according to the use of The Episcopal Church. Seabury Press. 1977.
And now, Father, send us out to do the work that you have given us to do… From the post-communion prayer of The Book of Common Prayer (p. 366)
