A burlap bag - A plastic bag - A pillow case
These are one of the most important things to a Street kid. Why? Because that’s where street kids keep everything they own-their shirts, shoes, hats, socks (If they are lucky enough to have a bag). And when they do have a bag—there isn’t much in it. What if you had to put everything you own in a bag? Chances are you would need a lot of bags to fit everything in. This is a thirty day challenge of faith for you to do with your family.Take the challenge: Fill this burlap bag with money to help a street kid “get rid of his or her bag” forever! Work as a family on this challenge. Talk about this every day as a family. Make changes in the amounts as you Need for your giving. The main point of this safari is to think through and learn about the different dynamics of a Street Kids Daily Life.
Please pick up a Burlap Bag on Sept 7th outside each children's area, the donut area and The Loft. You may also pick up a Burlap Bag after Sept. 7th at the Children's Ministry Desk!
If you are unable to pick up your Burlap Bag just follow online daily with the following challenges - it is easy - every family can get involved!
30 Day Challenge
Day 1 Sept. 13th
Smell the burlap bag and then smell your pillow on your bed. Come back together and answer this question: Which one would you rather have as a pillow, your pillow or a burlap bag? As a family, count the pillows in your home and put money in the bag to help street kids. (You
choose—10 cents, 25 cents, $1.00 or $5.00 or more)
Day 2 Sept. 14th
Street kids hunt in garbage piles for bits of food and pieces of trash they can sell to buy food. As a family, go on a “Street Kid Coin Hunt” around your house. Look under the sofa cushions, look under the beds, look in the car on the floor, look everywhere you can. Put the money you find in the burlap bag.
Day 3 Sept. 15th
Ever taken food out of the garbage can and eaten it? I doubt it. Did you know that most Street Kids eat food that is left on a garbage heap, not something that is nice and clean and prepared like you are used to. Count the number of cans of food in your pantry and put 10 cents in your bag for every can of food you find. If you find 10 cans of food, that’s $1.00 to put into your burlap bag.
Day 4 Sept. 16th
We don’t like to wait for our meals. When we are hungry, we like to eat right then. Street kids have to wait…until they can find something to eat. Prepare your meal as a family and then wait to eat it. If you only wait 5 minutes or less, put $5.00 in the sack for street kids. If you wait 6-10 minutes, you can put in less, let’s say $3. Now if you wait 11-30 minutes, that’s a little bit more like a street kid might have to do, but not really. Let’s see, you can put $1 in the sack. If you wait 30-60 minutes before you eat, you can put 50 cents in the sack. AND if you can wait more than an hour, you can put in just 25 cents.
Day 5 Sept. 17th
Ok, this is a tough one. You get to choose. Put in $3.00
OR skip a meal and pray for the Made in the Streets
ministry and kids.
Day 6 Sept. 18th
Most street kids have never used a pen or marker, this is simply not a necessity that they need to survive out on the streets. Count the pens, highlighters, sharpies, and markers in your home and put in 10 cents into the sack for each one you find.
Day 7 Sept. 19th
Street kids don’t usually know when they were born or how old they are. Put 25 cents in your sack for each year you are old. Parents can put in a nickel for each year.
Day 8 Sept. 20th
Life on the Street is really, really difficult. Today, I want you to imagine what your life would be if you didn’t have a home to go home to. Where would you go? How would you survive? What would you do for food? Where would you go for work? Would you even be able to go to school? What would you do?
Day 9 Sept. 21st
When I was growing up I don’t ever remember
drinking water out of a bottle. We would drink
good old tap water. Clean water isn’t something that street kids around the world get. Count the
water faucets around your house and decide
how much you will put into the street kids
bag for each faucet. Don’t forget the outside
faucets and the shower in the bathroom.
Day 10 Sept. 22nd
Street kids don’t get to go to school. Say a prayer to God as a family, thanking him that you get to go to school. Put 10 cents in your bag for every year you have gone to school.
Day 11 Sept. 23rd
Can you imagine NOT living at home with your family? This is a daily reality for many street kids. They don’t have a mom or dad to go home to. Give your mom or dad or grandma or grandpa a hug. For every family member that you get to see during the day, put 50 cents in your street kids sack. Street kids hardly ever see any family members.
Day 12 Sept. 24th
Where Nairobi street kids live, the streets are dirt and sometimes mud and sometimes raw sewage. They basically have to walk over an open ditch that people use as a toilet. Yuck. Can you imagine what that smells like? If your street has pavement instead of dirt, put $1.00 in your bag.
Day 13 Sept. 25th
Throw away all of your clothes except one shirt, one pair of pants and…WAIT… Street kids usually only have one shirt and one pair of pants, but instead of getting rid of all of yours, count them. Put 5 cents in your sack for every shirt, pants or dress you have. Think about the blessing it is to choose what you will wear every day. Think about the blessing of having clean clothes to wear every day.
Day 14 Sept. 26th
Street kids have only 1 car—NOT!!!
They don’t have any car. They walk to where ever they
have to go. If they need to go to a store, they walk there. If they need to go to a friend’s place, they have to walk there. They don’t even live with a family. Put 50 cents in your sack for every car in your family. Put an extra $1.00 in if you have your own car that you get to drive. Think about all the places you would have to walk to if you didn’t have any kind of transportation at your disposal.
Day 15 Sept. 27th
If you can read this, put 75cents in your sack. Most street kids have never been taught to read. Now get a book and read together and be glad that you can. Better yet, Read Matthew 25:31-46 about the sheep and the goats and think about how you can continue to make a difference in the lives of street kids after this project. Make a list here of the things you brainstorm:
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Day 16 Sept. 28th
Street kids have lots of flowers in their yard. Oh, wait, they don’t have yards OR FLOWERS. For every yard you have put 25 cents in your sack (front yard, back yard,
side yard, court yard)
Day 17 Sept. 29th
Remember, street kids don’t have flowers.
They very likely never see flowers. Count
all of the blossoms on the flowers inside your
house and in the yard. Put 1 penny in each sack for each blossom. If you don’t have any blooming plants, count the plants inside and outside your home and put 10 cents in each sack for each plant you count.
Day 18 Sept. 30th
Go online to www.made-in-the-streets.org and www.ywam.org and take at least 20 minutes to learn more about these ministries to Made In The Streets and Youth With A Mission.
Write down 10 things you learn from reading the website.
1.__________________________________
2.__________________________________
3.__________________________________
4.__________________________________
5.__________________________________
6.__________________________________
7.__________________________________
8.__________________________________
9.__________________________________
10.__________________________________
Day 19 Oct. 1st
Street Kids are all over the world and all ages. They are on the streets For many different reasons. Tonight spend time together as a family and say a prayer for the kids on the streets who are the same age as you. If you are 13 pray for all the 13 year olds who live on the streets.
Day 20 Oct. 2nd
Street kids don’t go to school at all. Count the number of schoolbooks you have and put in 50 cents for each one. If you have a backpack for your books, put in another $1.00. Imagine what kind of person you would be without any schooling. Thank God for the blessing of school even though it can be a pain at times.
Day 21 Oct. 3rd
Many street kids don’t have shoes. Could you
imagine what it would be like to have NO
shoes? How would your feet hurt if you didn’t
have shoes? Count the number of shoes you
have in your closet and put in 25 cents for each
pair of shoes you own.
Day 22 Oct. 4th
Street kids sleep on the ground or on a pile of garbage. They live at places they call their base. A base is usually just a pile of trash. Count the number of beds and blankets in your home and put in 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents or $1 for each bed and blanket in your home.
Day 23 Oct. 5th
Count the number of phones in your home. Don’t
forget the cell phones. Street kids don’t have
phones. Most of them don’t have anyone to call.
Think of all the friends you talked to today by phone, internet, or at school. What a rich blessing friendship is! Put in 25 cents for each phone in your home.
Day 24 Oct. 6th
Organizations that work with kids on the street help in many ways: Praying for the kids, telling them about Jesus, feeding them, giving them transportation, medical attention and much, much more. Put in 50 cents to Help provide for this help for the street kids.
Day 25 Oct. 7th
Count the bikes in your home. Think of the freedom your bike gives you to travel to places instead of having to walk to them. Put in 50 cents for every bike. Street kids don’t have bikes.
Day 26 Oct. 8th
Streets kids don’t have MP3 players, PS3s, XBox 360s,
Nintendo DSs or anything like that. Count up the number
of CDs you have including game CDs or cartridges and
put in 25 cents for each video game you have and put that in your bag. Add 1 penny for each individual song you have on your MP3 player or iTunes.
Day 27 Oct.9th
Do you like to go to the Doctor? Maybe not, but it sure is nice to be able to go to the doctor when you really need to. Healthcare is a rich blessing we take for granted. When street kids get sick, they just get sick. No doctors for them. Put in 50 cents for every time you have gone to the doctor in the last month.
Day 28 Oct. 10th
Do you hate to brush your teeth? Well imagine if you
couldn’t brush your teeth, ever? Even if you wanted
to. That’s what it’s like for most street kids. Count
the toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes in your home
and put in 25 cents for each one.
REMEMBER TO BRINGYOUR BAG TO THE “MISSION FESTIVAL” AT CHURCH TOMORROW !
Day 29 Oct. 11th
Donation Day!
Today is the day of the MISSION FESTIVAL. Take
today to CELEBRATE everything this church and the people
at the festival are doing to help the street kids. Celebrate what God did through YOU to help others who are so much in need. Now count the money you have put in your bag. If you want to add to it before you give it “Street Reach” Mission collection center at the festival this morning, that would be great.
Day 30 --Keep Going! Oct.12th Mission Sunday
Well, you’ve done a lot of counting and a lot of thinking and hopefully your offering of money and prayers will make life better for some boys and girls around the world. Now, thank God for all that you have and ask him to help you use what you have to help others. Let this be just the beginning and not the end of what the street kids are doing in your heart. Keep in touch by going back to the websites and learning what is going on at Made In The Streets and Youth With A Mission.