Program Outline

Focus on Schools in Sierra Leone

For the whole week, have the class divide into two teams and give each team the name of a tribe in Sierra Leone. (Options: Temne, Mende, Loko, Limba)

Throughout the week have a quarter drive and encourage the kids to bring in as many quarters as possible. Each day, count up the total and keep a tally between the two tribes and announce the winning tribe each day during opening or closing assembly.

Encourage the students to think of ways that they can bring in quarters. What costs a quarter? What could they give up for a week to bring in some quarters? Do they get an allowance if so, can they bring in a portion of it that week? Imagine that a gumball from a machine outside a store costs a quarter. If they buy and eat one for 30 minutes, they just ate the same amount of money that would keep one child in school and fed for a whole week!

Have the missions class incorporated into each grade levels schedule for the day. It might be easiest to do this in smaller groups. This allows the activities to be more age appropriate. Or you may do the activities in one large group. Get even the youngest children involved and help them understand how they can be involved in missions right now!

Day 1 - Introduction

Present children with a map of Africa. Have them find and color Sierra Leone. Have a model of a Sierra Leonean flag hanging in the room. Have them identify it and color a smaller model. Describe what the colors stand for green for natural resources, white for peace and unity, blue for the sea. Hand out the Sierra Leone fact sheet. Let the children look it over briefly or read it to younger children. Then divide into two teams and have a quiz about the country while they use their fact sheets as a reference.

Day 2 - School in Sierra Leone

Set up your classroom as nearly like a classroom in Sierra Leone as possible. Have the children sit on board benches by setting boards on a couple of cement blocks or stack of bricks. Give them no tables to write on. Create a thatch or tarp roof held up by an open structure of sticks, if possible. Explain a typical day in school where children have no textbooks, no workbooks, and often no pencils. Students learn by listening very carefully and repeating exactly what the teacher says. If you can, begin talking to the class in a foreign language and act as if you expect them to listen and learn. When they protest, explain that schools in Sierra Leone are taught in English, and most children, especially in the younger grades, do not under-stand English at first though they will eventually pick it up from frequent hearing. Display picture flash cards or actual items and say the Krio name for them. (Flash cards are available online.) Write out a sentence in Krio using phonetic spelling and have them repeat it several times. See if anyone can interpretit. Give them a copy of John 3:16 in Krio. Using the cassette tape or CD, have them begin to memorize it. (Note: this could be used as part of the closing programfor parents, if desired.)

Day 3 - Spiritual Needs

Give the children a map of Sierra Leone that is divided into 20 parts by a grid. Ask if anyone remembers what percentage of people are Christian and Muslim from the fact sheet on Day 1. Have them color in the number of sections for the Muslim population first (10 parts = 50%) and then have them color in the number of sections for the Christian population (1 part = 5%). Use two different colors and compare. Discuss how few Christians there are.

Have a copy of a Bible in a foreign language. (A Gideon often has access to a NewTestament in a foreign language or one could be ordered through the International Bible Society at www.ibs.org Have one of the good readers attempt to read a passage to the class aloud. Then ask, how many of you understood what was being read?

Then explain that for Sierra Leoneans, hearing the Bible in English means nothing to the majority of them since most of them do not speak English.

Use a Wordless Book bracelet and explain how this can be used to teach anyone about Jesus and Salvation. Each color on the bead represents a part of the plan of salvation.

• Gold or yellow represents heaven. God created us to have fellowship with him, to be with him.
  
• Black represents sin, which separates us from God.
  
• Red represents the blood Jesus shed on the cross to pay the penalty or price for our sin.
  
• White represents our hearts when Jesus takes away our sin.
  
• Green represents growing as a new Christian.
  

The children can remember the colors and then use John 3:16 which they are memorizing to share the Gospel with someone else. Work with the children to memorize it in Krio. If the class has time, they may want to make Wordless bracelets…or they can be made ahead of time and given to each child.

Day 4 - War & School Destruction

Read the story about a child affected by war. Show some pictures of Sierra Leone children. Discuss the story. Ask the following questions:

How would you feel if you were Foday?

If your town were destroyed, what things would you miss?
(Feeling safe, school, church, family)

How would you have to spend your time instead of going to school? (Finding something to eat.)

If time remains have the children complete the word find on Sierra Leone. The sheets could be copied for them to work on individually or this could be copied on a transparency and done as a group.

Day 5 - Hope

Show a video clip of a World Hope displaced school. Discuss how these children’s lives have been changed because of school. Discuss ongoing efforts to help the people in Sierra Leone rebuild their lives. Talk about how the funds they have collected this week will help Sierra Leone children. Ask them to brainstorm ideas of how the can continue to be involved in providing children with hope through education and learning about Jesus. Explain that they might want to sponsor a child in Sierra Leone through World Hope’s Hope for Children program.

Material List

Day 1

Sierra Leone map and flag for each child *
Sierra Leone fact sheet *

Day 2

Krio flashcards *
Hand-out to children of John 3:16 in Krio *
Cassette with John 3:16

Day 3

Sierra Leone map with grid *
Foreign Language Bible
Wordless bracelet

Day 4

“A Child’s Story” *
Pictures of Sierra Leone Children *

Day 5

Video clip of Sierra Leone School Children **
Hope for Children Brochure **

Where to get materials?

* Available from "download" box, top right this page.

** Available from World Hope International. Order by email at
whi@worldhope.net or call toll free 1-888-466-HOPE (4673)