More than 143 million children live and work on the streets.
It takes three years to name them all.
Are your eyes glazing over? If adults become overwhelmed with the enormity of injustice in the world, is it possible to engage children in issues like poverty and exploitation? Here are a few things my co-worker and I learned about equipping children to do social justice missions as we wrote and taught Red Card, a family curriculum on children at risk.
Make it Personal
Children cannot comprehend the plight of 143 million street kids, but they can identify with one child. In our class, we showed a video about J.R., a street kid in the Philippines who scavenges to earn money. Students picked through trash items and thought about how a street kid might use them. Families created shelters out of cardboard boxes and trash bags.
During the prayer time that followed, my co-teacher and I overheard children offering detailed, heart-felt prayers for J.R. We realized that the boy in the video had become the face of 143 million street kids worldwide.
It’s important to avoid statistics with children. Using books, photos, videos, and simulations enables kids to connect with issues at a heart level.
Make it Connect
Children gain perspective on social justice issues by connecting what they learn to their own lives. Joanne Heim, a parent in our class, had this interchange with her daughter before bed: “Audrey and I talked about how many pairs of shoes our family probably has—and how J.R. had one pair of raggedy flip-flops. We talked about her room—bigger than J.R.’s entire house—and how many people would live in a room that size in other parts of the world. We talked about how much the ice cream at Cold Stone cost last night and how much money J.R. made in a day. After just one hands-on experience, our perspective has changed.”
For long-term learning, children need to process what they are seeing and doing.Build in time before or after your social justice activity for group discussion. Create open-ended questions that cause children to consider how the issue would affect life as they know it. Our povertylesson included this conversation starter: “How would your daily routine change if you spent four to five hours fetching your family’s water?”
Make it Simple
After hearing J.R.’s story, families asked, “What can we do?” Here are a few ideas we offered:
• Make a Jesus Cares Kit. Write “Jesus Cares” on a large, plastic resealable bag. Fill it with a toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of soap, water bottle, two breakfast bars, comb, pack of tissues, tube socks, and gloves. Keep the kit in your car to give to a homeless family you pass.
• Check out the Children’s Ministry DayTM Web site for projects related to this year’s theme, Home Team (childrensmissions.com). The teaching packet includes lessons and ideas on how children can meet housing needs in their community.
• Give your child’s birthday party a new focus. On invitations, encourage guests to bring a new pair of shoes instead of a present. Send the shoes to Shoes for Orphan Souls, a Christian organization that distributes shoes to orphans in more than 50 countries.
• Join the International Justice Mission in speaking out against child labor. Use the form letters provided on the Web site to let your state representative know how you feel about current legislation. Children need to add their name and address and hit send. Then sign up to receive prayer updates on social justice issues.
As children begin to understand injustice, they want to make a difference. Be ready with simple local and international opportunities to respond to your specific issue.
Make it Biblical
Due to the wide-reaching nature of injustice, some families in our class wondered if their actions would make any difference. Undergirding social justice activities with Bible passages and prayer helps children understand that they have a powerful ally—God.
Discuss verses that reflect God’s heart for the poor and oppressed. Share Bible accounts of children who stood for what was right and ministered to those in need. Start with Josiah (2 Chron. 34) and Naaman’s servant girl (2 Kings 5). Enlist your children in praying for their peers around the world.
Karen Hardin is passionate about equipping kids to understand God’s global purposes and embrace the roles they can play in advancing his kingdom. She co-authored Red Card, a family curriculum on children at risk (redcardkids.org).
Children gain perspective on social justice issues by connecting what they learn to their own lives. Joanne Heim, a parent in our class, had this interchange with her daughter before bed: “Audrey and I talked about how many pairs of shoes our family probably has—and how J.R. had one pair of raggedy flip-flops. We talked about her room—bigger than J.R.’s entire house—and how many people would live in a room that size in other parts of the world. We talked about how much the ice cream at Cold Stone cost last night and how much money J.R. made in a day. After just one hands-on experience, our perspective has changed.”
Karen Hardin is passionate about equipping kids to understand God’s global purposes and embrace the roles they can play in advancing his kingdom. She co-authored 
