The Great Hallelujah!
It should be an even louder 'hallelujah' than usual this year! When we come together on Easter Day, the traditional response of 'He is risen indeed' should have extra volume in 2010, as we Christians celebrate the resurrection. Why? Well, this year Easter Day falls on the same date for all the main Christian traditions. This doesn't happen that often. It's all down to which calendar is being followed and this usually means that for the Orthodox Church and the churches of the Western tradition Easter falls on different days - but not this year. Just think of it: all the Christians in the world proclaiming this historical event together. I hope you are looking forward to it and will include your children in the great shout of praise.
The fact that our faith is world-big and that therefore Easter is celebrated globally is an exciting truth to share with our children. They and we are part of the biggest family of faith in the world with its members drawn from every country, tribe and language group. We may feel that we are just in our small corner sometimes, but the truth is that we are not alone, neither from the perspective of the canvass of history nor across the atlas of the world. I think that it's really important to find ways every now and again to remind ourselves and our children of this encouraging truth. So let's make sure they're ready to join in with that great Easter shout this year.
Of course the Christian family worldwide, although united in following Jesus Christ as Lord, does express its theology, its worship and its witness in a huge variety of ways. I have always tried to include this world dimension to our faith in my work with children. I think we owe it to them, not
just because it's true but also because they are growing up in an increasingly multi-cultural and multi-national context on our very own doorstep, and they will all certainly be world travellers in a way most people of previous generations could only dream of. So how do we include this global dimension to our faith in our times with children both in our groups and in church? Here are some ideas.
There is an abundance of Christian art work from around the world now available on the Internet. Almost any Bible story with which you are working has been painted, sculptured or crafted in a variety of media from all sorts of cultural perspectives. Each piece can open up new insights into the story and will certainly get your children talking. They are encouraged to make these more global connections at school, so why not do this in church? I remember having an interesting discussion with my Sunday group one Easter, looking at the traditional Orthodox icon of the resurrection with its powerful imagery of the gates of hell being smashed, God's light piercing the deepest darkness and people from every age being rescued for heaven, all because of what Jesus has done. Or how about using some art from an African context where there is a black Jesus in a traditional village setting for all the stories that you might come across in the Gospel? These pictures are particularly full of life, colour and so much to engage children. Go to: www.jesusmafa.com
A common way to make world links for children is to have some charity focus that collects money for a project in another part of the globe. This outward-looking dimension to our faith is a vital aspect of being locally global as Christians. However, although this is very important, please don't just stop there. There is also so much we can receive from the story of God at work in our world. From simple songs we can share, shouts of praise we can use, stories of faith in action we can read and testimonies of God's faithfulness to individuals and communities in hard and difficult places. Our children are part of the body of Christ and that body is world-big. Let's use our imaginations and find ways to follow the advice of Paul, not only to 'mourn with those who mourn' but also to 'rejoice with those who rejoice' (Romans 12:15, NIV) all around the world and not just in our own backyard.
At this point you may well be feeling that you would like to do this but you fear you don't know much yourself about our worldwide faith, so how can you possibly share something with the children? If this is how you're thinking, then why not obtain the additional Core module on Global Dimension from our website, which provides background, ideas and information about just this aspect of our work with children. This is an additional module to the book Core Skills for Children's Work and will form part of a second volume of More Core Skills for Children's Work, which will be published by Barnabas in September this year.
So this Easter let's connect with Christians from all around the world to proclaim 'Christ is risen' and witness to the fact that Jesus is at work today in people's lives in every part of our globe. Below I have put some links to other ideas on our website that outline simple ways to celebrate Easter on a global scale. Why not try one out and help your children to add their voices to the great Christian congregation of planet Earth?
and picture
