FIVE-MINUTE CHILDREN’S SLOT FOR A CHURCH SERVICE

INTRODUCTION

This talk explores the themes of brokenness and restoration, and tells the story of how Birungi has found restoration in her life.

All you will need for this talk is an ordinary household washing-up bowl (or bucket), which you will need to fill with water beforehand. A dark bowl/bucket is best so that your volunteer can see their own reflection in the water.

SCRIPT

Now, I have in front of me an ordinary washing-up bowl/bucket filled with water. And, no, we’re not going to baptise a teeny-tiny person, it’s to help me tell you a story. Because inside this bowl/bucket is something amazing. Now I need one young volunteer, so put your hand up if you are good at spotting things… <choose a volunteer, and invite them up the front>

Now, I want you to take a good look in the bowl/bucket. Stick your face right over the water.I promise I won’t push it in! <volunteer looks> Don’t say anything. Okay, now look again. <volunteer takes another look> Still don’t say anything. Now take one final look. <volunteer looks again> Now, tell me what you saw... <answer is likely to be ‘water’, ‘a bowl’, ‘bottom of the bowl’, or ‘nothing’ – if so then continue to 1. If they say ‘my reflection’, congratulate them and skip to 2>

1 You didn’t look hard enough. I’ll give you one last chance, and here’s a clue: look at the surface of the water… <volunteer looks and hopefully sees their own reflection> Okay, now tell me what you saw. <hopefully they will answer ‘my reflection’, if not reply: ‘You might need your eyes tested, because most people see their own reflection’>

2 That’s right, you can see your own reflection. It’s amazing to think that the glass mirrors that we have today were only invented 200 years ago. Before that, most people only ever saw themselves as a reflection in water.

Now, you’ve proved yourself to be good at spotting things – eventually, anyway. So, take a look again. <as the volunteer looks, stick your finger in the water so that the surface breaks up> Can you still see your reflection? <volunteer answers something like ‘not any more’, ‘not as well’ or ‘it’s all broken up’>

Yes, your reflection is broken, distorted. It can seem to disappear altogether. Thank you, you can go back now. You can have more fun when you do the washing-up/wash the car now. <volunteer leaves>

What happened to the reflection happens to us too. We can become blurred and broken, not a proper reflection of ourselves. That happens when we face difficult times, like arguments, illness or more extreme times that many people face across the world: times of war and conflict.

We can become broken through these. And today we’re thinking about someone who is trapped in poverty. When that happens, you often become broken too. But it can be much more difficult to overcome when your whole life, your whole community, sometimes even your whole country is broken by poverty and conflict.

It’s amazing to think that some people have to survive on less than one pound a day. Is that less than the pocket money you get in a week? Imagine having to spend that on everything you need...

I want to introduce you to one young woman called Birungi who was trapped and her life broken by poverty. She comes from a country in Africa called the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, that’s a mouthful, but people living there call it simply ‘Congo’.

We are very fortunate here because everyone gets to go to school to learn, have fun and get skills and knowledge so we can get a job. But in the DRC, where there’s been a war for many years, not everyone gets to go to school. Mums and dads have to pay, and they couldn’t afford to send Birungi to school along with her brothers.

In the DRC, many young girls miss out on school because families believe that boys are more important. Now, we know that God loves us all equally. But it left Birungi feeling useless and not as valuable as her brothers. Without any skills, she didn’t have hope for the future.

When she was grown up, she couldn’t read, write or add up. But her kind uncle heard about a special school set up by a local church group where everyone was welcome to come and learn. They taught people skills so that they weren’t stuck. Birungi learnt to sew – to mend and make clothes. Now, we all need clothes, right? But there’s no TK Maxx in Congo...

Birungi started mending clothes for her friends and family, she became so good she set up a shop. Now she makes beautiful dresses and smart shirts, and has her own sewing machine.

This makes Birungi very happy. People love the clothes she makes, and with the money she earns she can support herself: buy all the food and things she needs and pay for somewhere to live. Birungi is now an inspiring role-model for others in her community.

She has found peace and confidence, she has unlocked all the skills inside her and knows how valuable she is to God. She thanks God for how her life has changed, and for the kind people who taught her to sew. She’s so amazed by the transformation in her life that she wants all the girls in her village to learn skills too.

There’s a special word for what has happened to Birungi, and that’s ‘restoration’. All of you, say it with me: restoration. Restoration means putting things back together to how they should be. It means making things whole again.

That’s what Jesus does for us: he restores us to where we should be. And that’s what, through the special school, God did for Birungi.

Let’s pray and thank God for his love and desire to bring us restoration:

Dear Father, thank you that when we are broken, you restore us to how we should be. Thank you for how your Church is restoring lives, like Birungi’s, across the world where people are struggling. Help us to see our true reflection, and to reflect your love to others. Amen.