"Without justice, there can be no peace. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Pretty soon we will all have a 3 day weekend in honor of one of our nations heroes. I am embarrassed to admit that most of my life I never cared about this holiday or what it represented but I do remember when all of that changed. I was planning out a lesson for Adia, our first year homeschooling, and I remember thinking how important it was for her to grasp the injustice that MLK fought so hard against. Well, when the day came to actually teach her about it we had a biography on him to read and as I started reading (with the goal of opening her heart to issues of justice) the tears came streaming down and I couldn't even talk. I was overwhelmed at the importance of what this hero fought for and had so much guilt that before this day I never really cared. Obviously by wanting so badly for my daughter to "get it" I knew it mattered but I honestly just didn't ever think about it. Soon after that we read our first American Girls book about Addie (a slave girl who runs away with her mom and has to leave behind family) and once again my heart was being torn for what people have gone through over the ages and how much I take for granted my life of little worries. At first I seemed to just wonder if I really would have been a part of the problem or the solution back then. Now 5 years later God has opened my eyes even more and shown me that I don't just have to wonder how I would have reacted then... the fact is slavery still is exist (and in bigger numbers than before), evil injustices are taking place all around us TODAY and just like many back then I have not been a part of the solution, I have closed my eyes to it and I am horrably humbled and sorry for allowing this disconnect to take place in my mind that allows me to know this and yet go on as if I do not.
Wow! That was kind of deeper than I meant to go but hey - it's my heart and I had to share.
So here are a couple fun things you can do to start softening your childrens hearts to these matters.
For the little ones,
There are some cute poems and books out there based on a box of crayons and how the crayons didn't like one of the colors to begin with until they realized the value each of them had and how boring the world would be without each of them. This is a simple way to help our young children relate to racism and how mean and ugly it is.
Box of Crayons:
poem #1
Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be sad? If just one single color was the color that we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green? If yellow, pink, or orange was all that could be seen? Can you just imagine how dull world would be If just one single color was all we got to see?
poem #2
While walking in a toy store the day before today, I overheard a crayon box with many things to say. "I don't like red!" said yellow. And green said, "Nor do I!" And no one here likes orange, but no one knows quite why." "We are a box of crayons that really doesn't get along," said blue to all the others "something here is wrong!" Well, I bought that box of crayons and took it home with me and laid out all the crayons so the crayons could all see. They watched me as I colored with red and blue and green and black and white and orange and every color in between. They watched as greenbecame the grass and blue became the sky. The yellow sun was shining bright on white clouds drifting by. Colors changing as they touched, becoming something new. They watched me as I colored. They watched till I was through. And when I'd finally finished, I began to walk away. And as I did the crayon box had something more to say... "I do like red!" said the yellow and green said, "So do I!" "And blue you are terrific so high up in the sky." "We are a box of crayons each of us unique, but when we get together the picture is complete." NOW IF WE COULD JUST LEARNFROM THIS BOX OF CRAYONSTHIS WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE. by Shane DeRolf
When we read these poems last year I printed them out in color for the kids. We read it, talked about it and then did a craft coloring our own crayons to put in crayon box and hang up on the wall... I don't have a good picture of ours but this is all over the internet so you can just google the topic and you will find lots of cute ideas to do with it.
For the Older Children,
Justice Gathering
There is so much you could do... this year I am having some kids over and we are going to focus on what MLK stood for. We are also going to talk about William Wilberforce and the amazing story he has as well. This holiday is not just to honor Martin Luther King but to also honor what he stood for and that is JUSTICE! So when I have the kids over (ages 10 and up) we are going to...
- talk about MLK and discuss what he stood for, his courage and how he honored God by lovingly seeking justice.
-watch the movie Amazing Grace which is the story of William Wilberforce and discuss how he fought for the majority of his life for one cause and let nothing get in his way. WOW!
-lastly we are going to talk about slavery today and all sorts of injustices that are happening now. We are going to discuss that God hates injustice (the Bible is very clear on that!) and that we are all called to do something!
Great Book... Be the Change
This is a book written by a young man (12 at the writing of it I think) who when studying abolitionist realized that we still need them today and began a program called Loose Change to Loosen Chains. He has an amazing heart for God and has done much to open awareness to things like slavery, abortion, sex trafficking and so many other things MLK would have stood with him to fight!
Get Involved
There are a ton of organizations that continue to fight to fee the slaves today and I would encourage you to get involved with them at some level... even if that is just receiving their newsletters and praying for the ministry
- http://www.ijm.org/ International Justice Mission
The founder of IJM, mentioned above, is Gary Haugen and I would strongly suggest reading any of his books on the topic. Starting with The Good News About Injustice (they have a youth edition).
- http://www.love146.org/ Love 146
This is a group started by a group of people who went to India to see for themselves some of the major oppression taking place their. When they went into a brothel posed as customers they were horrified to see not only were these little girls for sale they had their names taken away and were only given a number. Most of the girls looked like they had given up the fight - they had been there too long and had lost who they were... but #146 seemed like she still had fight left in her eyes and must have been new to this evil world they brought her to. This website will help you find ways to support the cause to end sex trafficing, learn more about it and so much more.
Read and Reflect on Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
The Sheep and the Goats 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
May we all learn to care more, do more and sacrifice more for the people in this world who need us!
