Abuse
Prevention Emphasis Day 2006
Resource
Packet
Making
the Church a
written
by
Bernie and
Family and Children’s
Ministries Directors
South England Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists
Trans-European Division
Prepared by the
General Conference
Abuse Prevention
Emphasis Day Committee
Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries
Children’s Ministries
Education Department
Family Ministries
Health Ministries
Ministerial Association
Women’s Ministries
Youth Ministries
January 12,
2006
Let me begin
by thanking you for the part you will play in ensuring that this year’s Abuse
Prevention Emphasis Day is successful and a blessing to all the members in your
church.
Our theme for this
year is “Making the Church a
In this packet
you will find -
Feel free to
adapt the material to fit your local preferences. We ask that you include other
departments in your church to promote and present this program. At the General
Conference nine departments work together to prepare this material (as listed
on the cover of this program) and we are all committed to helping the vulnerable,
unprotected and those in pain—whether emotional or physical—in our church and
the wider community.
Our prayers
are with you and we know that God will bless you and your congregations as you
worship on this day.
Love and joy,
Heather-Dawn
Small
Director
A Suggested Order of
Service
Prelude
Call to Worship: Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal 855
Invocation
Hymn of Praise: O Worship the King SDAH 83
Scripture
Offering
Prayer for the offering and the pastoral prayer
Children’s Story: ‘Taking Care of Little People’ or
‘Egg Babies’
Special Music
Sermon: ‘The Power to Protect’
Hymn of Response:
Take my Life and Let it Be SDAH 330
Benediction
‘Sharing the Peace’ Blessing
(In a ‘Sharing the Peace’ Blessing members of the
congregation move around shaking each other’s hands saying ‘May the peace of
God be with you, and protect you’.)
Postlude
.
Scripture
People required - Narrator, Voice of God from off
stage, using a microphone, a group of at least three people to mime actions in
chorus together
|
Narrator |
This is what the Lord Almighty says, Mime – all turn their
heads and lean towards the direction of the voice of God, cupping a hand
behind their ear. |
|
Voice of God |
‘ |
|
Narrator |
But they refused to pay attention; Mime – all turn their
shaking heads away from God and then looking all over the place. |
|
|
stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped
their ears. Mime – all turning their
backs away from God and putting their fingers in their ears. |
|
|
They made their hearts as hard as flint Mime
– bring both tight fists to knock together over the heart, (the fists need to
form a kind of heart-shape as you do this to illustrate the hardness of heart
concept)) |
|
|
and would not listen to the law or to the words
that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. Mime – put hands over ears
and shake heads then pretend to fight and steal from each other. |
|
|
So the Lord Almighty was very angry. Mime – cower together in
fear and tremble. |
|
Voice of God |
‘When I called they did not listen; so when they
called, I would not listen, I scattered them with a whirlwind among the
nations, where they were strangers. Mime – act as if a
whirlwind comes and scatters all the mime artists around the stage. The land was left so desolate behind them that
no-one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’ Mime – lie on stage as if
dead. |
|
Narrator |
Today, may we listen to the Word of God Mime – stand up again alertly
and listen carefully. and be inspired to act justly, Mime – shake hands with
each other as if in agreement. Mercifully, Mime – one person gives
gifts to others who look sad and poor. and compassionately with each other, Mime – all place both
hands over hearts, crossing them slightly to make a heart shape, and then,
keeping the hands in the heart shape – offer the ‘hand-hearts’ to each other,
with compassionate and caring movements and facial expressions. and so restore the pleasant land in which we desire
to live. Mime – looking around in
wonder, being happy, and praising God. In His Name, Amen. |
Sermon
The Power to Protect
This sermon has been written so that it can be
presented by one person, two people alternating parts, and taking the different
characters in the three Bible story illustrations, or by seven people – the main
preacher, and the characters of Boaz, Ruth, David, Mephibosheth, Joseph and
Mary as they arise in the sermon. Use the amount of people and format that best
suits your context and the team you have available to work with you.
Introduction
Recently there was a television program that invited
people to create robotic style machines for different purposes. Some robots
were designed to climb ropes as fast as possible. Some robots had to jump as
high as they could. Some had to move as fast as possible in a straight line or
lift a weight. But some of the most challenging to design were the robotic rockets
that had to shoot as high as possible and then land safely again. The task
sounded fairly easy, but there was an added challenge: each rocket had to
transport an egg in such a way that the egg would not be broken, or even
cracked, during the flight and landing.
All kinds of techniques were used to try and protect
the egg from the force of the initial propelling explosion to the impact of the
final landing. One egg was suspended in heavy oil. Others were wrapped in
layers of wadding, or supported by polystyrene that had been shaped to fit the
egg. Other rocketeers added parachutes to slow down the descent of the rocket
and so protect the egg from the full impact of a landing. Some methods worked
and others didn’t. Those that kept the egg intact had taken into consideration
all the possible dangers and provided protection for every stage of the egg’s
journey. The more types of protection used by the rocketeer, the more likely
the egg was to survive the experience intact.
Eggs are fragile and vulnerable. Many of us have
accidentally broken an egg and made a horrible mess.
People are fragile and vulnerable too:
·
They
can be physically vulnerable when they are babies, children, sick, disabled, or
elderly.
·
They
can be emotionally fragile if they have been bereaved, or are suffering
hardships, depression, disappointments and disease.
·
They
can be spiritually fragile if they are new believers, are young in faith faith,
or their life experiences are making it difficult for them to experience God’s
grace.
·
They
can also be socially and materially vulnerable if they are poor, lone parents,
refugees, immigrants, students, unemployed, or find it difficult to work for a
living wage that will support themselves and their families if they have them. Some people may find themselves forced to become sex
workers in order to feed their families.
There are probably many ways in which people can be
fragile or vulnerable at some time in their lives and we need to be aware of
the needs around us so we can identify those who need extra protection and
support.
God calls the stronger to support the weaker, the
richer to support the poorer. He puts us together in the community of church so
that we can bless each other as we give and receive from each other. God calls
us to be a church community where every fragile person finds support and
protection
Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after
orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted
by the world.
James
The different words translated in our Bibles as being
‘oppressed’ have a range of meanings, such as being bruised, put down, broken,
spoiled, destroyed, distressed, terrified, crushed, or worn down.
Boaz (The Book of Ruth)
When
you are harvesting in your field, and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to
get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord
your God may bless you in all the work of your hands….Remember that you were
slaves in
He
who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to
the needy honours God.
Proverbs
14:3, NIV.
As soon as I saw her I knew she was vulnerable. I had
heard my servant girls talk about meeting her at the village well. Ruth was a
widow, with no son to provide for her, and she was caring for her mother in
law, Naomi, who was also a widow with no son to care for her. They were both
without support and without protection. The two women had no income, and they
had returned to Naomi’s village because it was the only place in the world
where there was the possibility of a home and the chance that some distant
relations would take pity on them.
But Ruth was also at risk because she was young and
beautiful, a foreigner who could not command respect as a Jewish national. She
was from a country that the Jews despised; a country who sacrificed their
children to their ever-hungry gods.
Ruth and Naomi were hungry. They had returned to the
village at harvest time and had no vegetables growing in their own gardens, no fields
planted with golden grain. Ruth had to go out into the fields and gather up the
loose grain stalks from the sun baked earth. She would be in the fields all day
long with my young servant men. And I knew what they were like—strong and
virile—and I knew that a beautiful, lonely, foreign woman, who had to glean
from morning till night, could be at risk from their games, their temptations
and their lust.
Ruth had many needs. She had shelter, and water from
the village well, but she needed more than that. She needed to be free to
gather food and make a living for herself and Naomi, so I ordered the men to
leave a little extra grain where it would be easy for her to collect.
·
I
told her to gather grain only in my fields, where I was the master.
·
I let
my servants know that she was special and that no harm should come to her and
that they should share their food and water with her.
·
I
told her to glean with my female reapers, so that she would be safe, and have
companionship.
And why did I do all this for a foreign young woman?
Because I believe that my nation should be a shining example of God’s love for
all the people who come to her for refuge from their own people and nations. I
want to live out my faith in God, and His love for me, by creating a safe place
for refugees, vulnerable women, and those who are poor and hungry.
I remember hearing my own mother, Rahab (Matthew
1:5), tell me the stories of how kind the Israelite community had been to her
and how her gift of hospitality and generosity led to the protection and rescue
of her whole family from the destruction of Jericho. She was a foreigner, but
the Israelites took her in and gave her a home, a brand new life, and her
self-respect. One way I can pass on the blessing given to my own mother, is to
care for other vulnerable women in my community.
Is
not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every
yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor
wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him and not to turn
away from your own flesh and blood?
Isaiah
58:6-7, NIV.
Ruth
I could not believe the kindness of Boaz. I came to
Love
always protects. 1 Corinthians 13:8, NIV.
David (2 Samuel 9)
It was a long time after Jonathan died before I
remembered my promise to take care of his family. I made some enquiries and
found his son, Mephibosheth. A childhood accident had left him permanently
disabled and life had become hard for him. He didn’t feel very good about
himself, describing himself as a “dead dog”. But I had loved his father and had
the same compassion for Mephibosheth, his son. I felt bad that I had not been
aware of the extent of his struggle, and that he had suffered for so many years
when I could have been helping and supporting him. As soon as I could, I moved
him into my palace where I could take care of him, protect him, and help him to
lead a fulfilling life. I gave him back all the riches and land that his family
owned and gave him servants to farm the land on his behalf.
This
is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘
Zechariah
7:9,10, NIV.
We
who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please
ourselves.
Romans
15:, NIV.
Mephibosheth
It was a complete surprise to me when King David
summoned me to his palace. I must admit that I wondered whether it would be
safe to see him, or whether he wanted to have me killed in case I was somehow a
threat to his throne. I never expected what happened! It was a complete
surprise to me when he invited me and my family to live in his palace, and when
he gave back not only my father’s land, but also a manager and a workforce to
farm it for me. Now I didn’t have to worry any more about how to provide for my
wife and young son, or what kind of inheritance he would have. We had shelter,
food, an income, and servants to take care of our needs and to run my errands.
A
bruised reed he will not break and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In
faithfulness he will bring forth justice.
Isaiah
42:3, NIV.
And
we urge you, brothers…encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
1
Thessalonians 5:14, NIV.
Joseph
We were living quite comfortably in
I woke Mary. We packed just the things we needed and
fled through the night, down toward
He
looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries
of distress.
Isaiah
5:7, NIV.
Mary
It was hard to leave everything that had just become
home and a place where we had just begun to be accepted. But how could we stay
in a place where our child would be put at risk, where people in places of
responsibility were corrupt and had such a disregard for the preciousness of
the life of a child? Later we heard of the full horror of Herod’s plan. Only a
man with a heart of stone could conceive of such a nightmare. Our little
children weren’t precious to him. He had no compassion on their innocence, no
care for their safety or well-being. In the face of such cruelty we had to do
whatever we could to protect our son.
At
about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the
highest rank in God's kingdom?" For an answer Jesus called over a child,
whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once
and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children,
you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever
becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's
kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the
same as receiving me.
"But if you give them a hard time,
bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you
hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone
around your neck.”
Matthew
18:1-6, Message.
Jesus’ Example
·
Jesus
came to show us how to respond to others in need.
·
He
cared for those in His community who were oppressed.
·
He
gave self-respect, forgiveness and hope to a woman caught in adultery.
·
He
defended Mary, as she washed His feet with perfume and tears, when Judas began
to verbally abuse her and put her down.
·
He
dealt respectfully and gently with Samaritans and strangers. He touched the
people others considered to be ‘unclean’.
·
He
invited the children onto His lap and blessed them, when His disciples thought
they were too little to be valuable. He defended the children vigorously,
saying that if anyone should lead a child astray, it would be better for them
to be dropped in a lake with a millstone around their neck. Strong words
indeed.
·
He
relieved hunger amongst the crowds that came to listen to Him on the hills, and
rescued fishermen on lakes.
Everywhere He went His focus was to relieve suffering
and oppression and set people free, rather than imprison them with fear and
misery. (Luke 4:18,19.)
He did this because over and over again the gospels
tell us that He was moved with compassion for the people. (Matthew
Compassion comes when we step into God’s shoes for a
while and look at the people around us through His eyes. His eyes are the
loving eyes of a perfect Father, who is also perfect Love. When we stand in His
place and look through His eyes, what will our response be?
Today, there are many people around us who are
fragile or vulnerable, for all kinds of reasons. They are babies, children,
young men and women, old men and women, people with disabilities, people with
learning difficulties, refugees, people who have come to our country from other
parts of the world, people who are poor or homeless. These people may be
finding it hard to cope with life, they may be experiencing mental illness or
distress, or they may be people who have been, and are still being, sexually,
verbally, physically and spiritually abused. How would Jesus respond to them if
He were walking through our country, our towns, our churches and our homes today?
What would His compassionate heart move Him to do?
God calls us to wake up, to open our eyes to the
suffering of others and be part of movement to protect those in our circle of
care.
This
is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘
Zechariah
7:9,10, NIV.
God calls us to remember that we are part of one body
– His body – and we are to take care of every part of this body, because when
one part hurts, every part suffers.
There
are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need
you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary,
those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts
we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that
are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts
need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has
given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no
division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each
other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is
honoured, every part rejoices with it.
1
Corinthians 12:20-26, NIV.
God calls us to bring to Him our indifferent,
uncaring, unhearing hearts of stone, and to exchange them for a heart of flesh,
filled with His vibrant and pulsating love for all mankind.
‘I
will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.’
Ezekiel
11:19, NIV.
God calls us to offer compassion, support, help and
protection. He calls us to be His comforting arms of love in a hurting world,
His body to shield them from danger, His listening ears that are open to hear
their stories of suffering, and to respond with caring actions and words, His
voice that calls out for justice and mercy, and pleads for the little ones, the
vulnerable ones, and the unprotected ones.
So what can we do as Christians, as church members,
as living parts of the Body of Christ, as people with hearts of flesh? How can
we offer them multiple kinds of protection, just as the best egg-rocketeers
provided protection for every stage of the egg’s journey.
We can work to:
·
Recognise
our God-given responsibility to care for those around us who are vulnerable.
·
Create
a community where it is safe to talk about our struggles and our needs,
especially our needs for protection and care.
·
Give
the message that when people talk about their vulnerabilities, needs, or hopes
for protection that they will be taken seriously and action will be taken, and,
if children report their fears, or any abuse, they will be believed and taken seriously
too.
·
Remember
that every church is likely to have people who have been abused in the past, as
well as those who may be being abused right now.
·
Enable
each person to have a voice in the community, however small they are.
·
Listen
to each other and respond to each other from the loving and compassionate heart
of God.
·
Be
willing to take appropriate action and to do something positive, practical and
protective when necessary.
·
Be
proactive and create a church community where people have good reasons to feel
safe, by creating a building that doesn’t have spaces in which children might
be abused. For example there needs to be windows in every door, closet spaces that are kept locked
by responsible people, and careful stewarding of spaces during church activities.
·
Offer
training to all members in child protection issues, advertise confidential
caring services especially for children and vulnerable adults, and help people
to know where to find good Christian counsellors if they need them.
·
Challenge
the practices in our communities that disadvantage people or increase their
vulnerability.
·
Recommend
places where people can go for assistance or help if they need it.
And why do we need to do these things?
·
So we
can follow Jesus’ example.
·
So we
can be part of God’s plan for His community, and for His church.
·
Because of our personal relationship with God we become His touch to
those who need His love and care.
·
Because
this is a wise and loving way to live.
·
Because
whatever you do to one of these vulnerable ones you are doing to God.
·
Because
if we are not part of the protective process, we are part of the oppressive
problem.
Andy’s dilemma
Andy was driving down a quiet country lane one
afternoon when he noticed a car that had crashed into a tree. He stopped his
car and ran over to the accident. The car had swerved to miss a deer that had
run across the road. In the car Andy found a mother, who had been driving the
car, trapped in her seat by the steering column. He called the emergency
services, and then tried to see if he could help her. She was not badly injured
and she was conscious, but she was unable to move. Andy tried to open her door
and to see if he could release her, but it was soon obvious that this was the
job for the emergency release team, who would probably not arrive for another
twenty minutes as they were a long way from the nearest small town.
In the back of the car sat a girl, about four, safe
in her car seat, but crying and miserable. Her mother had been reassuring her,
but they had already been trapped in the car for almost an hour and the little
girl was getting distressed and very thirsty. There was a bag with a drink in
it strapped into the seat next to her, but she could not reach it, and her
mother couldn’t help her.
Andy wondered what to do. He couldn’t help the
mother, but he could help the little girl. He realized that he needed to
reassure the mother and the daughter so that he wouldn’t add to their suffering
and stress. He realized that he had the power to protect them both. He asked
the mother if it would be alright for him to release the little girl from her
car seat and to give her a drink. He promised to stay close to the mother and
in her sight at all times. He gave the mother proof of his identity and wrote
out his license plate number for her.
The mother agreed. She was glad that someone could
help her take care of her little girl. Andy carefully released her and lifted
her out of the car. He held her carefully, and stood as close to the mother as
he could, so they could see each other. The mother smiled and the little girl
squirmed in Andy’s strange arms. She wanted to go to her mother, but she
couldn’t. She whimpered and struggled a little, then relaxed into Andy’s arms.
He reached back into the car to find her juice, and a snack, and a familiar
toy. Then he sat there, chatting to the mother and the little girl, reassuring
them both, until the emergency services arrived, and a police woman was able to
look after the little girl.
It was an unusual situation. Andy knew about the
concerns a mother would have about a strange man cuddling a little girl, about
the fear she might have had that he might abduct her child. But he had
compassion in his heart – a ‘feeling with’ both the mother and the child, a
desire to meet each of their needs and concerns. He tried to be as transparent
as he could be, as reassuring as he could be, as careful as he could be. In the
situation, with the mother unable to move and protect her own child, he had
chosen to do what was best for them both.
If you were Andy what would you have done?
If you were the Mother, what would you have wanted
someone to do for your child?
If you were the child, what would you have wanted
someone to do for you?
Ultimately we have to stand before God and answer for
our actions. Ultimately everything we do to or for a child or a vulnerable
person, we have done to or for God Himself. Ultimately we have the power to
bring peace and protection, defend the vulnerable and to work with God to chase
away every terror from the earth.
The Lord is King for ever
and ever…. You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them,
and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in
order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Psalm
Children’s Story
Children’s story ideas
Taking Care of Little People
Have a parent bring a small baby or baby doll to the
front of the church.
Introduce the baby to the children and tell them the
baby’s name.
Ask the children what they think you need to do to take
good care of a baby.
The baby needs:
·
Food
and drink from its mommy or a bottle (show them a bottle of milk)
·
Clean,
dry diapers (nappies) (show the children the things needed for changing a baby)
·
To be
held carefully (show them how to hold the baby)
·
Warm
clothes (show the children some baby clothes)
·
Cuddles
and love (give the baby a hug)
·
Toys
to play with so that they have some fun (show them some baby toys)
·
Gentle
touch so it is not frightened or hurt (show the children how to touch the baby
gently)
·
People
to come and check when it cries
·
A
safe bed to sleep in (show a travel cot if you have one)
Babies need lots of things to take care of them.
What do you need others do to help take care of you
and to help you to feel safe?
When we take care of others we are showing them God’s
love.
Egg babies
Give older children a raw egg to take care of for a
week. They have to take it with them everywhere they go and bring it back to
church the following Sabbath, safe and uncracked.
Invite them to write a journal each day about their
adventures, or misadventures with the egg.
Offer a small prize for everyone who manages to bring
their egg back intact the following Sabbath, after carrying it around with them
all week.
Interview the children about what they learned from
the experience of protecting their egg as a children’s story feature, or as a
special feature in the service.
Children’s Handout