Activity 7 – Helping our local church love their overseas neighbours

What could we do to help our local church ‘love their neighbours’?

Pupils are given opportunities to engage directly with ‘loving your neighbour as yourself’ supported by ‘helping our local church love their neighbours’. This meets the citizenship objectives that are built into the work as well as supports schools in meeting SIAMS criteria for ‘Courageous Advocacy’. For example, pupils are able to explore ‘live relationships’ between Christian believers in their local church communities and communities overseas. This may be achieved via the Church of England’s Diocesan Companion Links, the partnerships between groups of churches (Dioceses) and diocese overseas.

The Diocese of London’s Diocesan Companion Link is Angola, London, Mozambique Association (ALMA) which is the inspiration for RE with Soul and this unit, demonstrating aspects of ‘Loving your neighbour as yourself’. RE with Soul Primary resources are designed to be adapted for use with other Companion Links. 

There are opportunities for pupils to share directly in projects arising from the existing relationships between local churches and for example their Mozambican neighbours, via Companion Links.  One means is through an RE with Soul theme day extended creative reflection, for example,  Blair Peach Primary School worked in partnership with St George’s Church to create  banners on the theme of ‘spiritual gifts’for the Companion Link church in Lichinga, Mozambique. Click here to see a gallery of images for this project. 

Understanding Christianity links

SIAMS and Global Neighours: This activity, supports schools in engaging with the SIAMS linked initiative Christian Aid, Global Neighbours Accreditation Scheme.

Key Questions

• What could we do to help our local church ‘love their neighbours’?
• What can we write to show that we understand the idea of loving your neighbour?
• What could I create for my local or overseas neighbour (e.g. in Mozambique?)

Learning Objectives

• To reflect upon their own interpretations of Loving God and loving your neighbor
• To identify what we can learn from the commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves

Starter

What difference do these overseas partnerships make to people involved in UK churches and schools?

In what ways has investigating the ways that Christian believers follow the commandment to  love their neighbours impacted us:

• individually
• as a class
• as a school community

Write a class Acrostic poem using the letters from’ Love your neighbour’ to enable pupils to process their thoughts and communicate their response. Pupils could work in pairs to compose a line for the class poem.

Main activity (Can be linked to Art and Design/DT lessons)

Thinking locally and globally  – How can we express our understanding of the importance of Loving our neighbours as ourselves, locally and globally?

Review what the pupils have learned so far and ask them to write a letter to their overseas neighbours to describe their learning journey and explain their understanding of the significance of Jesus commandment to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ investigating Baptism in the UK and overseas. See examples of pupils letters to Lichinga Letters to Lichinga from RE with Soul pilot project work.

They can also explain the impact of their learning on themselves, for example how they have been challenged to think more deeply about who their neighbour is and different ways to ‘love their neighbour’.
Write a prayer from the viewpoint of a believer in UK or overseas about the importance of  loving our neighbour.
Pupils could add their own prayers on the theme of ‘water of life’ (physical or spiritual) to the class display

How can we show love to our local church, community or overseas neighbours in a practical way, (for example in Mozambique) on the theme of love your neighbour?

• Local: What could we make for the local church to show love to them, e.g. a banner, altar cloth on a theme of their choice? (Ask the leader of the local church)
  Prayer for a person, place or situation can be described as a gift of love, e.g. asking for God’s help in a situation. Find out what the local church are praying for their overseas neighbour.
• Global: Give pupils a map  of Africa, showing Mozambique or another Companion Link country – and invite them to write their own prayers  on heart-shaped ‘post-its’ or paper
  What could our class create as a gift or design as a fundraiser, for our local or overseas neighbour?

Plenary

What can I create for my overseas neighbour to show love?

See the following to inspire discussion with pupils around a collaborative initiative in partnership with the local church and their Companion Link community:

• Outlines for RE with Soul theme days for generating artwork or designing a fundraising campaign.
• See Love your neighbour extended reflection for visual documentation of the creative process from previous projects

Some pointers for planning a project

• Find out through the local church about their overseas partnerships or Companion Links, for example ALMA. Ask what priorities they have regarding supporting the church and community overseas, for example via ALMA in Mozambique e.g. equipment, decoration for the church – e.g. banners on a theme, designs for windows, altar cloths, priests vestments.
• Communication  with your local church about the priorities of the overseas community should inform the decision making for the extended reflection and focus for the creative process.
• Discuss with pupils ideas they might have for creating gifts for the overseas community  on the theme of ‘Love your neighbour’, in response to their learning and priorities discussed with the local church.
• Pupils should explain how the agreed project idea demonstrates ‘Loving your neighbour’

Learning Outcomes

•  I can raise and consider questions about what can be done to love our neighbours
•  I can ask questions about the meaning and purpose of the different interpretations of loving your neighbour
•  I can apply the ideas I’ve learned about loving God and loving your neighbour as yourself.
•  I can explain what I have learnt from exploring what Christians believe about following Jesus example of loving your neighbour

Resources and Points to note

• See www.almalink.org  for ALMA link Powerpoints, which offer examples of projects that ALMA has undertaken in Mozambique and Angola, e.g.  building hospitals, churches, schools,  providing water pumps
•  See Church of England Diocesan Companions – Diocese of London ALMA (Angola, London, Mozambique Association) www.almalink.org
•  See Primary Case Studies for Love your neighbour for documentation of the creative process involved in developing designs as extended reflection on Love your neighbour
•  See Twyford Academies case study  and exchange visit video clips and photos in visual sources
• Ask the local church leader about what projects they are involved with overseas – see church noticeboards e.g. for the ALMA linked church and community and find out if the school can get involved or contact ALMA/RE with Soul via this website.