ACTIONS

ACTIONS

What follows are ideas for service projects that a group could do to help deepen their faith and work for justice and/or compassion for the poor. Some of these projects may need additional preparation and education.

1. Serve food at a soup kitchen.

2. Do a scavenger hunt to gather food for a food bank.

3. Volunteer at a homeless shelter.

4. Do child care or elder care for families that can’t afford to pay.

5. Do a fund raiser for poor people within your church or community to help with basic needs.

6. Participate in a larger political action with an organization that seeks to correct some of the underlying causes of poverty.

7. Show up at community or government meetings and support the need for justice and services for the poor.

8. Write letters to governmental bodies around justice issues for the poor.

9. Put on “The Hunger Meal” outlined in Preparation #3 for your church or community to educate people who may not already understand the issues. Charge each person the price of a typical dinner out and use the money within your church or community depending on need.

10. Do an entire “Mission Trip” around these issues (see Mission Trip chapter in this section.)

11. Have everyone in the group make two or three sack lunches and then go somewhere where people who are homeless hang out and sit and have lunch with them.

12. Give away blankets to street people.

13. Adopt a poor family at Christmas and get them a tree, Christmas dinner, toys for the kids (make sure the family actually celebrates Christmas and that they are not Jewish or Jehovah’s Witness, or belong to some other group that might be offended by the “Christmas stuff”.)

Deepening Faith: Youth Ministry Resources and Some Miscellaneous Advice

Rev. Lizann Bassham, Front Porch Spirit Press