baha’i children’s class ideas.

learning concepts
Bahá’u'lláh tells us to care for the poor. To do this, we can look to the example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who served and took care of the poor all His life.
We must also remember not to encourage mendicancy—that is, people whose profession is begging.

activities
story: Stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are very effective in conveying His kindness to the poor.
game: "Giving"—described below.

reading/prayer for study
"O YE RICH ONES ON EARTH! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease." (Bahá’u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no.54)

reference
"Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will most certainly be called upon to answer for His trust on the day when the Balance of Justice shall be set, the day when unto everyone shall be rendered his due, when the doings of all men, be they rich or poor, shall be weighed." (Bahá’u'lláh, Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 189)

"O SON OF MAN! Bestow My wealth upon My poor, that in heaven thou mayest draw from stores of unfading splendor and treasures of imperishable glory. But by My life! To offer up thy soul is a more glorious thing couldst thou but see with Mine eye." (Bahá’u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no.57)

"O SON OF MY HANDMAID! Be not troubled in poverty nor confident in riches, for poverty is followed by riches, and riches are followed by poverty. Yet to be poor in all save God is a wondrous gift, belittle not the value thereof, for in the end it will make thee rich in God, and thus thou shalt know the meaning of the utterance, “In truth ye are the poor,” and the holy words, “God is the all-possessing,” shall even as the true morn break forth gloriously resplendent upon the horizon of the lover’s heart, and abide secure on the throne of wealth." (Bahá’u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no.54)

experience

November 1, 2008: 1.5 hrs, 3 kids: 9, 9, 5.  Revived the poverty card game from previous years. it was a hit, just like last time. this time, was able to make them a bit nicer (backed the printouts with card stock); still, was a little hectic–didn’t have same amounts of each six "essentials"; took a while to figure it out for the game.  the kids didn’t mind though, because they just kept on playing it and loving it. made for quite a few good conversation points, and we discussed lots of the concepts behind the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty. had lots of help, especially considering the fewness of the kids who came. the rest must have been sick from eating all the halloween candy, dunno.  All in all, a good class, even though I overshot our time a little and ended up having no time to work on the craft I had planned (masks, for Unity in Diversity week that comes in two weeks).

November 17, 2006: 2 hours, 5 children, average age 6-7. The key to this class was conceived at the last minute. We were missing the lesson plan we needed for this class, and I had few ideas about how to make it happen (I must admit, sadly, that I don’t know much about caring for the poor). Lacking a plan for activities, my co-teacher and a few visiting friends brainstormed until they came upon a brilliant idea for a game, which I’ll only describe in its most basic form here. Cards are prepared before the class; there are several categories, and in each category there should be enough cards for all the children. Each category describes a necessity of life: food, clothing, shelter, etc. Cards are given randomly to each child, and they must "give" away their extra cards by pairing up with other children and offering them cards. This continues until everyone has one card from each category. The game was a little complicated at first (we had no idea whether it would work!) but once we got into it, it was pretty fun. It probably needs some work, but it’s undoubtedly got a bright future. Watch this space for more news.

All in all, I think this class needs some work—we muddled through, but seeing as few of us actually have much experience caring for the poor, it’s hard for us to convey this clearly for the children. How can you explain something you’ve never done—apart from leaving a dollar for the guitar man in the market, or even washing dishes at the soup kitchen once? Comments and feedback on this class would be greatly appreciated!