The Bridge Core Values – Week 11 – Equality

John 4:27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”
Luke 10:36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

This week at Bridge Kids, we began by reviewing what we learned about last week, the Bridge Core Value, Equality. We talked about how treating all people with equal care and respect is a reflection of God’s Love. Love God, Love Others as Ourselves. Today we talked about how Jesus treated people with respect and care even though they were a different gender or nationality. He based his value of them on who they were, what they did, and how they lived. We call this character.

We then talked about how God cares about our character and values our insides more than our outsides. We then read a story about a woman with a great character, Harriet Tubman. This is a book of a woman who let God lead her out of slavery, and then turned to help others out as well.

We continued writing the Bridge Kids Declaration of Equality, adding to what we wrote the previous week, which will be added to, each week in the month of January and then signed by each Bridge Kid who declares to do their best to walk a path of Equality.



Dine and Dish:
Talk – Talk to your kids about who their heroes are and what sort of character they have.
Ask your kids What does someone with character do? Ask and discuss ways with them that they can build their character.
Discuss with your kids about your dreams for making the world a better place.
Do an activity together:
Pray – Once you’ve talked about positive traits in your BK’s character, pray together about them. Ask God to develop them in the right direction.
Promise – People of character keep their promises, so make a promise to someone this week and keep it. It could be something as small as meeting them for coffee on time.
Act – Do one small thing each day to encourage your kids to have great character.
i. Find a way to help a person.
ii. Keep your eyes out for someone who society does not value, and do something that would make them feel valuable.
iii. Get Involved – Whether it’s picking up trash in a local park, serve food every 5th Sunday at Home PDX with The Bridge, write letters to Congress or the School District, volunteer, etc.
Listen– Listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and discuss what it means to you, personally with your kids.
Write – Write your own “I Have a Dream” speech together. What kind of changes do you want to see in your neighborhood, schools, workplaces, church? Discuss these with your kids.