Study Guide Contents and General Process Suggestions
- The Study Guide includes six small-group sessions based on sections of the 2010 Hunger Report (The Introduction, the Letter to President Obama and four chapters). Groups may do as many of the sessions as they wish. If your group chooses to do only one session, it is recommended that it be the Session 1, which is based on the Introduction of the 2010 Hunger Report. It is also recommended that you do Session 6 last, the Letter to President Obama, regardless the number of other sessions you plan to do. The more of the guide you complete, the richer will be your discussion of that last session.
- The study guide is designed for Christians of many theological and political viewpoints. You should feel free to adapt the guide to enhance the experience for your group. The section below Notes on Pre-Session Preparations steers your group to websites relating social policies to different Christian traditions.
- It will enrich the sessions if participants have read the corresponding chapters of the 2010 Hunger Report—but is not required. A Just and Sustainable Recovery is filled with detailed analysis, statistics and stories. It is expected that small-group participants will contribute their own life experience and knowledge to the discussion.
- Each session includes:
- Opening and closing prayers—these can be adapted or replaced with other prayers;
- Opportunities to engage the group in Scripture-based reflection on God’s intentions for the world;
- Opportunities to engage your group in analysis of current realities based upon their reading the
- Hunger Report and life experiences; An invitation to act in light of the discussion.
- It should take 1–1.5 hours per session.
- Scripture passages have been taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, but you may use other versions of the Bible. Comparing text between versions may enrich group discussion.
- Participants are invited to share stories and activities related to this study guide through Bread for the World at www.bread.org/hungerreport. As your group plans and takes action, please share stories of successes and lessons learned. Your stories will help to inspire and advise others.
Notes on Pre-Session Preparations
- At least one Bible is required for each session. Participants could be encouraged to bring additional translations.
- It will be helpful to have copies of the outline to the session you are doing.
- After you familiarize yourself with the outline of the session, you may adapt the activities to best serve the needs of your group.
- To learn more about social policy in your own Christian tradition, you should visit the website of your denomination or national group. Sometimes these include a discussion of social policies.
- The sessions based on Chapters 1and 2 and on the Letter to President Obama include activities that use newsprint or a white board. However, other sessions might also be enhanced by having these resources available.
- The mapping activity in the session based on Chapter 3 needs paper and colored pencils or markers for each individual in the group.
- The session on Chapter 4 has an activity which requires a computer and internet connection. Participants might do this activity beforehand if it cannot be done during the session.
Ideas for Action
Each session of the Study Guide invites participants to consider how they might act in response to the issues discussed. Here are suggestions for some actions to engage your whole group. The size and nature of your group may require you to adapt the following activities, but the descriptions below provide a template for action.
1. Cross-Community Field Trip
Visit a church donfronting different socioeconomic conditions than yours faces. Make arrangements to meet with some of the people from the opposite congregation and talk about what their community looks like and why. Discuss each other’s challenges and opportunities, and pay special attention to what the starting points are in each community. How can you partner with this church to remake communities of exclusion into gateways of opportunity for everyone?
2. Write about right relationship
a) Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters
Each year, Bread for the World invites churches and campus groups across the country to take up a nationwide Offering of Letters to Congress on an issue that is important to hungry and poor people. The Offering of Letters enables individuals to see their concerns translated into policies that help hungry and poor people improve their lives. To learn more about Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters this year, visit www.offeringofletters.org
b) Write your state or local representative
Write letters to your representative (city council, state assembly, Congress) to share your thoughts and concerns regarding high-poverty communities.
3. Fair Trade Market
A fair trade market can be arranged at your campus or church to restore the relationship between producer and consumer. Fairly traded products ensure that workers are paid a fair wage for their labor.
Visit these websites to find fair trade vendors:
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