Some Resources for Harvest 2008
This page currently duplicates materials on the Worship Resources for the Church Year page, and was created because an outdated Google link was causing confusion.
Some Resources for Harvest 2008
CAFOD
will hold its Harvest Fast Day on 3 October 2008. The day focuses on training HIV activists, who volunteer their own time to stand alongside families struggling to cope with the impact of HIV and AIDS. Resources available for download at the Harvest Fast Day section of the CAFOD website, or in hard copy from your local CAFOD office.
Christian Aid
offers harvest appeal resources with the theme "We will harvest the desert." The material focuses on the story of Ally Ouedraogo and his community: they are using simple farming and water harvesting techniques to reclaim desert land on the edge of the Sahel in Burkina Faso. Materials include a poster with Ally's story on it, a worship sheet, powerpoint and reflective video. All are available for download from the Harvest Appeal section of the Christian Aid website; posters can be ordered in hard copy from the Christian Aid office, oxford@christian-aid.org, 01865 246818.
Harvest Help -- Self Help Africa (one charity, in the process of changing names)
This year's resource is called "Hands of Hope," and includes children's activities, an African recipe, youth group suggestions, prayer ideas, posters, sermon notes, and more. To receive a copy, call 01743 277170. A downloadable powerpoint with studies of specific Self Help Africa projects will be available from their website shortly.
Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF)
offers a pack called "Reclaim Harvest!" which "features MRDF's work in Ethiopia, where deforestation and soil erosion have made farming almost impossible, but MRDF support has provided training, seeds and tools that enable communities to manage natural resources sustainably." The free pack includes worship materials, all-age activities and ideas for Harvest celebration events. It can be ordered online or by calling 020 7467 5132, or the materials can be downloaded from the Harvest pack website. An accompanying CD-ROM may be ordered for £5, or its material downloaded from the website.
Tearfund
has a harvest pack called "Step up to the plate," which shares the agency's vision for helping families in the poorest areas access good food. The pack includes: "free recipes from Rick Stein, Delia Smith and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a short film by multi-award-winning company Pretzel, a 32pp booklet which includes a special report on Tearfund's partners' intervention since 2005's Sahel crisis, activities for children and youth groups, as well as fundraising and harvest service ideas, a poster for advertising, giving envelopes and more." Individual elements can be downloaded, or the whole pack ordered, at the Step up to the Plate webpage.
USPG
has a harvest pack which focuses on "how the San Pablo church, in Villa Felicidad, Uruguay, is reaching out to an impoverished community - by offering a recipe for life that includes a nutritious mixture of faith, pastoral care and practical support." Background information, all-age resources, a powerpoint about San Pablo, children's activities, sermon notes, suggestions of hymns and prayers and material for use during communion can all be downloaded from the USPG harvest website.
And if you're thinking of holding a harvest supper, what about making it a fiesta? USPG is asking its supporters to help raise funds for Latin American projects by holding a Latin American party. Materials available on the fiesta website include recipes, suggestions and instructions on entertainment (make a pinata, anyone?), Latin American prayers and short stories for worship, posters, etc. There's also information on how to order a DVD and traveling photo exhibition of pictures from the Uruguayan Church.