Love Different Cultures

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the service module is to teach the children how to interact with others with love. For fourth graders it's important to make God real to them and show them how the Holy Spirit works through them. Every week of this module will focus on serving different aspects of their lives: week 1 -- love of self/pure love, week 2- love your elders, week 3-love your classmates/peers, week 4- love different cultures. Help them realize how their actions are a reflection of their love for others and themselves. Week 5 is the capstone week to review and serve together. Please read through all the lessons in this module in preparation for this lesson.

In this lesson, children will learn that loving and respecting all people, especially people who may be different than us is what makes us Christian.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 10 Minutes

Please review the previous lesson

Show the kids pictures of different dishes from various cultures. Each picture should have a number. Provide a list of countries. Ask the kids to match the dish with its country of origin and name. (see attached PowerPoint).
Explain that food is not the only thing that people around the world do differently. Things like style of dress, language, sports, customs, manners, ethics, celebrations, etc. are also so different around the world. This is called world culture.
Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. In other words, culture is the way of life of a group of people.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 10 Minutes

Memory Verse
"Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
Scripture
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." John 13:34
"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14
"Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble" 1 Peter 3:8

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 10 Minutes

The story of the Good Samaritan might be a very familiar story to you, but it's also a story that needs retelling.

Jesus says, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself"

But what does that mean? Help others, respect others, go out of your way to love others ... especially those who are hurting, like the man who was beaten up and left for dead. That's what Jesus says we have to do to inherit eternal life.

But there's another meaning to the story that you might miss if you don't know anything about Jesus' time and his culture.
This story is not just about compassion and helping other people in our community, it's also a story about how God wants us to love and help people from all different cultures. This story teaches us to have compassion for all humans, not just people from our own community, or people that are our friends.
During Jesus' time, many people looked down upon others for having different cultures. For example, the Jews looked down upon Samaritans because they were descendants of Jews who had married people from a different ethnic and religious background.
Jesus was Jewish, the scholar of the law who questioned Jesus was Jewish, and the audience that Jesus told this story to was Jewish. And many Jews looked down upon Samaritans because they came from a different culture and a different religious background.
But the hero of this story is a Samaritan.
The one despised and judged by many Jewish people, is the one that Jesus hold up as an example and says, "here is the one who is doing what God wants; here is the one who is loving his neighbor."
So this Gospel story is also about loving and respecting all people, especially people who may be different than us.
A different ethnic group, a different race or culture, a different religious background.
"Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble" 1 Peter 3:8

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes

Think of your own families, your school, or your community:

Who are the people that you consider different?
Are there people you are quick to judge, or that you look at differently because they come from a different ethnic group or culture, or a different religious background?
What does Jesus say to you in the story of the Good Samaritan**?**
What is one way you can show the love of Christ to those around you, especially those who are not from your own culture?

Have the class break up into pairs and take turns starting a conversation by noticing a similarity. Follow up by sharing a story about Jesus loving people who were different than Himself with your partner.

LIFE APPLICATION (Action) - 10 Minutes

Sometimes we think that Jesus is calling me to show love to my next door neighbor. But our neighbor isn't just the person next door.
Our neighbor is the person God has placed right in front us. And no matter how different, how inconvenient or how unexpected, we're asked to love.
The Good Samaritan was willing to cross political, racial, cultural and social barriers and risk prejudices and the fear of the unknown *** *** because he saw someone with a need and he had the resources to meet that need.
"Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
There are billions of people that make up this world, all with different cultures and heritages. But that doesn't mean we should treat them differently. God made us all and we are all part of God's creation. We should all help each other, and love each other, for we are all neighbors.
This week, ask a friend at school or anyone you know about a fun tradition, dish, dress code from their culture and share it with us next week.

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Did you know that Saints come from all over the world? Instead of focusing on peoples' differences, let's focus on our similarities. This week, fill out the chart with at least 8 orthodox saints, each from different countries.

See the attached worksheet.

SERVANT RESOURCES

See attached Powerpoint

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

The ability to love and appreciate different cultures starts by recognizing the beauty in our differences, and that ultimately we are all God's children. Focus this week on cultural events if possible.

Explain to your child the cultural climate during Jesus' time. Help them to see that these differences were not accepted by other cultures. Each culture stayed separate.

Read together one or more of these Bible passages.

Matthew 15:21-28 - Jesus's love for the Canaanite woman.
John 4:7-27 - Jesus' love for the Samaritan woman.
Matthew 8:5-13 - Jesus' love for Roman soldier.
Luke 19: 1-10 & Matthew 9:9-13 - Jesus' love for Zacchaeus and Matthew the tax collectors
Mark 16:15 - Jesus sent apostles all over the world to spread His love.

Point out that St. Paul used similarities to connect different people in order to spread the Good News.