World Mission Council

Church of Scotland HIV Programme

Souper Sunday 2018

All age talk

“Have any of you have been to the doctor or the hospital recently?”

Wait for responses

“What sort of things do you think you would go and see the doctor or nurse for?”

Wait for responses

Get 3 volunteers to stand up. Get them to imagine they each have something they need to see the doctor for: Headache, cold, sprained wrist etc.

For each one bring out the treatment and act as the doctor – tell them what you recommend to make them feel better – paracetamol, chicken soup for nourishment, support bandage.

Now pretend to give each person the treatment, and then take it away – tell them they can’t have it.

Ask the group how they would feel if they were poorly, or had hurt themselves and weren’t allowed to go to the doctor, or have the medicine they needed to get better.

“Jesus tells us to look after the sick, and feed the hungry, and give water to the thirsty. We should all do our best to make sure we look after those who need looking after, and make sure that they have what they need to be healthy”.

Then talk about how today we are having a Souper Sunday, learning about a virus called HIV which makes people, including millions of children, all over the world very poorly. Normal medicines that are easy to get hold of don’t work for this virus. There is one very specific medicine that can make them feel a lot better but more than half the children who need this medicine aren’t able to have it. We can do our little bit to help these children get the medicine they need, by supporting the Church of Scotland HIV Programme.

Let us Pray

Dear God, we thank you that we are lucky enough to live in a place where we can get the medicine, food and water we need to stay healthy. Please help us to remember that not everyone is as lucky as we are, but that there are things we can do to help others who need medicine or food when they are sick. We pray for those children around the world who have HIV, please bless them, and let them know that they are loved and cared for. In Jesus’ name,

Amen.