Object: To explore the meaning of
Lent and how this season can be
used to help others.
• What do you think this video was about?
• What happened to Jesus whilst he was in the
desert?
• How do Christians remember this time?
What is this season in the Church calendar
called?
In the Christian church, Lent
marks the time when Jesus
spent time in the wilderness,
fasting – not eating - thinking
about the path that he wanted
to take in life and, the Bible
says, being tempted by the
devil.
Luke's Gospel says:
‘Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in
the desert, where for forty
days he was tempted by the
devil. He ate nothing during
those days, and at the end
of them he was hungry.'
To mark this idea of trying to resist temptation
and fasting, many Christians try to give up
something for Lent such as chocolate, meat,
sweets, takeaways etc.
The SEED Project
This year ‘The SEED Project’ are challenging you
to give up something, which saves you money,
and then donate the money to empower those
who have no luxuries to give up.
SEED helps Zimbabwean communities to work
themselves out of poverty.
What SEED does
• The SEED Project works in communities in
Zimbabwe where unemployment, ill health
and hunger are high, and opportunities, hope
and education are low.
• SEED empowers disadvantaged communities
to meet their own needs so that they do not
have to rely on financial and practical aid
given by others.
Examples of SEED’s impact
1. Skills Development
• Unemployment in Zimbabwe is around 90%.
• Many people drop out of education and
become trapped in a cycle of poverty.
• In 2009, SEED started a skills development
programme.
• Training includes basic
business skills.
Examples of SEED’s impact
1. Skills Development (cont.)
• Skills taught include carpentry, electronics,
welding, banking, basket weaving, bicycle
servicing, and shoe repair.
• Trainees use their new skills to earn an
income, even employing and passing their
skills on to others.
• Their income enables them to afford proper
housing for their families and to send their
children to school, all while making a valuable
contribution to their local communities.
2. Market Gardening
• SEED equips village families to maintain wells
and raise crops that are highly marketable and
possess rich health benefits.
3. ‘Little Stars’ Play-Centre
• SEED helped a church
in Zimbabwe to set up
a pre-school for local
children.
4. Health Education Campaigns
• In 2009 there was a cholera outbreak in
Zimbabwe.
• SEED worked in 24 communities to train 280
women as peer education volunteers.
• These volunteers reached an average of 260
families each with basic messages about
hygiene, healthy living,
disease prevention, and
what to do if they or a
family member got sick.
Changed Lives
• SEED taught Constance how to
make polish and household
cleansers, which she sells in the
market. With her earnings, she is
now able to send her children to a
better school in the city and look
after her extended family better.
• Granny Prisca is a 79-year-old widow who
cares for her three orphan grandchildren.
SEED taught her some basic business and
agricultural skills. Now, she is able to feed her
family more nutritious meals and market
vendors come to her in the hope of being able
to sell her produce!
SEED has helped so many people ... but wants to help even more!
DIAMOND 9
Small Change Challenge
This is where you can help!
Traditionally, people give up something for Lent. This
year, how about making a small lifestyle change that
will make a big difference in the wider world?
Then, donate the money that you save - for instance, by
giving up chocolate - to The SEED Project to help
empower people in Zimbabwe who have no luxuries to
give up.
Lent 2015 begins on Wednesday 18th February and
finishes on Saturday 4th April.
A few ideas
• Walk to school - ask your parents to donate the
bus/fuel money to SEED.
• Pocket Money Exchange – instead of buying
sweets/magazines, try going without and
donating some of your pocket money to the
work of SEED.
• Meat Free Mondays - ask your parents to donate
what they would have spent on meat to SEED.
Small Change Challenge
Every little helps!
For people who have very little and who live in poor
countries like Zimbabwe, even a small donation can
make a big difference!
• Just £2.50 can give a family a tree in a
community woodlot that will provide
them with fruit and seed, firewood and
building materials for years to come.
• The cost of skills training for one
parent is £100. So, for the price of just
a second class stamp each day (53p),
SEED can train two parents in a year.
Reflection Task
• On your SEED – Consider what lifestyle change
you might be able to make this Lent and write
it down.
• On your LEAF – Write what you hope your
seed of change may grow into for example
sending a child to pre-school, training a
carpenter etc.
For more information visit
seed-project.org/SCC