The Next Steps at Harvest - allwecan.org.uk

The Next Steps

Service Materials

at Harvest

Keep in touchEmail us: [email protected] us on : twitter facebook instagram youtube @allwecanukTag us @allwecanuk #nextsteps

Image: Nawalat and her mum in Butagaya, Uganda

Before you take a step

💻 When you see this computer graphic, you can download online content from allwecan.org.uk/nextsteps

Will your church take The Next Steps with communities in Zimbabwe?Background to The Next Steps campaign and the Nkayi district of Zimbabwe:

Throughout this service you will meet members of the community from Nkayi district in Zimbabwe, where All We Can’s local partner HEFO (Health Education Food Organisation) is working. The areas of Nkayi where HEFO work face harsh climatic conditions which means that hunger and food shortages are widespread and households endure tough financial situations. Women are particularly disadvantaged in terms of rights to land, property and decision making.

All We Can partners with local organisations and individuals who are best placed to unlock potential in their own local communities. Partnership is a journey of walking together, navigating the challenges that may arise, and strengthening the organisations and communities through collaboration.

The Next Steps campaign is an opportunity for your church community to reflect on your own journey over the tumultuous experience of the last year, and to acknowledge the challenges you have faced. You will have the chance to celebrate your own community, make connections with Nkayi, and consider what your next steps will be in the coming weeks, months, and years.

💻 Find out more at allwecan.org.uk/aboutnextsteps

As the world asks, ‘What’s next?’ you can join the All We Can movement for £6 a month and take the next steps alongside farmers like Vaiter and Shupikai, who you will meet later in this resource, as they grow in self-reliance and resilience.

Steps before the serviceIf you are able to meet in person then put out the giving envelopes on seats before people arrive or ensure you have the link to the giving page displayed onscreen: allwecan.org.uk/steps (the PowerPoint for this service includes slides with information about making a gift to All We Can and a QR code that people can scan if they have smartphones).

Stay safeThe suggested activities in the service should be carried out within the guidelines set out for places of worship at this time. Please do adapt the activities to fit with your context.

All-ages activitiesThe aim of the service is to allow plenty of opportunities for all ages to feel involved and to contribute. However, if you have some younger members of your church you can find a colouring activity sheet in the appendix which can be used as a way of helping children think about their own next steps.

Another simple prayer activity you could try is to get each child to draw a staircase and then fill each step with the steps they have coming up in their lives. Big and small. You can then use those steps as opportunities to pray.

Stepping into worship You may want to get creative in setting up your worship space.

• You could encourage people to take off their shoes and create a path lined with the shoes of your community.

• You may want to use footprints to represent each person present at the service and give them the opportunity to write their name on their footprint, as well as the next step they want to take on their faith journey.

• Whatever you do, send in your photos to [email protected] or tag @allwecanuk on social media and use the hashtag #nextsteps - it is so exciting to see the creative ways churches and communities engage with the work of All We Can’s local partners.

Service MaterialsNotes for Leaders

2 / The Next Steps at Harvest: Service Materials Cover image: Vaiter's husband and granddaughter plough the field as part of a farming project run by HEFO, All We Can's local partner in Nkayi, Zimbabwe. Photo: Tendai Marima/All We Can

3 / The Next Steps at Harvest: Service Materials

WelcomeToday, as we gather together in the variety of ways that we can, we will be spending time asking ourselves: ‘what are the next steps for us?’

In a time when making plans has felt like an act of foolish hope, when holidays are cancelled, celebrations unable to happen, loved ones lost, when returning to a way of life with much more freedom seems on the horizon, we will look back at where we have been, where we are now, where we hope to go and who we will go with.

As we worship today, you may feel your own next steps becoming clearer. Perhaps a prompting to try something different or get more involved in a community project. Today, we will get to know the community of Nkayi and you may feel prompted to find out more about All We Can, to pray for the charity’s work or to sign up to make a regular gift and journey alongside the people we meet today.

Let’s step into worship together as we bring our Harvest gifts. Let’s step into global community together as we meet the community from Nkayi in Zimbabwe. Let’s step into fellowship as we lament, worship, listen and respond to our loving God.

Call to worshipPsalm 63: 1-4

You, God, are my God,earnestly I seek you;I thirst for you,my whole being longs for youin a dry and parched landwhere there is no water.I have seen you in the sanctuaryand beheld your power and your glory.Because your love is better than life,my lips will glorify you.I will praise you as long as I live,and in your name I will lift up my hands.

PLAYLIST Song For the Beauty of the earth (StF 102) Where have you been?As the psalmist cries to God and asks how long he must wait, will God forget him forever, and asks where is God, we too, can cry out to our loving God. Lament leads us into a closer relationship with God because we are not hiding anything from him. Today, we come as we are; carrying pain, struggle, grief, disappointment and weariness. Before we can look ahead, we will look back and name the parts of life which are hard for us and weigh heavily on our hearts. Where have we been? What has happened that we need to lament?

Display the photo of Shupikai.

Shupikai lives in Nkayi. She is a widow and mother to four daughters. As Shupikai looked back at where she had been before working with All We Can’s local partner, she said this:

‘When my husband died in 2016, I felt like I was nowhere. I almost went a little mad and it was a tough time for me.’

What has been tough for you? Let us lament.

A time to reflect back on and lament what has gone before. If it is suitable in your context, place a large paper display at the back of your church with the word ‘LOOK BACK’ written in large letters. Encourage the congregation to write their laments within the letters. You may need to remain separated so could use post-it notes and each individual can place their note on the display. You could do this activity in small groups with a scribe if that is more suitable for your context. If you are completing this activity online, you can make use of the whiteboard function for making collective notes.

You may want to play a song while people are responding eg. Rend Collective’s Weep With Me.

Questions for the congregation:

• What has happened over the last year(s) that is heavy on your heart? Where have you been? What has been difficult or made you cry out to God?

• Once everyone has placed their laments on the display, or shared them as is fitting in your context, you may want to read out some and acknowledge the different burdens, pains people have brought. The following collective prayer can be used to draw the time of lament to an end.

hand Opening sentencesMy soul waits for the Lordmore than thosewho watch for the morning,more than thosewho watch for the morning. Call: Out of the depths I have cried to You. Response: O Lord, hear my voice. Call: With my whole heart I want to praise You. Response: O Lord, hear my voice. Call: If you, Lord, should mark iniquities: Response: Who could stand? Who could stand?

I will wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word do I hope.

hand Expressions of faithLord, You have always givenbread for the coming day;and though I am poor,today I believe.Lord, You have always givenstrength for the coming day;and though I am weak,today I believe.


Lord, You have always givenpeace for the coming day;and though of anxious heart,today I believe.Lord, You have always keptme safe in trials;and now, tired as I am,today I believe.Lord, You have always markedthe road for the coming day;and though it may be hidden,today I believe.Lord, You have always lightenedthis darkness of mine;and though the night is here,today I believe.Lord, You have always spokenwhen time was ripe;and though you be silent now,today I believe.

Taken from Evening Prayer from Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer published by Collins.

PLAYLIST Song Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father (StF 51)

Cutpaste Activity: Where are you? LOOK AROUND💻 If you can, share the images of Nkayi showing the land and community

The southern part of Nkayi in particular faces challenges stemming from the climate crisis. Dry lands and limited access to water have a big impact on the lives of the community. Distances from 2km to 10km are walked to get to water supplies. The land has suffered from poor farming practices but All We Can’s local partner, HEFO, know that the words of Isaiah 61:11 are true: ‘For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.’

HEFO help communities like those in Nkayi by teaching climate-resilient sustainable farming practices, and increasing access to clean and safe water as well as livestock production. In a region where lengthy dry spells can make them susceptible to droughts, accessing clean water is vital for the health of the community, their livelihoods, and the animals they are rearing.

The impact of Covid-19 on the community has made it difficult for farmers to travel and sell produce; community development projects have faced interruptions and delays.

Let’s look around our community. Where are the important places to us? What do you love about our community? What are the challenges our community are facing especially as a result of COVID-19?

Display a map of your local area or, if that isn’t possible, have to name of your town/city/circuit/parish displayed where people

can then draw or write on their responses to the prompts. If you asked members of your congregation to send in doorstep photos then this is a great time to share some of them. If you’re meeting in person then encourage those photos to be added to the display.

At the end of this activity, you may want to incorporate your gifts that the congregation have brought for Harvest especially if they are for a local foodbank. You may want to say the following to commit the gifts to God.

Father of abundance,

In the same spirit as the widow who gave all that she had as on offering, we bring forward these gifts that they may be a small act of hope that God will use these to bring comfort to those who most need it. May our community stand alongside Nkayi as we look around us and take our next steps on the path God has ordained for us. We commend this offering to you Lord, may it be acceptable to you. Amen.

PLAYLIST Song We Plough the Fields and Scatter (StF 130)

album Readings Luke 17: 20-22; Rev 21:1-5 (NIV)

🎤 Sermon: What are you going to next? LOOK AHEAD💻 You can download a sermon from Revd Dr Kate Coleman (speaker,lecturer, leadership coach and mentor, former Baptist union President) at allwecan.org.uk/ nextsteps. The following is an indicator of the key points you may want to elicit to form the basis of your sermon if you prefer not to use Kate Coleman’s. A transcript is provided in the appendix.

• There is hope in what is to come but we are not called to passivity here and now. God’s kingdom is being built now and we are called to be active participants.

• We need to look back at what has gone before; what lessons we can learn as we move forward with purpose in our God-inspired next steps.

PLAYLIST Song:There is a new heaven; there is a new earth (StF 738)

EXCLAMATION Response: Who are you travelling with? GO TOGETHER💻 Watch the film.

We do not journey alone through life. Being rooted in a community and the fellowship of our church is an important part of our own walk of faith. Who are you travelling with? Will you choose to walk alongside the community of Nkayi as they take their next steps towards recovery and resilience.

For women like Vaiter and Shupikai, learning farming


techniques that are sustainable allows them to not only take their own next steps towards self-reliance and independence but has a positive impact on the lives of their families. Vaiter’s granddaughters and Shupikai’s daughters are following in their footsteps. They are passing on their knowledge and investing in the young girls in their lives. This is kingdom building; leaving a legacy. So, when you hear that £6 a month can help two farmers in Zimbabwe, picture Vaiter and Shupikai. These are two of the farmers that £6 a month will impact. Will you take the next steps with Vaiter and Shupikai?

Your regular gift is a statement that you want to walk alongside vulnerable communities like Nkayi as they navigate the effects of Covid-19 and climate change. Will you take the next step with Vaiter and Shupikai?

Use the giving envelopes that each person should have received at the start of the service to say the collective prayer.

Gracious God,Guide the way as we take the next step in our walk with you.Lead us towards justice;Show us the path of abundant love;Set our feet on the road towards building your kingdom. May our next steps follow yours,And our hearts be turned outwards as we love by following your example. In Jesus’ name,Amen.

You may want to choose a specific place for people to return their envelopes – at the foot of the cross, on the communion table, a display from the service today. The congregation can be encouraged to physically take their next step by bringing their commitments and gifts up to the collection place.

hand IntercessionsThe Lord makes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him;though they may stumble, they will not fall,for the Lord upholds them with his hand. Loving God, We pray for ourselves, our loved ones and community. As we look ahead, we ask that you will light the way for us and continue to draw us closer to you. We thank you for the members of our community who continue to serve in frontline services; give them rest and encouragement.

The Lord makes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him;though they may stumble, they will not fall,for the Lord upholds them with his hand.

Merciful God,We lift up our leaders to you as they guide our nation. We pray that you will give them wisdom, compassion and willing ears to listen. We pray that they will be able to find the balance of championing our country whilst being a caring and generous global neighbour.

The Lord makes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him;though they may stumble, they will not fall,for the Lord upholds them with his hand.Gracious God, We pray for All We Can’s local partner, HEFO, and the community of Nkayi. We thank you for this fruitful partnership and pray that it will flourish as they walk together. We pray for the community projects that HEFO run and all the members who take part. We ask Lord that the gifts that have been given today will be an encouragement to the farmers like Vaiter and Shupikai as they work to grow their farms and livelihhoods.


Creator God, We are sorry for the times when we have not looked after and protected the beautiful world you have given us. We pray for the Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow in November. We thank you for the commitment of the countries, organisations and campaigners coming together to inspire meaningful action to combat the climate crisis. We pray that it will be a marker in the sand and a significant step towards tackling the devastation caused by climate change.


PLAYLIST SongAll creatures of our God and King (StF 99)

BlessingMay the God of all, Bless you and lead you as you take your next steps. May you know the loving guidance of your saviour. Today,Tomorrow,And always. Amen.


Appendix 1Get creativeEveryone will be taking their own next steps. Some are big and some are small. You might be starting a new school or moving house. Or perhaps you are going to visit a friend or family member you haven’t seen for a long time.

What are your next steps? Write your next steps on each step and colour in the logo.

Insert a black and white version of the logo with the ribbons unshaded so they can be coloured in.


Appendix 2PLAYLIST Song listHere are a selection of songs and hymns you may want to use for sung worship in your service.

Title Singing the Faith (StF)

All creatures of our God and King StF 99

Beauty for brokenness StF 693

Blessed Assurance StF 548

Christ has risen while earth slumbers StF 296

Come, ye thankful people come StF 123

Everyone needs compassion StF 627

For the fruits of all creation StF 124

For the healing of the nations StF696

Give thanks to the Lord our God and King StF 77

Give thanks with a grateful heart StF 78

God in his love for us lent us this planet StF 727

Great is thy faithfulness StF 51

God of justice StF 699

God, who made the stars of heaven StF 7

Have you heard God’s voice StF 662

I am a new creation StF 553

I the Lord of sea and sky StF 663

In the beginning God played with the planets StF 108

Jesus is Lord, creation’s voice proclaims it StF 353

Longing for light StF 706

Lord I come to you StF 471

Make me a channel of your peace StF 707

Now thank we all our God StF 81

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder StF 82

Our God is a great big God StF 61

Over all the earth, you reign on high StF 63

Praise and thanksgiving StF 125

Praise God for the harvest StF 126

Tell me who made all of creation StF 118

The harvest is here StF 128

The silent stars shine down on us StF 231

Think of a world without any flowers StF 92

We plough the fields and scatter StF 130

When I needed a neighbour StF 256

Would you walk by on the other side? StF 257


Appendix 2🎤 Harvest Reflection for All We Can by Revd Kate Coleman

album Bible readings: Revelation 21: 1-5 Luke 17: 20-22

The approach to harvest is always characterised by waiting…

Farmers wait for full growth, maturity and yield. As much as they might like to plant seeds one day and reap the next, they know that reaping a harvest is a process of time. They must plant a seed and then be persistent and patient, fully expecting a harvest…in time!

But this kind of waiting can’t afford to be a passive, twiddling of thumbs, kind of wait, this wait must be active. There are things to do, like weeding, and steps that must be taken to ensure a healthy harvest and then there are decisions to be made and opportunities to explore post-harvest.

Rev 21:1-5 is a reminder for us today of what we are waiting for, in kingdom terms. We read of ‘a new heaven and a new earth’… ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

What a picture, what a hope, but what about now? What happens while we wait? Well Luke 17: 20-21 is a reminder that there is little time for passivity while we wait. Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’

There is little time for passivity or inactivity while we wait because the king who will be fully revealed in Rev 21 is already on His throne reigning, right now. But just as Jesus informed the Pharisees of Luke 17, when they enquired or possibly even demanded that he provide them with proof of the kingdom he constantly spoke about and of which he claimed to be king or Messiah, the kingdom of God was not about to arrive with the same trappings, paraphernalia, pomp, and ceremony as an earthly kingdom! And by the same measure, neither would it be accompanied by the same constraints and limitations of an ordinary or even an extraordinary earthly kingdom!

The Pharisees’ question presumed that the kingdom of God was yet to come and that it would be visible (like an earthly kingdom). But God’s kingdom is so much more than earthly kingdoms. The embodied king of the kingdom defies all earthly comparison and surprises us at every turn precisely because he is not the ‘usual suspect’. And his kingdom would not be visibly ‘here’ or ‘there’ in the same way as other earthly kingdoms, regardless of the expectations of the Pharisees.

Somewhat like the seed and the harvest, the kingdom is now and not yet. It is a current reality but there is a fullness that is still to come. God reigns today but one day his reign will be globally visible.

Like the Pharisees and believers of old, we live in challenging times characterised by death, mourning, crying and pain, the very opposite of what is promised in Rev 21 and like them we hope that God will intervene and bring about a better world, one in which we are liberated from our very human struggles and fears. But instead of waiting until, ‘all is revealed!’ we can experience and express ‘signs’ of the kingdom now, today, because the kingdom of God is among or even possibly within them as it is for us.

While we wait for the full expression of the kingdom described in Rev 21, we are invited to participate in spreading and introducing the kingdom ‘reign’ of our king wherever we can through expressions of love, care and commitment. And precisely because the Kingdom of Heaven is among or indeed within us in a world where the kingdom seems far away and even absent at times, we become the means by which it opens up into the earth and we become an avenue through which God’s kingdom is manifested. As we live out of his rule it is manifest, as we pray it is manifest and as we follow the leading of the Spirit and engage in whatever God is doing it is made manifest.

When we listen to the news, we can easily feel overwhelmed, nothing seems to be peaceful or joyful, God’s activity seems to have disappeared.

However, God’s presence and his kingdom is still active. Every time somebody acts out of love, every time something is put right and justice is served no matter how small, God’s kingdom is experienced and expressed; where there is beauty, God’s kingdom is experienced and expressed. Where there is love God’s kingdom is experienced and expressed.

Every now and again farmers have to adopt new approaches, design new tools and change their mindsets in order to work in environments that are fundamentally changing. Those who wrestle with the worst effects of climate change understand this. I believe we stand at the crossroads of such a moment today. For us our job description remains the same, i.e. to experience God’s kingdom rule within us and to express God’s kingdom intentions around us. The approach and the tools we use to do this may need to adapt to our new reality and to the demands of a changing environment. Thankfully, it’s not all down to us, the Holy Spirit is already at work in the world around us, and our task is to simply find out what he’s doing and to join in.

So, what are your next steps? What about mine?

In some ways, perhaps the most important step of all that we can take, is a step back rather than a step forward.

It’s important that we take that step back because in the West we live life with our faces so focused on the future, so eager to see what lies ahead that we barely take a second glance at


the past behind us. This means, that we hardly ever really learn from the past or ask ourselves strategic questions about how we can improve on the past.

I’m Black British and was born in Ghana, West Africa and in my cultural tradition we have the word, ‘Sankofa’ which is represented symbolically by a bird looking back with an egg in its mouth while it’s flying forward. The idea behind this word is ‘retrieval’, it conveys the idea that positive progress is impossible until we bring critical knowledge from the past with us into the present.

The Hebrew Prophets understood this. Christians often think that they were obsessed with the future, but they were actually far more interested in squeezing every last bit of learning they could from the past.

In Hebrew thought the key to the future lay in the past. In other words, the past is ahead in full view, while the future (the unseen) lies behind us. It’s a bit like sitting on a train facing the direction you’ve already come from.

The prophet was only able to speak to the issues of their day not because they had an eye to the future but because they had an eye to the past and the journey they’d already taken with God.

If you want to know what the Holy Spirit is up to today and where He may be tomorrow, you may be surprised to find the answers in the past. Many of us have not really looked back since Covid began, we have been waiting (mostly for it to pass), surviving or planning for the future. But God has been at work and there are steps we are being called to take next.

It is only as you look back that you discover the nature of the journey you have already taken with God as communities, churches, or organisations. And what about your family? What is the nature of the journey they have taken over this challenging season? And what about you as an individual? What have you learned from this past season that will enable you to sow more efficiently, invest more wisely so that you can nurture and support others beyond yourself more meaningfully?

I don’t know about you but as I look back especially during lockdown, there was a lot to learn about the human propensity to distract and divert ourselves from the real issues.

In spite of this, hopefully, we have learned that as believers we need to be more empowering, more collaborative, more inclusive and more diverse (ethnically, culturally, etc). And that we need to be oriented to addressing the kind of issues that were highlighted during Covid: such as the increasing gap between the world’s richest and poorest, the climate crisis, the global nature of racism, domestic abuse and the dangers of celebrity cultures in churches and Christian organisations. I’m sure you could add your own observations.

We can’t do it all at once, but we can do it together with each one of us playing a unique part.

So, if as believers we really want to know what to do next… pause, take a step back before you take a step forward.

Learn everything you can from where you’ve been, from what God did and said, to how He did it. Learn from what you observed but perhaps never really noticed about others, their needs and possibilities as well as your own needs and possibilities. And then prepare for your first step forward.

I believe we allow the reign of God to come into effect:

• When the church embraces the incredible opportunity to model a Christ-like approach to a watching world.

• When we reclaim territory around truth, integrity, justice and salvation.

• When we embrace the opportunity to speak in fresh ways to the full spectrum of human experience—tragedy, pain, loss, and despair, but also recovery, renewal, healing, and hope.

• When we also demonstrate the value of learning from those we have traditionally believed need to learn from us.

Let’s stop reinventing the wheel because what is new for us isn’t new for everyone. Uncertainty and instability have been normal life for many Christians the world over. I have found that the cry ‘where is God in our suffering?’ is a peculiarly Western preoccupation. Brothers and sisters living with great uncertainty, instability and under the shadow of aggression or the physical suffering of war and oppressive regimes, seldom ask such questions. Instead, they assume God’s presence and seek out God’s favour in the midst of it all. Surely, we can learn from their spirituality and tenacity.

Devising creative and innovative ways of staying connected even while being forced apart has been the challenge of our Christian brothers and sisters experiencing intense persecution. Surely, we can learn from their ingenuity, innovation, commitment to community and creative ability to find ways of honouring the call to community even when visible community becomes challenging.

As you consider partners overseas and at home, commit yourselves not just to give to them but also to learn from them. As we come alongside them and take steps toward recovery together in the face of the climate crisis, the dehumanising effects of material poverty and more, let’s commit ourselves to experiencing and expressing the reign of God among and within us in ways that impacts injustices, resists darkness, adjusts circumstances and transforms lives.

Like farmers, the task for us remains the same today as it has ever been. However, we must step back to see the bigger picture by keeping an eye to the past even as we travel into our God-given future. We must deploy our new tools and approaches in creative ways for the sake of God’s ‘now and not yet’ kingdom.

And, after all has been said and done, we must ready ourselves to take our next God-inspired steps!

All We Can is the operating name of The Methodist Relief and Development Fund, a charity registered in England and Wales, number 291691

Image: Shupikai’s daughter, Ashley, plays in her sister’s garden.

allwecan.org.uk/nextsteps

facebook instagram twitter @allwecanuk

The Next Steps at Harvest - allwecan.org.uk

Documents