CHURCH BOOKLET Ideas to help you twin your church Abundantly blessed Sita’s story God is a faithful, loving God who delights to shower blessings upon Sita sits under the huge mango tree beside her home in Ivory Coast, his children – so they can bless enjoying the sweet scent. Not long ago, the stench was overpowering: others. Through Twinning, there were no toilets in the village. your church can be a blessing to Sita’s children were constantly sick with diarrhoea and the family made regular communities overseas. visits to the medical centre for vital medicines they couldn’t afford. In this booklet, you’ll read about Sita Sometimes, the nurse would give them a week’s grace to pay. and her family in Ivory Coast, one of the But Sita and her husband are casual labourers on the local poorest countries in the world – and cashew plantation and work is poorly paid and scarce. about how a simple toilet transformed Occasionally, they would borrow from neighbours to pay the their lives. It’s also the story of how nurse. But it was rare that others had money to spare. So the people in the UK have shared their debts mounted up. blessings and shown God’s love to others, to free them from debt, despair ‘We felt hopeless, trapped,’ Sita says. ‘We didn’t want and disease. to live any more.’ Could you dedicate a Sunday service to Since Toilet Twinning’s partner MAP started teaching people Toilet Twinning, maybe at harvest, or about hygiene and , families like Sita’s have built a around (19 November)? behind their home. There’s a new community water Or could you put on a fundraising pump by the school too – and a village water management event and create a Toilet Twinning committee to ensure it’s properly maintained. display at the back of your church?

Now, Sita’s family are healthy and no longer have to spend 2 billion people across the world still money on medicines. They can afford to send the children don’t have a proper toilet. In Ivory to school – and have started to build a new home. Coast, more than three-quarters of the population lacks a loo. Your church can ‘Now, thank God, our village is clean, my family transform lives overseas by twinning is much healthier and there’s no more debt.’ your toilets. Toilet Twinning’s supporters dug deep so that change Included in this booklet: became possible. Sita and her family have been • Talk outline blessed – and they know it. Their health, hope • F undraising ideas for the and dignity have all been restored. whole church Watch our film about Sita on vimeo: • Ideas for youth and children’s groups https://vimeo.com/294530528 Church talk: Fundraising Abundant blessings ideas ‘AND GOD IS ABLE TO BLESS YOU ABUNDANTLY, SO THAT IN Why not try one or more of these tried-and-tested fundraising ALL THINGS AT ALL TIMES, HAVING ALL THAT YOU NEED, YOU ideas for harvest or World Toilet Day (19 November)? WILL ABOUND IN EVERY GOOD WORK.’ A (No)

2 Corinthians 9:8 bake sale: it’s a piece of cake!

What does it mean to be blessed – and to be a blessing? A pun-tastic bake sale after church to raise funds for Toilet Twinning is a piece of cake! We have perhaps become over-familiar God showers blessings on us, not so with the phrase ‘God bless’. We say we’re that we will horde and guard them for You will need: ‘blessed’ to have good neighbours, a ourselves – but rather to bless others Bakers new car, a nice house. The #blessed and point them to Christ. Over the years, our twinners have proved their weight in tag on social media has been linked to butter with their ingenious toilet-themed cakes and flan ‘humble bragging’. 2 Corinthians 9:8 talks of an creations, including: Lemon widdle cake, Chocolate log, inexhaustible supply of grace which Bog-shaped biscuits or Poo emoji cakes! But how often do we count more basic God wants to pour out through us so Games and on-the-spot Twinning A display of blessings like having a toilet and clean we may ‘abound in every good work’. Toilet Twinning Invite people to give generously with: water on tap – everyday essentials that We’re called to be a conduit for his love certificates millions of people still don’t have? so that we can be ‘salt and light’ to the order a Make-A-Stand kit

world (Matthew 5:13,14). – see back page When we spoke with the residents of A ‘Chicken A ‘Guess the £60 Poo Bingo’ to twin Sita’s village, people said repeatedly The ultimate blessing, as the Beatitudes board weight of the toilet-themed how grateful they were for our partner’s show immediately before this (Matthew (available to download work. Sita herself knows she is blessed 5:3-12), is an intimate relationship with from our website) cake’ contest and cared for. Knowing that their village our loving heavenly Father, resting £2 to play £1 has not been forgotten, and that God is in him and being fully satisfied in his to enter faithful, has restored their hope. presence, whatever our circumstances. Invite everyone to come So let’s ‘forget not all his benefits’ to church dressed in blue (Psalm 103:2)… including toilets. and make a donation to Blue for Toilet Twinning! the Loo Craft ideas Inspire your children and young people Make loo roll art (here’s one we made earlier) Who can build the about why loos are lifesavers and raise tallest tower of loo rolls? Build a funds to twin some toilets. bridge using only loo rolls and string Make a mummy/clothing with loo paper.

Make a weekend of it! The young people at Ryton Methodist Church led a service on a toilet theme and sold cakes they Get sporty had baked during a toilet-themed Hold a sponsored water-carrying games evening and sleepover the walk or cycle ride or a ‘Run for the loo’. night before. They encouraged The average round-trip for women church friends to twin using a and children collecting water in the Big Squat Make-a-Stand kit. developing world is 6km or 3.7 miles. Challenge your young Your young people could walk, cycle people to do as many or run together, or cover the distance squats as possible in one in relay teams. or two minutes. Could you hold a Big Squat Tough it out for World Toilet Day on Middle Church children at St Devenick’s in Bieldside, Aberdeen, 19 November? (Most held a sponsored bike ride and slept outdoors under cardboard. we help build Could you do something similar to push yourselves outside your are squatting toilets). comfort zone and step into the shoes of people in poverty?

Donations can be made online via a BACS transfer: Account name Toilet Twinning Loo-se change Bank Barclays Account 53798860 Use a (clean) loo or a large picture of a Sort code 20-00-00 toilet and fill it with small change. Or you can send a cheque (payable to ‘Toilet Twinning’) to: Toilet Twinning, 1052-1054 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH7 6DS Your church service checklist You can order or download these resources from the ‘Churches’ section of our website: www.toilettwinning.org

Short film: Watch the Sita film on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/294530528, or find it on our website.

A PowerPoint: Use a slide deck of photos and Bible verses alongside your Abundant blessings talk.

A Make-A-Stand kit: Create a pop-up Toilet Twinning stand and offer your congregation the opportunity to twin their toilet at home – either before or after a service, or as part of a Blue for the Loo event or Soggy Bottoms bake sale.

Recipes for a bake sale: We’re delighted to have the support of celebrity bakers who’ve donated recipes to inspire your creativity.

Fun activities: Chicken Poo Bingo, Build-A-Bog ‘beetle drive’, Toilet Quiz, craft ideas: loo-themed fun and games are just a click away!

Advertising: Download a poster template and add in your event details.

Get in touch if you need any more ideas or resources.

0300 321 3217 [email protected] /toilettwinning @toilettwinning toilet_twinning

Toilet Twinning is part of Tearfund. Registered Charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) and No. SC037624 (Scotland). Photo: Tom Price/Toilet Twinning. netrun78/Adobestock.com 221