Get Involved

Activities for Religious Communities

Work with your congregation or a neighboring one to make cluster bombs a part of a worship service. Click here for a church bulletin insert. You could encourage fundraising for your denomination’s aid and relief work in Angola, Laos, Lebanon or other cluster-bomb and landmine infested countries. You could also educate and activate parishioners about opportunities to ban further U.S. use and export of cluster bombs by supporting current legislation.

1. Pray for Victims of Cluster Bombs and Landmines

Include in your prayer service a remembrance of past, present and future victims of landmines and cluster bombs, and pray for the United States to support global efforts to ban the use of these highly indiscriminant weapons, which kill and maim so many civilians. Use this opportunity to inform your congregation about the urgency to address the international cluster bomb crisis and to clean up our past messes. A ringing of church bells may be included in the service to heighten the awareness of the public of these activities.

There are many Scripture Readings that relate to and support a ban on landmines and cluster bombs. Following are a couple that you may wish to incorporate into your prayer service:

Leviticus 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.

Isaiah 2:4   They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Galatians 6:7   Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.
 
James 3:18   Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1 John 4:20-21 If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

2. Build a Landmine and Cluster-bomb-free Path to Worship

Invite each person in your congregation to bring a rock from their home. You might advertise the activity in your program/bulletin in the following way:

You are invited to bring a stone or a pebble from your home area to church on Sunday______. On that day, you can help create a landmine and cluster-bomb-free pathway before (or during) worship.

Landmines and cluster weapons continue to claim the fertile land of farmers, the playgrounds of children, the active lives of individuals. Our collective work and action will help make the way safe for others around the world. So come, help build a landmine/cluster-bomb-free pathway, and add to the momentum gathering for a global ban on cluster bombs.

3. Talk to Kids about Making Change

Suggest that the teachers of religious education teach a lesson about landmines and cluster munitions, including the efforts of children to raise awareness and funds to clear minefields. Some activities on the chosen Sunday (and perhaps on preceding ones as well) could include:

• Write letters to the White House and members of Congress urging support for efforts to ban further use and export of cluster bombs.
• Organize a fun and spirited fundraiser to support demining efforts.
• Design banners/quilts/posters to hang in the church during a landmines and cluster bomb-focused prayer service.