The story is about a boy who signed up with the football nursery. During the half-time of a game, he stopped to look at a world map on the billboard. Together with his coach and friends, they write prayers for the countries of the world.
Ages
- Primary Years
- Middle Years
Dinja Waħda – Flimkien mal-Oħrajn Nirbaħ
Karim inkiteb man-nursery tal-futbol u tgħidx kemm ikun qed jistenna s-Sibt filgħodu biex imur għat-trejning! Apparti t-trejning, ikollu ħerqa kbira li jiltaqa’ ma’ wħud mill-ħbieb tiegħu tal-klassi kif ukoll ma’ tfal oħra li jittrenjaw miegħu u li bħalu telqu minn pajjiżhom bit-tama li jgħixu ħajja aħjar f’pajjiż ieħor. Trid tarah kemm jifraħ magħhom u huma miegħu meta jiskorja xi gowl.
Darba waħda waqt il-half time ta’ logħba minnhom, Karim waqaf iħares lejn wieħed mill-bords tar-reklami li kien hemm madwar il-grawnd. Fuq dan il-bord kien hemm mappa tad-dinja flimkien ma’ bnadar ikkuluriti ta’ timijiet minn diversi pajjiżi. Huwa beda jfittex il-pajjiż tiegħu fuq il-mappa.
Kompla jfittex pajjiżi oħra fejn jaf li jgħixu xi familjari oħra tiegħu. Tant intilef iħares lejn din il-mappa li lanqas kien induna li l-kowċ kien qiegħed isaffar is-suffara biex ikomplu jilagħbu. Meta ra hekk il-kowċ ġietu idea. Qal lit-tfal l-oħra kollha biex imorru ħdejn Karim, iħarsu lejn il-mappa tad-dinja u jiffurmaw ċirku madwarha. U qalilhom, “Ħarsu sew lejn din il-mappa u sibu l-pajjiż tagħkom jew il-pajjiż ta’ fejn jgħixu qrabatkom. Tistgħu wkoll issibu xi pajjiżi oħra li tisimgħu dwarhom fl-aħbarijiet li ġratilhom xi ħaġa negattiva bħal xi terremot, tsunami, ġlied, gwerer jew xi protesta li wasslet għall-vjolenza.”
Sadanittant il-kowċ ħareġ ftit sticky notes u lapsijiet mil-folder li kellu f’idu u beda jqassam sticky note u lapes lil kulħadd. U kompla jgħidilhom: “Issa fuq l-isticky note, iktbu talba għall-pajjiż li ħsibtu fih jew għan-nies li jgħixu hemm, imbagħad wara waħħlu din l-isticky note mal-mappa tad-dinja.” U t-tfal hekk għamlu. Kemm kitbu talb sabiħ u mill-qalb dawn it-tfal!
Wieħed tifel talab hekk,“O Alla, waqqaf il-ġlied u l-isparar kontinwu li kont nara jseħħ jien stess fis-Sirja.”
Waħda tifla talbet,“O Alla, ipprovdi l-ikel u x-xorb lil min m’għandux u pprovdi nies biex jgħinu lill-foqra.” Xi ħadd talab għall-paċi fid-dinja. Xi ħadd ieħor talab biex il-pajjiżi kollha jinħelsu mill-mard, speċjalment tal-Covid-19.
Kemm ġiet isbaħ il-mappa bit-talb imwaħħal fuqha!
U inti kieku kellek tikteb talb għall-pajjiżi fid-dinja x’kont tikteb?
Karim signed up with the football nursery, and now he looks forward to Saturday morning to go to the training! Apart from training, he is eager to meet some of his classmates as well as other children who train with him and who, like him, have left their country in the hope of living a better life in another country. You want to see how happy he is with them and they are with him when he scores a goal.
Once during the half-time of a game, Karim stopped to look at one of the billboards around the stadium. On this board, there was a world map along with colourful flags of teams from various countries. He started searching for his country on the map. He continued to look for other countries where he knows that some of his other relatives live. He was so lost looking at this map that he did not even realise that the coach was whistling to continue playing.
When he saw this, the coach came up with an idea. He told all the other children to go next to Karim, look at the map of the world and form a circle around it. And he said to them, “Look carefully at this map and find your country or the country where your relatives live. You can also find other countries you hear about in the news where something negative has happened, such as an earthquake, tsunami, fighting, wars or a protest that has led to violence.”
Meanwhile, the coach pulled out some sticky notes and pencils from the folder he had in his hand and started handing them out to everyone. He went on to tell them, “On the sticky note, write a prayer for the country you thought of or for the people who live there, then stick it onto the map of the world.” And the children did this.
How beautiful and heartfelt the prayers these children wrote were!
One boy prayed: “O God, stop the fighting and the continuous shooting that I saw happening in Syria.” One girl prayed: “O God, provide food and drink to the needy and provide people to help the poor.” Someone prayed for peace in the world. Someone else prayed for all countries to be freed from the diseases, especially from Covid-19.
How wonderful the map with the prayers attached to it was! And if you had to write a prayer for the countries of the world, what would you write?
Resources related to this story
 Leaving an impressionIn this prayer activity, one sits down and listens to a reflection in the Gospel of Luke about the impressions others leave on us and us on them. |
 Forgiveness For GreedIn this prayer space one is invited to reflect on the greedyness not only globally by mostly personally, and to ask for forgiveness for such greedy actions. |
 Pray for the WorldThis prayer space encourages one to look at the world map and think of family and friends living away and pray for them and their countries. |
 New WorldThis prayer space encourages one to think of a scenario of what one would do if given the power to create a “new world”. |
 People in the WorldThrough prayer and images, this prayer space helps one to ponder upon people who are suffering in various ways around the world. |
 Relationships: One World |
 Christmas: Worldwide ShepherdsDuring this prayer space one will have the time to pray for worlwide peoples who are considered as not important and are marginalized just like the shepherds during the time of Jesus birth. |
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