Mission Together
Day of Many Colours – Rainbow Promises
Rainbow Promises is designed to support your Day of Many Colours celebration. It can be
used as a liturgy, assembly, or practical activity.
Liturgy Plan:
Entrance hymn or recorded music (optional)
Our suggestion: ‘He’s Got the Whole World’ or ‘Rise and Shine’ - the following hyperlink provides a version of ‘Rise and Shine’ with lyrics and actions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihdJDRu4koQ
Sign of the cross, lighting of a candle, opening prayer (ask one pupil to light the candle and perhaps another pupil
to recite the prayer)
Opening Prayer: Loving God, today is our Day of Many Colours, when we remember children around
the world who are living in poverty. We know that you and your Son, Jesus, taught us to love all people,
especially those who need our help. May we do this every day, so that all children might live happy lives,
full of faith, hope, and love.
Bible Story – Noah and the Ark Genesis 6:9 - 9:18
A simplified version of this Scripture is found on pages 3 & 4
Tell the children they are now going to hear a story about a man called Noah,
who tried very hard to follow God’s ways and love others. Ask them to listen
carefully as there will be some questions at the end.
Our suggestion: Involve the pupils by asking two older children to read out
Noah’s and God’s quotations.
And/or invite groups of children to play the role of the animals mentioned in the
story i.e. kangaroos, elephants, gorillas, polar bears.
Follow up Questions
Ask the children what it was that made God happy at the end of the story. Elicit the response: Noah’s
taking good care of all living things in the Ark.
Ask what sign or symbol God gave as a reminder of his promise of friendship with Noah and all people of
the earth. At this point you might like to settle on a class definition of the word ‘symbol’ - i.e. a sign that
stands for or represents something else. Answer: The sign God gave the world was a beautiful rainbow.
These questions lead into the Rainbow Promises Activity (overleaf). If you are unable to undertake the
activity, conclude with the following question:
Ask the children to make a promise of their own to share God’s friendship and love with children close to
home and those far away. What kind of things could they promise to do?
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Mission Together
Day of Many Colours – Rainbow Promises Activity
For this activity pupils will need:
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Coloured Paper (for each of the
colours of the rainbow)
Scissors
Pencils
Coloured pens
Rainbow Promises Activity
When we see the beautiful colours of a rainbow we are reminded of God’s promise to Noah and all the
people on the earth. (These colours can symbolise friendship, faith, hope, love). Invite the children to
make a promise of their own to share friendship, faith, hope, and love with children close to home and
those far away, and to create a class/school rainbow to symbolise their pledge.
They may promise to raise some money for Mission Together so they can
help children around the world who struggle to go to school or to eat. They
could promise to be like Noah and take good care of God’s creation, by not
littering or by recycling. They could act with love when they are faced with an
argument, or make a promise to befriend someone who is afraid or lonely.
Now it’s time to get creative! Ask each child to draw around their hand on a
piece of coloured paper. The paper should be a colour from the rainbow
and each colour should be represented. Invite the children to write or draw on
their paper hand what their promise is. Cut out each hand and then stick the
cut out hands in a rainbow formation in colour order. You now have a class rainbow that
represents the promise that each child has made to share friendship, faith, hope and love.
Plenary
You may choose to share with the class some of the promises made by
individual children as examples of how we can share God’s love and beauty
in the world. Use your colourful display as a reminder of promises made, just
like the rainbow in the story of Noah’s Ark. Refer back to it regularly and
encourage the children to fulfil their pledges.
Closing Prayer:
Recite the Mission Together Prayer
Closing hymn or recorded music (optional)
Our suggestion: ‘Let There Be Love Shared Among Us’
Missiontogether.org.uk
Mission Tog
ether Praye
r
May all chil
dren
In the world
Share love
Share frien
dsh
In the peac ip and live
e
Of God’s lov
e.
Now and fo
rever. Amen
Mission Together
Bible Story – Noah and the Ark Genesis 6:9 - 9:18
This is the story of an old man called Noah who lived a very long time ago.
Noah lived a good life with his wife and family and tried hard every day
to follow God’s loving ways. Sadly, not everyone did this. Unlike Noah
many people were mean, selfish, and failed to look after all the
wonderful things God had made, such as plants, trees, animals, and
one another.
This made God very sad, so one day God said to Noah, ‘Because people
have not cared for all I have created, I’m going to start the world over again. There will be a
great storm to flood the earth and it will destroy everything that lives in it. The rain will fall
continuously for forty days and forty nights until all the earth is covered with water.’
As Noah had lived a good life, caring for other people and for creation, God decided to save
Noah and his family. Before the storm began, God told him to build a big boat, called an Ark, so
that it would be big enough and strong enough to fit Noah, his family, and two of every animal,
two of every bird and two of every creepy-crawly found on the earth. God gave Noah clear
instructions on how to build the Ark. God also told Noah, ‘Don’t forget to take on board plenty of
food, so that there is enough to feed you, your family, and all the animals, and insects and birds.
Nobody should go hungry.’
Noah did everything that God had instructed him to do and, on the day he finished hammering in
the last nails, the skies turned dark. Large drops of rain began to fall, and the sound of thunder
shook the earth. ‘Everybody in!’ Noah shouted to his family. ‘And on your way call the
kangaroos, encourage the elephants, gather the gorillas, push in the polar bears.’
Once all were inside the Ark, Noah shut tight its great big door. Then it rained and thundered,
rained and thundered, until the entire earth was covered with water – even the tallest trees and
the mightiest mountains. But inside the Ark, all were warm and dry, and Noah’s big boat bobbed
safely on the rising waters.
Story continued overleaf
Mission Together
Bible Story – Noah and the Ark continued
Then, on the forty-first day, the rain stopped. The sun broke through the dark clouds and shone
brightly. But when Noah looked out of the Ark’s window, all he could see was water everywhere.
‘I wonder if I should open the door of the Ark? Maybe there is some dry land onto which I, my
family, all the animals, and the creepy-crawlies can stand safely?’ So Noah took one of the
beautiful birds he’d taken into the Ark, a dove, and let the dove fly out through the window.
After a few hours the little dove returned to the Ark and she was very tired. The weary little dove
had been flying all that time, and had found no ground or tree to land on. Noah gently guided the
little dove back through the window and let her rest. A week later, when the little dove was
strong enough, Noah sent her out again. This time the little dove came flying back, proudly
carrying a leaf from an olive tree in her beak.
Noah was very happy. He said, ‘At last, the waters are going down and land, plants, and trees
are appearing again.’ Noah knew it was probably still too dangerous to let his family, the
animals, and the insects out. He wanted to keep them all safe, so he watched out of the window
and waited.
Finally, to everyone’s delight, God called to Noah. He said, ‘Noah, come out of the Ark, all is
well. Go build a happy and kind community.’ So Noah opened the Ark’s great door. The animals
charged, the creepy-crawlies crawled, the birds flew, and Noah’s family danced out. Everyone
and everything was very happy.
It pleased God greatly to see them all so joyful and it pleased God that Noah had cared so well
for all the living things inside the Ark. So God said to Noah, ‘I make a promise to you and your
children: From now on I will never flood the world again. The sign of the special promise of
friendship between you and me will be a rainbow in the sky. Go now, and let all your children
and grandchildren share the friendship we have with everybody and with all living things.’