A candlelight vigil is a great way for groups to reflect on poverty and the impact it has on our lives, the community and the world. Candlelight vigils can be planned in coordination with other Act! Speak! Build! Week activities. Use the following steps to plan for your candlelight vigil.
• Find a location that will provide the right atmosphere for a vigil and will also have enough space for the anticipated number of participants. Reserve this location through the appropriate channels at your school or community.
• Purchase enough candles to cover the number of anticipated participants. Battery-powered candles can also be used if necessary.
• Design the format of your candlelight vigil. Often candlelight vigils include one or more of the following elements:
o Prayer
o Group or individual reflection
o Speaker who can relate to the subject on a personal level
o Silence
o Physical monument or memorial
o Luminaries
o Habitat for Humanity homeowner stories
o Statistics that relate to the vigil. During Act! Speak! Build! Week it would be appropriate to use facts about the number of people in need of adequate housing, the number of people living in poverty or the number of deaths that could be prevented through better living conditions.
o An open space where vigil attendees have the opportunity to respond through writing and art work.
• During Act! Speak! Build! Week 2007, the New Horizons School Westside in Los Angeles, Calif., created “In Gratitude” poems. Each line of the poem began with “In Gratitude,” and the students chose what to put afterwards. Each student produced a list of what he or she was most thankful for.
• “In Gratitude” poems can be read aloud or displayed during the vigil.
• Publicize the vigil and any event planned in coordination with it.
o Invite groups and individuals to attend.
o Use the Act! Speak! Build! Week press release to publicize your event through local newspapers.
Habitat for Humanity homeowner stories can be found on www.habitat.org under “Faces and Places.” Litany for Shelter Leader: O Lord, by whose cross all enmity is brought to an end, People: Break down the walls that separate us. Leader: Help us understand how to tear down the former things. People: Show us how to bring renewal to your world. Leader: Awaken in us the passion to dream. People: Guide us as we take small steps toward great visions. Leader: We ask that you give us wisdom and strength, People: Patience and compassion. Leader: Lord, who can make all things new, open our eyes. People: Let us see in our own communities and around the globe those who are without shelter. Leader: Today we lift up to you those who yearn for a simple, decent and affordable place to call home. People: Give us courage to respond. Leader: As we give of ourselves, let us be grateful for those who give to us. People: By the power of your Spirit, make us one. Amen. Prayer to End Poverty May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that we may work for economic justice for all people. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, hunger, homelessness and rejection so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. (From Education for Justice at www.educationforjustice.org.)
