New look Rainbow dazzles after redesign

MethodistChildren has re-launched Rainbow, the magazine for 4 to13 year-olds. Produced by Junior Mission for All (JMA), it has afantastic new look with stunning images illustrating the lives ofchildren all over the world.

As before, Rainbow continues to look at the Church in the wholeworld, but the focus will be on providing news and ways to learn,pray and serve for all children. The magazine is free to allchildren, and children's workers are being encouraged to give itthose who collect for JMA as they always have, but also to allchildren in the church.

It can be used in Junior Church, mid-week groups or in worship tohelp children understand how Christians in other countries live andcelebrate their faith. Additional background material in the FollowUp Notes (FUN) help make the most of it as an educationalresource.

FUN too is changing. It's growing and becoming an even moreinvaluable resource for all children's workers with a JMA puppetdrama, news of resources, ideas and suggestions for recycling andclimate change activities with children.

The latest issue includes prayers written by children fromGuantanamo Bay in Cuba and pictures from the World Council ofChurches in Brazil. It is also launching an appeal to help thethousands of people in Pakistan who are suffering after the massiveOctober 2005 earthquake. Bishop Sammy Azariah from the Church ofPakistan has asked JMA to help make a difference by providing abasic health unit to meet the needs of the survivors of thistragedy. JMA has accepted the challenge to raise £15,000 for this,and is asking all its supporters to make an extra fundraisingeffort to help the Christian Church in this Muslim country turnthis opportunity into a reality.

Steve Pearce, Children's Secretary for the Methodist Church, said;'It's all about showing children that this is their world and thatthey can make a real difference. Rainbow is a fantastic resourceand, thanks to Audrey Facey of the design team at Methodist ChurchHouse, its new look makes it even more accessible for children andadults alike. Raising the money for survivors of the earthquakeseems like an enormous task, but we know that we can do it with thehelp of our supporters.'