Nations and Generations
Home Schooling to Make a Difference in the World
By Virginia Knowles in November 2005, updated in April 2007
In all my years of home schooling, one of my goals has been to inspire my children to see how they can make a difference in this world for God?s glory. "Nations and generations!" has been the cry of my heart, echoing the cry of God's own heart. We've studied cultural geography to learn about how people live and what they believe, and we've talked about missions, but sometimes reading a biography about a missionary who lived a hundred years ago is too remote. We need to know that is going on the world right now - and how we can participate! Learning about global current events via the Internet, newspapers and TV news has also been quite fruitful, though we have to fight the tendency to be armchair spectators. Just knowing about a crisis around the globe does nothing to alleviate it.
I realize that the most important lesson will be personal example. What do they see me doing, and what can we do together? We've always made a point to send both money and tangible items towards missions. Please understand that as I write the following examples, I am not trying to brag. Instead, I write to share a testimony of the Lord's faithfulness to our family as we are trying to serve him globally, as well as offer some practical ideas for your own families.
In the summer of 2005, my two oldest daughters, Mary (then 18) and Julia (then 16) travelled to Bolivia on Mission:X trips hosted by our church. Now in 2007, Julia is preparing to return to southern Bolivia on a ten day medical Mission:X team.
When the kids were young, they had so much fun stuffing shoeboxes with small items for needy children around the world, and then delivering them to a Samaritan?s Purse (www.SamaritansPurse.org) drop-off point. This is a worthy ministry organization that I highly recommend.
One year, the girls collected blankets from our friends and neighbors to be sent to Sudan for Voice of the Martyrs? Blankets of Love program (www.persecution.com). VOM has been a terrific resource to us. We've read their magazine articles about the persecuted church around the world, watched their excellence children's video (Stephen's Test of Faith), and subscribed to their children's quarterly, LINK magazine. On the topic of persecution, also be sure to check out International Christian Concern web site at www.persecution.org for information on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which occurs each November.
The children have helped pack care boxes for pastors in the Ukraine and children in Mexico to be personally delivered by friends. In 2001, we assembled gift baskets for Indian and Chinese students at UCF, followed up by a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner for them at our house.
For Christmas the year I was pregnant with Ben, my daughter Mary (then 16) gave me the gift of prenatal care -- for a woman in Africa! She ordered this gift in my honor through Harvest of Hope, an outreach ministry of Partners International. You can "send" such unusual gifts as goats for milk and breeding, native language Bibles, bicycles for church planters, school supplies, sewing machines for cottage businesses, emergency medical kits, well-building supplies and more! Call 1-888-887-2786 or visit www.harvestofhope.org to see a catalog of gifts in different price ranges.
One spring, we hosted a whole bunch of missionary kids for a party at our home while their mothers enjoyed an elegant tea at a friend's house.
For the past several years, we have been committed to sharing as much as we can with Headson Makazinga, a village pastor and church planter in Malawi and Mozambique. The proceeds from the Learners Journal lesson planner go to him for Bibles, hymnals, conference expenses, and orphan care. We also produce and ship Chichewa language tracts for him to distribute. We have been corresponding with the Makazingas for several years (since he saw my article in Above Rubies magazine. If you would like to send donations or letters of encouragement to the Makazingas, their address is: Headson Makazinga, P.O. Box 187, Nsanje, Malawi, Africa.