This coming year in our homeschooling journey we will be focusing on World Geography/Countries and Cultures. I have researched a ton of curriculum and am still doing so, making notes here and there of great websites to help us along the way. I am most excited about this one: kidsofcourage.com . It is the Children's link from Voice of the Martyrs. Persecution is a tough concept for children to grasp, and it's certainly not my pleasure to even have to introduce the concept. However, it's a living and dying reality for many. God gives grace and opportunity to teach young ones about other children that He lives and died for, and I want to take those moments to pass that along to my own.
I just spent a few minutes with Bethany reading the feature story about John in the Sudan. We talked also about children in the Phillipines who comb the dumps for their daily provisions. I read this to her from our air-conditioned home while her younger brother was playing contentedly with a load of legos in the background. Her question was, "Can't they come to America?" I'm not sure what everyone's views are; varied I'm sure. My reply was that bringing them to America was not always possible, nor always best. I explained that Christians and missionaries living in those countries are able to speak hope on the spot when they come across someone such as John. I must add that our own church is about 30% New Americans-what we call our refugee families. They came to escape the persecutions and conditions Bethany and I just read about. We have a thriving ESL program called Global Transitions that teaches English 2 nights as week at our facility and it involves about 1 dozen different churches from varying denominations.
Not only do I want to educate the children we've been given, but I long to instill in them the heart of their Heavenly Father for the entire world, free and captive, which He can liberate. (It's an inside job if you know what I mean!) If you know of anyone with young children and feel this would be beneficial to their family, or you minister to children, or you have a heart for the nations and want to learn more then I encourage you to click on the link.
Thankful and Blessed-Kathy
I just spent a few minutes with Bethany reading the feature story about John in the Sudan. We talked also about children in the Phillipines who comb the dumps for their daily provisions. I read this to her from our air-conditioned home while her younger brother was playing contentedly with a load of legos in the background. Her question was, "Can't they come to America?" I'm not sure what everyone's views are; varied I'm sure. My reply was that bringing them to America was not always possible, nor always best. I explained that Christians and missionaries living in those countries are able to speak hope on the spot when they come across someone such as John. I must add that our own church is about 30% New Americans-what we call our refugee families. They came to escape the persecutions and conditions Bethany and I just read about. We have a thriving ESL program called Global Transitions that teaches English 2 nights as week at our facility and it involves about 1 dozen different churches from varying denominations.
Not only do I want to educate the children we've been given, but I long to instill in them the heart of their Heavenly Father for the entire world, free and captive, which He can liberate. (It's an inside job if you know what I mean!) If you know of anyone with young children and feel this would be beneficial to their family, or you minister to children, or you have a heart for the nations and want to learn more then I encourage you to click on the link.
Thankful and Blessed-Kathy
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3 comments:
Your heart is so gentle, sweet and tender. How blessed your children are and they, in turn will be a blessing to others. Appreciate you and your heart.
Susan
Yeah....ditto what Susan said!
Well, you both nailed my desire which is for them to be a blessing to others. To know that there's a world with needs, on all spectrums, much greater than their own. How amazing to me that Jesus would place His presence inside of us that we would bear His image to the world. It's kind of funny because we need Him to reflect Him.
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