One of the things I really want to do as a parent
is to teach my boys that the Kingdom of God is so much larger than what we
see in our church, town or even country. I want them raised with a
Kingdom focus and an understanding of the importance
to carry the gospel to every people group. The responsibility we have
as believers is to go into all the world. When I came across this practical
advice on the raisinggodlychildren.org
website, I felt that it was important to share with you some practical
ways
as parents we can do this. It is especially important to seize these
opportunities for our faith family at Trinity as we prepare for our
yearly “Arms Around The World” missions commitment.
10 Ways to Teach Your Children About MISSIONS
1. Pray for missionaries as a family. We keep a stack of prayer cards on the dinner table and rotate through them during mealtime prayers.
2. Read missionary biographies to your children. The stories of Hudson Taylor,Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Gladys Aylward, and other missionary pioneers are captivating ways to orient a child’s heart on the most important things in life.
3. Draw the whole family into supporting missionaries financially.
Teach your kids from a young age that being a good steward of their
money involves channeling resources toward the the cause of Christ in
missions. Older kids can donate some of their lawn mowing and
babysitting money. Younger children can earn money doing chores around
the house which can be set aside for missionaries.
4. Find your child a missionary kid pen pal.
Many children of missionaries around the world would be delighted to
get mail from a child their age in their parent’s culture. Your child
(and the whole family) will learn valuable insights about living abroad
through the eyes of a child. Additionally, when the missionaries visit
your church, your child will already have a relationship with the MK and
will be able to include them more easily.
5. Entertain missionaries in your home.
Inviting missionaries over will be as much of a blessing to your family
as to the missionaries. Host them for dinner or for a whole furlough.
Build or buy your house with this in mind.
6. Take risks as a family.
There are ways to live life which help children grasp the reality that
discomfort and suffering are normal and rewarding parts of the Christian
experience. Volunteer at a rescue mission; house a single mother; move
to the inner-city.
7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field. As
your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think
about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God
says, “go,” release them to go!
8. Teach your children to be world Christians. Don't
expose them to only the American perspective on news and realities
around the world. Go out of your way to make them more aware than the
average American Christian about geography, world history, and the
plights and perspectives of people across the globe.
9. Read missionary prayer letters to your children. Ask them questions about the content and look up facts about the missionaries’ location on the Internet.
10. Use missions fact books and resources such as Operation World, the Global Prayer Digest, the Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). Kids of Courage is the youth-oriented arm of VOM and offers activity books, spotlights on the persecuted world, and more.
Most of all,
pray every day that your kids will develop hearts that mirror God’s
compassion for the nations and love for his glory in them!
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