Educating MK's

When missionaries go overseas one of the big challenges they face is how to best educate their children.  There are so many things to consider in trying to decide what is the best option for your child/children.  Every child learns differently and also has different social needs.   Every mom also has different strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered as well.   Depending on what ministry a person has will also have a big part on how much time they can invest in educating their children.  Some curriculum take a lot more hands on time than others.  The number of children a mother is home schooling can also play a big part on what curriculum to use.   In some areas internet service is still not available 24/7 or it is not dependable and therefore some of the schooling options available through the Internet would not work for some of our families.  I also found that as our children moved into the higher grades I could not use the same curriculum for each child.   The last year on the field I was homeschooling five different grades using three different curriculum.  With my focus on Families in Ministry I am always looking for ways to help prepare our mom's in many areas and one of them is on how to help prepare them in educating their children.  One way I try to help our moms is to invite guest speakers in who have experience in education or in home schooling overseas.  Although everyone's experience is different there is a lot we can learn from each other.  Last week we had the privilege of having a missionary on furlough come in and share with our moms.  Rachel, has home schooled her children as well as other children overseas.  She is a Regional Educational Consultant.  I am thankful for people like Rachel who are willing to invest in our students and share practical advice with our moms.  Although there are many challenges for our mom's as they think of educating their children in remote areas, there are so many great options out there.  And I can speak from our experience that it can be done successfully.  Like I have said before, we don't just want to see our MK's to survive their overseas experience but to thrive in their MK experience.  

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It was nice that Titus was able to stay until Saturday morning.  It gave us the opportunity to put the Christmas tree up while he was still home.  Vern always enjoying having someone to help work with the Christmas tree lights.  Some how we pack our working lights away every year and when we pull them out again some of them have stopped working.  Of course we couldn't decorate the tree without the help from some little elves.  The bottom half of the tress was pretty loaded down with ornaments.  (SMILE)  The night ended in Grandpa sharing a "night lunch" with his grandchildren.  "Night lunch" is cutting up summer sausage and  soaking it in vinegar.  As crazy as that sounds our grandchildren love enjoying this snack with their Grandpa.  

Uprooted and Transplanted

Yesterday afternoon we held another family activity for our families that are soon graduating.  This event was called "Cultural Transplant".  We use the illustration of uprooting and transplanting a plant to what it will be like for our families to uproot themselves here in North America and be transplanted in a new country and culture.  There will be a lot of challenges ahead but we pray that after all the adjustments our families will flourish in their new environments.

Our Family South of the Border

One of the things we enjoyed most about being in Mexico was just spending time with family.  As many of you know Vern's siblings are spread over several countries so any time we get together is very special.  We also had the joy of meeting our newest great niece within an hour of being born.  We normally don't see our great nieces and nephews until they are several years old.  So how neat it was to hold baby Reese as a newborn.  We treasured each day and all the special moments we had together as we don't know when our paths will cross again.

Equipping in Mexico

Those of you who are on Facebook know that we had the joy of being in Mexico last week.  It is one more thing I can mark off my bucket list.  :)  We were in Arizona for some meetings and Vern's brother Howard and his wife Susan live five and a half hours from Tucson.  Howard graciously made the trip to come and pick us up and drive us down to their place in San Carlos, Mexico.  They have started up a Bible school there for Mexicans.  Their daughter Katie also works with them as well as a few others.  It was such a thrill to see their work and what they have been invovled in.  Right now they are just running classes for one semester.  They are in the middle of a building program and will be adding a second semester in the future.  It is always neat to see what God is doing in another country and to see how he is using his servants to equip others for life and ministry.