Fostering Your Homeschooled Student’s Heart for World Missions

This post is from contributor Tricia Goyer

I’m the homeschooling mom of six kids. Three kids, 23, 21, and 19 are beyond the homeschooling years (and doing great!). Then we have three adopted little ones, ages 5, 3, and 2. Yes, that means I’ll spend thirty-five years of my life homeschooling!

Today I was talking with a friend about my 21-year-old daughter Leslie who is headed to The Czech Republic for a year. My daughter is extremely mission-minded. Since her teenage years she has been mindful of reaching out to international people. She’s had co-workers, from the fast food restaurant she worked, who were from an international work exchange program and made quick friends. When she went to college, 90% of the people she hung out with were internationals. She invited them to our home and church.

My friend asked me what provided my daughter with such a heart for internationals. Here are a few ideas:

1. We read through Operation World during our homeschooling years. We talked about people groups. We prayed for them.
   
2. We read missionary stories. Lots of them. In fact when my daughter was ten, she told me she wanted to be a missionary to China. (She’s ending up in the Czech Republic, which is another C-word.)
   
3. We served those in our community—those who weren’t the same as us. We served at our local pregnancy center, and we served teenage moms. From a young age my daughter knew there were people—lots of people out there—who had real needs we could help with.
4. We went on international mission trips. When my daughter was fifteen we went on our first international mission trip. In fact, she went to the Czech Republic with her father and me (and our group), and the same month she went to Mexico with her youth group.
5. We hosted an exchange student. Andrea became part of our family for a year, and she came from an atheistic country. She first learned about God in our home. I went to sleep many nights hearing our daughter and exchange daughter talking . . . and most of the time it was about God. (We went through World Experience.)

When homeschooling, I never set out to mold my daughter’s heart to have a passion for world missions. Instead, I listened to the Holy Spirit’s gentle whisper and did the “next thing” he asked me to do. Molding often doesn’t come with planning. It comes with picking up a book when you feel a stirring within. It comes with saying “yes” to that mission trip. It comes with opening your home and heart.

Remember that when it comes to your own child’s heart for missions. God will do more through your obedience than your planning. Just watch, and wait, and see. . . .

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Tricia Goyer

Tricia Goyer is a busy mom of six, grandmother of one, and wife to John. Somewhere around the hustle and bustle of family life, she manages to find the time to write fictional tales delighting and entertaining readers and non-fiction titles offering encouragement and hope. A bestselling author, Tricia has published thirty-three books to date and has written more than 500 articles. She is a two time Carol Award winner, as well as a Christy and ECPA Award Nominee. In 2010, she was selected as one of the Top 20 Moms to Follow on Twitter by SheKnows.com. Tricia is also on the blogging team at MomLifeToday.com, TheBetterMom.com and other homeschooling and Christian sites. In addition to her roles as mom, wife and author, Tricia volunteers around her community and mentors teen moms. She is the founder of Hope Pregnancy Ministries in Northwestern Montana, and she currently leads a Teen MOPS Group in Little Rock, AR. Tricia, along with a group of friends, recently launched www.NotQuiteAmishLiving.com, sharing ideas about simplifying life. She also hosts the weekly radio podcast, Living Inspired. Learn more about Tricia at www.triciagoyer.com.

Latest posts by Tricia Goyer (see all)

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• How to Homeschool Adopted Kids - October 16, 2014
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