Cultivating Love in Your Children for Faraway People and Places

 

As Christian parents, we want to teach our children to think beyond their backyard, giving them an age-appropriate awareness of the needs happening in other countries. Especially the need for Jesus.

How can we do that? 

Have you heard of the 10/40 window? I first learned about it several years ago. It’s an area of the world between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude that is home to almost 5 billion people, almost 62% of whom are completely unreached with the Gospel of Jesus.

Of all the world’s megacities whose people need to hear about Jesus, the top 50 are all in the 10/40 window. Of the world’s poorest people groups, 8 out of 10 of them live in the 10/40 window. 1 Of the 50 countries where Open Doors says it is the most dangerous to be a Christian right now, 44 of them are inside the 10/40 window.

Cultivating Love in Your Children for Faraway People & Places - teach your children to think outside of themselves and look to the children of the nations, praying for them and the spreading of the gospel!

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So how can we teach children about the needs of people who live in cities and villages with names that are hard to pronounce, who feel so far away from the life most of us know?

Learn About Animals

One of the most natural ways to get kids excited about faraway places and the people who live there is to talk about the animals you might see if you were to visit. Introduce them to creatures such as the Sumatran rhinoceros, the saltwater crocodile, the Asian elephant, the proboscis monkey, and the oryx.

Explore Places

Another way is to learn about some of the towns and cities in these countries. Imagine what life is like for the children living there. What do they see, touch, smell, and taste every day? You don’t have to know everything there is to know about a location—start with what you can find in an encyclopedia or online.  

Explore Similarities

Another key way to share with your children is by connecting them to what they have in common with children in these lands. You may not be able to share detailed stories of persecution, but virtually all children understand what it’s like to be cold, hungry, scared, or sick. Build on these connections and explain to your children how children in other countries sometimes face these things because of their love for Jesus.

Websites like www.KidsofCourage.com and www.Compassion.com have free resources that are designed to share these stories of children in sensitive and age-appropriate ways. WriteBonnieRose.com shares about other countries, including traveling All Around India, through the eyes of a boy named Jake. Some sites such as SchoolhouseTeachers.com offer courses designed to teach elementary children about Asia and the needs of the persecuted Church in various countries.

Take Action

An important step that can’t be overlooked is finding ways to help your children act on what they’ve learned. Children with sensitive spirits can feel overwhelmed if they begin to develop a burden for others but have no way to feel as though they can help. Show them how they can share what they’ve learned with a Sunday School class or co-op. If they are able, help them conduct a fundraiser for a country or need that is important to them. Help them create prayer reminders for themselves and loved ones.

Pray for Them

One simple craft that can be done is to create a silhouette prayer card they can hang on the wall or use as a bookmarker. To create one, all you need to do is trace the child’s picture on a piece of black construction paper, cut it out, and affix it to a picture of the flag of a nation your child has been learning about.

Read Stories

Develop in your children both a global awareness and a heart for the lost by sharing these stories with them and encouraging them to do what they can to make a difference. Pray for God to show your children the special role He has designed for them to play in bringing His light and love to every corner of the world, and prepare to be amazed at what God can do when a child with a tender heart asks Him to heal the world.

 The Hidden Village is a fantastic book that helps children see the importance of having a heart for other cultures and spreading the gospel.

Get The Hidden Village for Your Bookshelves

[A note from Tauna] I love Bonnie’s ideas here and use them with my own children! It’s such an important thing to teach them, I think, and is made easier by a fantastic resource I want to tell you about.  

The Hidden Village is a wonderful book written by Bonnie that has earned a place in our family library. It’s the story of a boy named Manju from Bengal, India, and how he discovers a hidden village where the people are forgotten and impoverished. Against great obstacles and general disbelief from his family and neighbors, he takes action to help the people in the village. 

My kids and I read this book together and really enjoyed it. They would not let me stop reading it! Each chapter really hooked us into the next. My little readers also enjoyed picking it up on their own and the short chapters, easy style, and beautiful illustrations kept them captivated. They loved that a child was leading the way on this adventure and could make a big impact for God’s kingdom. 

A few reasons why I’m glad this book is on our shelves: 

  • Very gospel-centered, encouraging children to be mission minded and have a heart for telling people about Jesus. 
  • Easy but engaging reading, which fit or multiple-age homeschool perfectly. 
  • Can easily be made into a unit study on the country, the people groups, praying for modern Bengal and unreached peoples, etc. 
  • Cultivates a love for faraway people and places, nurturing compassion in our home for each other and for the world beyond our backyard. ❤️

 

Bonnie Rose Hudson’s heart’s desire is for every child to feel the love of God and know how special they are to Him. She works as the Director of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the curriculum site of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine®. She would love for you to explore the wonderful curriculum available there and to stop by her author’s blog  WriteBonnieRose.com for resources to help teach your children about missions and the persecuted Church, free history and writing printables, discover how you can write for the homeschool market, and check out her newest release from JourneyForth, The Hidden Village, an early reader sent in India.

This Post Has 25 Comments

  1. Kelly Lamhauge

    We have realized we need to work on empathy skills with our 5 year old son. This looks like a good book to open up discussions in that area.

  2. Jennie

    If o could mission anywhere it would probably be Ireland, or the US thanksgiving

  3. Jessica

    I am content being a missionary in my own home for now. But I’d love to travel anywhere in the future.

  4. Wanda

    We’ve been to Mexico serving for 3 years. I would go there again

  5. M C

    If I had a choice, I would probably go to Mexico as a missionary. There are still many unreached areas there and even people groups who do not have Bibles in their language.

  6. Meghan S

    Once upon a time I was a missionary in Slovakia so I would return there! I miss those days.

  7. Abigail Frazee

    If I could be a missionary anywhere in the world, I would serve in South Africa

  8. Sara Anderson

    There are so many places to go, it is hard to choose one spot.

  9. jenn

    Alaska would be my choice.

  10. Carissa

    Looks like a beautiful resource for children’s understanding of helping people all over the world!

  11. Carissa

    I actually was a missionary in China and that is where I would choose to go back!

  12. Ashley Oliver

    I’d have to really pray about where I would want to be a missionary. There are so many places that need to hear the Gospel, it’s hard to pick just one that I’d like to go to.

  13. Jennifer

    If I could be a missionary anywhere, I would want it to be a place that God directs us. That’s the only way to truly go about it.

  14. Teresa W

    There are a lot of places I’d like to go on short-term trips! Zimbabwe, Guatemala, and Japan to name a few.

  15. Kimby

    I would love to be a missionary in rural China. My hero is Gladys Aylward. She was an amazing woman and would be honored if I could walk where she walked and continue her hearts mission in China.

  16. Rachel R

    I would choose to go somewhere in Eastern Europe.

  17. Georgia

    I would love to win this book

  18. Corrie D.

    I would be a missionary here in America.

  19. AW

    I would be a missionary in Mexico

  20. Sara L

    I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a missionary. I feel so out of my comfort zone just thinking about it. If I were a missionary, we would be a missionary family, so I would want to go somewhere that would be safe for my children.

  21. Erin

    I would be a missionary in Eastern Europe.

  22. Judith Martinez

    If I could be a missionary anywhere in the world it would be urban ministry in Los Angeles county. I feel called to urban ministry in the US and always have.

  23. Kimberley H.

    If I could be a missionary I would go to South America.

  24. Christina

    If I could be a missionary anywhere in the world it would be Haiti.

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