x-post: How would *you* tweak WTM for a future missionary?...

[Rhondabee]

What would be "priority" and what would be "nice if we can get to it"? What would you add, if anything, that isn't in WTM (that I probably don't know about)?

 

IOW - all practical bits of advice welcome!

 

Thanks,

Rhonda

[Nissi]

Missionary Biographies are great. "The Heroes of the Faith" series from YWAM are good. You can add these readings to your history and geography studies. Other books that comes to mind is " From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth Tucker, "Bruchko", and "In the Face of Surrender" by Richard Wurmbrand. I like all of Wurmbrand's books. I met him personally and his testimony touched me deeply. There is a magazine called " The Voice of the Martyrs" which helps the children learn about persecuted Christians in different nations of the world. It is available for free.

HTH!

[Colleen in NS]

Missionary Biographies are great. "The Heroes of the Faith" series from YWAM are good. You can add these readings to your history and geography studies. Other books that comes to mind is " From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth Tucker, "Bruchko", and "In the Face of Surrender" by Richard Wurmbrand. I like all of Wurmbrand's books. I met him personally and his testimony touched me deeply. There is a magazine called " The Voice of the Martyrs" which helps the children learn about persecuted Christians in different nations of the world. It is available for free.

HTH!

 

Hi Rhonda,

 

I just replied to your other query on the other board, but just HAVE to "second" Nissi's ideas. I love the YWAM biographies and others. Also, see if you can take your kids to a missions conference somewhere, that has veteran missionary speakers (Loren Cunningham is my favourite - he's the founder of YWAM, the org. that I worked with). These are very inspiring.

[Tenaj]

I think I have a budding missionary on my hands and one thing (besides the suggestions of missions biographies) that we are doing is really concentrating on foreign languages. My daughter is currently doing Latin (long-term) and Japanese. I'd really like to squeeze in some Greek (for bible knowledge) and another Romance language (probably some Frensh or Spanish).

 

My SIL is a missionary who grew up in Japan but is now in Bangladesh and it has been relatively easy for her to pick up the new language based upon her knowledge of Japanese.

 

You've probably already considered this, but I would also try to set up some short-term missions trips throughout highschool. We're currently experiencing this as my daughter left yesterday for a 2.5 month trip around Asia (fortunately she's able to travel with my inlaws who are retired missionaries so it was easy for us). There's nothing quite like the experience of being in a foreign country.

[Rhondabee]

Oh, wow. I had never heard of YWAM before (took me a few moments to come up with "Youth with a mission" - I'm guessing that's it, right?). I found their website - I'll be over there for awhile....

 

Thanks,

Rhonda

[Rhondabee]

Oh, my ds wants to learn Japanese as well, and I've been torn - thinking that would be great *if* you went to Japan. So, good to know that it can help with other languages as well.

 

He is still in 8th, and we're slogging through Henle Year One w/ the MODG syllabus. (Mostly slogging because I am waiting to get a hysterectomy next week - and I am just dog tired and in pain by the time Latin comes around each day! Hopefully, that will change, soon.) It *was* my goal to get at least two years of Latin, and then see if he wanted to do a modern language for 3 years, or continue with Latin.

 

But, after hearing SWB speak about molding your high school experience to your child, and him coming out with, "I want to learn Japanese and Greek, and Latin, too. Oh, yeah, and I think I should learn Spanish." Well.....

 

I figure the Apologia advanced courses just went out the window - LOL! And, I'm wondering if I should just be happy with the Apologia for regular classes, or maybe switch to Abeka or BJU. (Guess that should have been in my original search....my brain is beginning to feel like mush - LOL!)

 

Thanks for letting me blab here. Your post was very encouraging!

 

How exciting for your dd! Our church is an independent church, and we don't have alot of in-person access to missionaries there. I'm hoping the YWAM site will help me get some of those real-life experiences planned.

[Rhondabee]

Nissi,

 

Would you seriously consider using SL's Core 200?

 

or

 

Would you just use those resources while keeping a 4-year history rotation? (I think I'm leaning this way.)

 

Thanks for so many great thoughts!

Rhonda

[Colleen in NS]

I'm hoping the YWAM site will help me get some of those real-life experiences planned.

 

Yes, YWAM=Youth With A Mission. If you want to hear more about my experience with YWAM, pm me. I love talking about it, LOL! I also have lots of friends still in YWAM all over the world, so if you need connections, let me know. Dayle in Guatemala on these boards is in YWAM Antigua Guat.. Funny you mention Japan - when I first met dh, he wanted to go work with YWAM in Japan. He even got to visit the base there when on a business trip a few years ago - a dream come true for him.

[Nissi]

Rhonda, I lean toward your second option. I allow my children to choose any book they like from Sonlight catalog for their free reading from the library. I haven't looked into their program manuals. There are so many life and faith lessons to be learned from biographies of christian saints from different parts of the world. They have enriched our spiritual lives greatly. The way Christianity is practiced in other countries is enlightening, especially in the east. We forget about the benefits of deep meditation, extended times of prayer, solitude, simplicity, and rest. Okay, I am getting carried away...

[Rhondabee]

Oh, please, get carried away....

 

Actually, my ds's best friend's parents are former missionaries - and she is a native Italian. It is hard to have truly in-depth conversations about what you've touched on, but she definitely has some disdain for what she calls "Americanized Christianity".

 

Especially after reading Hold On To Your Kids, which starkly contrasted the economically-minded American society vs. longer-lasting, family- and culture-oriented societies, I have concerns about rashly going "out into the darkness to bring them the light". I've been wondering how to change myself from the very type-A peson I am, and how to help my kids share my concerns - anyway, I think your suggestion is great.

 

Thanks for your help!

[SusanAR]

Honestly, I wouldn't tweak WTM. Although it is not imperative, I would suggest that your daughter attend Bible college or seminary. Modern missions ( I'm speaking of career missions) has changed a great deal over the last decades. We were missionaries to the Philippines and Indonesia. Like most, we were sent to partner with the national church to work alongside national pastors. We were involved with the poor and homeless, but we also worked with national church leaders who were very educated (several with their M-Div or doctorate) They respected my husband who has pastored for many years (and is educated;), but they were often puzzled with missionaries who had no previous training and leadership experience.

Please understand that I don't intend for this to sound harsh:)

Blessings,

Susan

[RebeccaC]

I thought I would post how I used the YWAM bios with my boys. I wanted to do a year of missions study for 7/8 grades we read several of the YWAM bios. We started with William Carey. I used the books in chronological order.

 

My boys mapped the trip from England to India, map the trade winds and the ocean currents. Labeled maps of England and every country Carey went to and we did this with each missionary we studied. The maps I used was Uncle Josh set and the geography coloring book. They read about every country using Kingfisher atlas called Circling the Globe.

 

The boys put each missionary in their time line books.

 

We did a study on tropical diseases and other illness in the books. I read aloud the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand. Who was a missionary doctor, surgeon, and Leprosy specialist. He has a series of three books and they are all well written but the later two should be read by you first because they handle things like STDs.

 

We studied the main religion of each country using Usborne, Kingfisher, DK, and Windows to the world. I had them read Jesus Among Other Gods (youth edition) by Ravi Zacharias.

 

I used BJU 7 grade Heritage study book as a loose spine. They read all of Asia when we studied one of the Indian missionaries and all of Africa when we did Livingston, ect.... We used other books and documentaries to flesh out the culture of the countries.

 

I read aloud books like Peace Child and taught the boys how to put together an Ethnography lite. I read a lot of the International Adventures Series books at WYAM. Peace Child was one of them.

 

We either cooked the foods of the country or went out to eat at corresponding restaurants or did both.

 

What I did could easily be ramped up for a year study in high school. Just use different spines. You could use the book FROM JERUSALEM TO IRIAN JAYA A Biographical History of Christian Missions which YWAM sells. You would want to add in more papers and go more indepth when studing the countries. I think BJU has a high school books similar to the 7th grade book but I am not sure. It might be more of a geography book.....

 

We watched movies like End of the Spear and saw documentaries of every flavor. YWAM sells some and others were secular. Michael Palin has some nice documentaries. The course I put together was a history of missions, world cultures and religions and geography type course.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited November 7, 2008 by RebeccaC

[RebeccaC]

Here is the list of YWAM in chronological order;

 

1700-1760 Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf CH

1761-1834 William Carey CH

1788-1850 Adoniram Judson CH

1796-1839 John Williams CH

1805-1898 George Mueller CH

1813-1873 David Livingstone CH

1829-1912 William Booth CH

1832-1905 Hudson Taylor CH

1840-1912 Lottie Moon CH

1848-1915 Mary Slessor CH

1856-1940 Florence Young CH

1859-1936 Jonathan Goforth CH

1860-1931 C.T. Studd CH

1865-1940 Wilfred Grenfell CH

1867-1951 Amy Carmichael CH

1870-1960 Ida Scudder CH

1872-1942 Rowland Bingham CH

1880-1964 Douglas MacArthur HH

1887-1961 Lillian Trasher CH

1889-1929 Sundar Singh (Sadhu) CH

1896-1982 Cameron Townsend CH

1900-1986 Clarence Jones CH

1902-1945 Eric Liddell CH

1902-1970 Gladys Aylward CH

1914-1994 Rachel Saint CH

1920-1997 Betty Greene CH

1923-1956 Nate Saint CH

1927-1956 Jim Elliot CH

1928- Brother Andrew CH

1935- Loren Cunningham CH

 

This is a list from 2006 and I would imagine that there are new books out not on the list. We also used books from Vision forum on Missionary bios.

Edited November 7, 2008 by RebeccaC

[Rhondabee]

Honestly, I wouldn't tweak WTM. Although it is not imperative, I would suggest that your daughter attend Bible college or seminary. Modern missions ( I'm speaking of career missions) has changed a great deal over the last decades. We were missionaries to the Philippines and Indonesia. Like most, we were sent to partner with the national church to work alongside national pastors. We were involved with the poor and homeless, but we also worked with national church leaders who were very educated (several with their M-Div or doctorate) They respected my husband who has pastored for many years (and is educated;), but they were often puzzled with missionaries who had no previous training and leadership experience.

Please understand that I don't intend for this to sound harsh:)

Blessings,

Susan

 

Do you have any experience with missionaries who are involved in missions, but who also work a "real job" simultaneously? Or, run a business that helps to employ the people they're working with?

 

It seems with the world getting smaller every day that doing both would at least be a possibility. But, going to the small, independent church that we go to, I haven't actually heard of anyone doing that.

 

Thanks,

Rhonda

[Rhondabee]

Thank you so much! I am the kind of person who needs some concrete ideas - a picture of how to do it, iykwim. This is very helpful!

[SusanAR]

Do you have any experience with missionaries who are involved in missions, but who also work a "real job" simultaneously? Or, run a business that helps to employ the people they're working with?

 

It seems with the world getting smaller every day that doing both would at least be a possibility. But, going to the small, independent church that we go to, I haven't actually heard of anyone doing that.

 

Thanks,

Rhonda

 

I know several who provide businesses for the people they work with and others who provide skills training programs. If you are in the country on a 'religious worker' visa , you are not allowed to take income from the country. You must have a business visa to 'work' in another country, and they are generally extremely expensive.

 

Susan

[Colleen in NS]

Do you have any experience with missionaries who are involved in missions, but who also work a "real job" simultaneously? Or, run a business that helps to employ the people they're working with?

 

It seems with the world getting smaller every day that doing both would at least be a possibility. But, going to the small, independent church that we go to, I haven't actually heard of anyone doing that.

 

Thanks,

Rhonda

 

Here you go! The guy's name is Chris Page and he's in Kigali Rwanda. We are on his e-mail list, and he'd probably put you on to get his periodic e-mails if you're interested. And I think Business As Mission has other small businesses on the go or starting, too.

 

http://cardsfromafrica.com/

 

http://www.businessasmission.com/pages/rwanda

 

http://www.ywam.org/articles/article.asp?aid=423&bhcp=1

[Colleen in NS]

I thought I would post how I used the YWAM bios with my boys. I wanted to do a year of missions study for 7/8 grades we read several of the YWAM bios. We started with William Carey. I used the books in chronological order.

 

My boys mapped the trip from England to India, map the trade winds and the ocean currents. Labeled maps of England and every country Carey went to and we did this with each missionary we studied. The maps I used was Uncle Josh set and the geography coloring book. They read about every country using Kingfisher atlas called Circling the Globe.

 

The boys put each missionary in their time line books.

 

We did a study on tropical diseases and other illness in the books. I read aloud the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand. Who was a missionary doctor, surgeon, and Leprosy specialist. He has a series of three books and they are all well written but the later two should be read by you first because they handle things like STDs.

 

We studied the main religion of each country using Usborne, Kingfisher, DK, and Windows to the world. I had them read Jesus Among Other Gods (youth edition) by Ravi Zacharias.

 

I used BJU 7 grade Heritage study book as a loose spine. They read all of Asia when we studied one of the Indian missionaries and all of Africa when we did Livingston, ect.... We used other books and documentaries to flesh out the culture of the countries.

 

I read aloud books like Peace Child and taught the boys how to put together an Ethnography lite. I read a lot of the International Adventures Series books at WYAM. Peace Child was one of them.

 

We either cooked the foods of the country or went out to eat at corresponding restaurants or did both.

 

What I did could easily be ramped up for a year study in high school. Just use different spines. You could use the book FROM JERUSALEM TO IRIAN JAYA A Biographical History of Christian Missions which YWAM sells. You would want to add in more papers and go more indepth when studing the countries. I think BJU has a high school books similar to the 7th grade book but I am not sure. It might be more of a geography book.....

 

We watched movies like End of the Spear and saw documentaries of every flavor. YWAM sells some and others were secular. Michael Palin has some nice documentaries. The course I put together was a history of missions, world cultures and religions and geography type course.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Wow! This sounds like such a fun missions study! I have all the YWAM bios and most of the International Adventures, as well as Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson (another good book rec, Rhonda - plus I heard him speak last year at our regional missions conference!!!!). Gosh, reading this thread has gotten me all excited about missions again!

[SusanAR]

I know several who provide businesses for the people they work with and others who provide skills training programs. If you are in the country on a 'religious worker' visa , you are not allowed to take income from the country. You must have a business visa to 'work' in another country, and they are generally extremely expensive.

 

Susan

 

I'm not sure that my post was clear. The missionaries who have businesses and training programs do not receive their income from the businesses; they are fully funded from outside the country so as not to take income from the already poor country. The high costs of 'work' visas helps offset the country's loss of income. There are many independent organizations involved in these programs, so you wouldn't have to totally depend on your small church.

 

Susan

[Rhondabee]

(edited)

 

btw - Did you decide to use SWB's History of the Ancient World or the Spielvogel/other sources recommended in WTM? I'm thinking the HAW would help cover some of the other cultures better than the Spielvogel, and I could mix in some primary resources (the Bagavad Gita - sp?) and such at the appropriate places.

 

BUT - the Spielvogel frankly looks more interesting (esp. when you add in the DK book) - and I thought maybe I should look at History Odyssey instead of Western Civ.

 

Thanks for all your posts!

Rhonda

Edited November 7, 2008 by Rhondabee

[Rhondabee]

Colleen,

 

Do you think the YWAM bios and the International Adventures would be interesting to a high schooler? to a middle schooler?

 

Thanks for all your help!!!!! The link below to the business/mission in Rwanda is fascinating. I'm so glad I didn't wait to ask - I'll have lots of stuff to check out while I'm recuperating next week!

[Colleen in NS]

Colleen,

 

Do you think the YWAM bios and the International Adventures would be interesting to a high schooler? to a middle schooler?

 

Thanks for all your help!!!!! The link below to the business/mission in Rwanda is fascinating. I'm so glad I didn't wait to ask - I'll have lots of stuff to check out while I'm recuperating next week!

 

Definitely!! The bios are advertised for ages 10 and up, but I think they are for all ages. I am working my way through all of them. My kids pick them up and read them, too, even the just turned 8 year old. I think they'd be interesting to a middle schooler, and to a high schooler - it'll probably be quick reads for the high schooler. And in the backs of them, they usually list other books written about the person, in case the high schooler wanted to go more in depth about that person.

 

The International Adventures would be more suited to high schoolers, I think, although my 10yo has read some of them (he just shelves what is over his head).

 

The BAM in Rwanda *is* fascinating, isn't it! Cards From Africa won $10,000 a couple of years ago from (I think it was) the Shell Corporation - they were runners up in a worldwide competition for organizations that provide business work opportunities for local people groups around the world. It was so exciting to follow that and vote for them, and see them come in 2nd out of many, many entries!!!!! BAM is fairly new in the YWAM world (YWAM has been around since 1960), and has some stuff to work out as far as being associated with a non-profit org, but I think the work Chris is doing is really neat.

[LibrarianMom]

I heartily second someone else's post that your future missionary will need to go to a Bible college and/or seminary for training. The institution I work at (http://www.lccs.edu) has a bi-vocational missions major particularly to help people train for BAM, TESL, medical missions, etc. In addition to reading lots of missions biographies, I would recommend the locating the class Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (http://www.perspectives.org). This semester long class is offered all over the U.S. and is appropriate for upper high school students, college, and adults. Some missions organizations require all new recruits, even those who are Bible college or seminary graduates, to take this course. I've coordinated the class in our community and it is truly life changing. In addition to reading missions biographies, reading books about missions today and developing a strong spiritual life are going to be important. If opportunities are available to participate in a short-term missions trip, that would be important also.

[Rhondabee]

Librarian Mom,

 

I'm so thrilled! I was brought up in, and currently attend, a Christian church (and after looking at your link, I know you'll know what I mean by that!). Too cool.

 

One of our next big projects is to start writing to prospective colleges to ask about admissions for homeschoolers. I admit I haven't been whole-hearted in this effort ever since I realized this decision (if it comes to fruition) will mean that ds won't be living at home! (And, frankly, I think I just know too much of the goings-on at our local Christian college to be very excited about that possibility.) Your link will certainly help us get some much needed "oomph" to get going in the right direction again! (Doubly so since there is the possibility of a bi-vocational major!!)

 

If you think of anything specific to someone in the Restoration Movement, then please pm me.

 

Thanks again!

Rhonda