After taking a month off of our voyages, the Little Globetrotters traveled to Burkina Faso in western Africa to learn about the traditional people who live there. Miss Julie brought in a giant photo album from her time living there and showed the children the types of houses that are typical. A native snack that comes from western Africa was fresh bananas, and the children made a monkey mask in their craft. We hope the children will use their prayer calendars to remind them to pray every day for Burkina Faso- for fresh water, enough mud bricks for their houses, and- most importantly- that the children of Burkina Faso will know and love Jesus.
Miss Julie shows traditional woven baskets.
Can Kate find Burkina Faso in Africa?
Rapt attention
Hiding behind a monkey mask.
I haven’t had sugar since January 1. Really just a random New’s Year resolution that came to mind when a friend asked everyone to say their resolutions at our New Year’s Eve party. But I went home that night, ate 8 pieces of chocolate, and haven’t had any sugar since. Not in desserts, not in bread, not in salad dressing, not in restaurant food to my knowledge (boy, that’s the toughest one. Makes eating in restaurants really boring.)
I’m not doing this for Lent. If I were, it would need to be much more intentional and worshipful than it has been. But I feel like I’ve learned some things about myself that have made it a worthwhile experience.
And where’s the gospel application here? Honestly, it gets mixed up in my head. Having a sugar fast save me is kind of like letting religion save me. I wish eating were such an act of worship for me that I didn’t use it as a crutch for my boredom, depression, or lack of planning. But at the same time, a temporary discipline can be useful for resetting the tastes and refreshing the palate in more ways than one. I feel like my head is on straighter- like I can think clearer, look outside myself more, and listen for the whisper of God.
Lent can be like this too (and even better) when it’s celebrated in a spirit of worship. Restrictions shouldn’t be rules to gain God’s approval; restrictions can clear our heads to think about and worship Jesus. If you are following this path for the weeks leading up to Easter, let your temporary fasts make space in your soul for worship. And be thankful- as I have been- for the fellowship of multitudes of believers who are also denying something right now while seeking to know Christ more.
Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world he came to redeem.
J. Campbell White
Since the weather has made it necessary for us to take a month off of Little Globetrotters, perhaps these meditations on missions from the Advance ‘09 conference sponsored by Acts 29 will help focus you as you continue to teach your children to care for the whole world.
Little Globetrotters pray for the world
Everyone of you who confesses Jesus as Lord of the Universe signs up for a significance beyond anything that you ever dreamed…. To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him-that He will one day rule entirely.
Your heart was made for this! Your heart was made to embrace the global dimension of missional living. if you don’t have a global heart–if you’re not getting your arms around the nations and unreached peoples of the world–there will be a mild or serious sickness in your soul because your soul was made to do this.
Many people don’t know what’s wrong with their souls. What’s wrong is that their souls have shrunk to the level of their concerns.
When you pray: “Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come” that’s meant to take your heart and make it as big as history and as large as the globe.
Last week, while Chris was traversing our continent visiting Anchorage and Tacoma, I took our kids to Atlanta to visit family. This is going to sound strange to some of you, but it’s actually fun for homeschooled kids to go to school on their vacation. Not their regular school, but “real school.” In Atlanta, our children put on uniforms and sit in on their age-level classes at the private school my grandparents started in 1948. They get to carry lunch bags, go to P.E. and art class, and have recess with their classes. I get to check and see how their learning matches other children their ages and try to catch any gaps I’ve overlooked. I’ve done this once a year since our oldest was in preschool.
Poppy and Tess
I also get to hang out with my grandparents (and whatever baby is not old enough to go to school- this time it was Tess.) It makes me catch my breath a little to see Tess sitting with my grandfather. He was born just before World War I, lived through the Depression, and put himself through college- though he was the youngest in a large family- by alternating semesters that he worked and went to school. He taught me how to ask good questions to get to know people and, by example, how to see any conversation as an opportunity to both teach and learn. He has always been one of the most special people in my life.
Still playing the piano
And my grandmother…I still can’t keep up with her. I took her to the mall and was worn out after four hours of shopping. I kept asking her if she needed to go home and rest- then finally had to throw up the white flag myself. She can entertain for hours with stories of the creative ways she paid the bills while my grandfather was at the war. And if you have a question about parenting or teaching toddlers, she’s still the one you want to talk to.
“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5) Spending the week with four generations- and ages spread over 90 years- has reminded me to be thankful for the faithfulness of the Lord from generation to generation.
Melody shows where Australia is on the globe.
Hearing instructions for a prayer game.
Moms help their preschoolers do crafts.
I know why our kids don’t paint very much. It’s the same reason they don’t go outside very much in the winter. I don’t think they will freeze in the cold air or that they will catch colds. I’m not stingy with my art supplies- our craft cabinets are full of materials.
But I don’t like the mess. Last week they found the unfinished frames I bought because the price was too good to pass up. And in one day- nay, one hour- they painted all 10 of them. They painted “Best Friends” frames for each other. And presents for assorted friends. And, of course, a couple for Chris and me.
They had a blast. Their inner painters were unlocked and they painted with all their hearts. And what did I do? I’ll sum it up this way- I don’t think I’ve relaxed yet. I wish I had had the sense of humor to take a picture of Kate- when I walked in on her in the sun room with her paints and frames spread out all over the rug (of course she put her painted frames on top of a piece of construction paper to protect the rug.) I had just finished scrubbing the rug there when I went downstairs to the craft table to check on Mia and Kate. Mia was taking care of Kate- pouring paint on a paper plate for her. But in her limited experience she hadn’t figured out to hold the paint jars over the plate when she started to pour.
And did I say that I don’t send my kids outside to play much in the winter? Yep- the same reason. The mess takes just as long to clean up, but it looks more like this:
I had already put everyone to bed and cleaned up 9 coats (yes, I know that’s more coats than bodies in the house- don’t remind me) before I took this picture.
Our kids probably had a richer-than-normal week of homeschooling this past week in between their self-taught painting exercises, outside play, and lots of new library books. And me? I am dreaming of a hot bath.
But I am grateful- grateful that God has more grace for my mess and more joy when I am learning new things than I have shown. He is my Father (as last week’s sermon reminded me) but he’s not the kind of dad that needs a break from me and my mess. He rejoices over me- not when I have cleaned myself up, but because he sees through my sin the daughter he died to redeem.
Our kids do love Christmas. They look forward to Christmas parties, Christmas decorations, and Christmas presents. But last week they dropped everything to take a couple of afternoons to invite other people to come to church with them around Christmas.
One of the kids grandmothers gave Redemption Hill the gift of 100 gift bags that could be used to invite people to church. Two weeks ago the kids took time out of their busy homeschooling schedules to write out all the invitations to put in the bags. And earlier last week, they went to hang the bags on doors in an area neighborhood. Each bag contained an ESV New Testament, a free download of a study Bible, and an invitation to church.
They were full of glee as they ran down the sidewalks and jockeyed for the next turn hanging a bag on a door. Anyone watching them would never believe how much these kids wished they could be doing their schoolwork instead. 
But- as Christmas is a time for giving- they were learning to give of their time for an important reason.
This self-sacrifice (along with their sweet prayers for more people to come to church- especially for kids their ages) are an inspiring reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.
Taking time to spread the word
As you make plans with family over Christmas- and as you reflect on your year and appreciate the new community God is building between us at Redemption Hill- take a moment to think about the friendship that ideally should be reflected in both family and community. C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves points to the riches and depth of community that friendship brings.
In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that (my close friend) Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald. Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend.
You likely have ideas of what sorts of things you need to do to have a Real Christmas. Perhaps you have to make Christmas cookies- see the James Center lights- go by the Jefferson to see the giant gingerbread house- drive down Monument Avenue- decorate a tree- write Christmas cards- pull out Christmas plates to use the entire month of December- buy the perfect, yet discounted, gift for a long list of people. (Self disclosure: this is my personal list.) 
Yet if we do all these things, and do not have love and friendship with the people we need the most, we have not had a Real Christmas. Enjoying people, laughing with others, telling stories, playing games- these are the times with others that enrich our lives. Christmas is stressful? Or boring? Or depressing? We don’t have to live in the expectations that are leftovers from the past. Real friendship is the greatest embellishment to life. Building community and friendship is the hardest, most-worthwhile way that you could spend precious holiday hours. And in the friendships we build, we gain a window into heaven…as Lewis explains in this passage from The Four Loves.
…we possess each friend not less but more as the number of those with whom we share him increases. In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to Heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah VI, 3) The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall all have.
The United States has over 1.3 million child care teachers. Of those, only 4% are men. In our Redemption Hill Kids classes on Sunday mornings, 30 out of 70 of our teachers are men.
Nationwide, most children’s ministries- like other positions teaching children- are staffed primarily by women. In fact, many children can grow up without having any regular interaction with a male figure outside the home except a principal.
That’s why I’m so thankful that RH Kids has lots of volunteers who are guys. And I don’t mean the kind who pick daisies and tiptoe through the tulips (though we’ll welcome volunteers like that if they love Jesus and pass their application and background check.) I mean the tough masculine types like those pictured below.
Mark, Brad, Justin, Christian, and Jeremiah contemplate children's ministry
Men like Christian Hayes who taught our kids this past week about King Saul’s faithless sacrifice before his battle with the Philistines. (”He did it because he was scared, not because he was doing it for God,” recalls my six-year old.) Or Tom Hanrahan, who is more likely to have kids doing jumping jacks than dancing during worship. Or the K-3 teachers who sometimes forget to have the kids cut-and-color but (in my daughter’s words) play “millions of games.”
I trust that our kids are getting solid Biblical teaching from the men and women who volunteer in RH Kids. I appreciate that. But I love that 43% of our teachers are exposing them to a broader spectrum of the character of God than women could do alone. Thank God for the men!
A long trek by air, bus, dug-out canoe, and foot took us to the Amazon jungles in Venezuela for our December missions event with the preschoolers and their parents. Kelly Little showed pictures and told about visiting people in the jungles who had never heard the name of Jesus before. When the children threw in their beanbags to say a “beanbag prayer” for the country, they prayed for clean water, plenty of food, and people to go preach to the children in the Amazon region. Once again, the children took home a calendar to guide them in praying for Venezuela each day this month.
Below are some pictures from the Little Globetrotters event:
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