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What kind of mission work have your students been involved in? How have you seen it impact them?
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Students in the past have been involved in missions both locally and across state lines. They have volunteered at a local soup kitchen and participated as student helpers in other classrooms at the school. Students have present at churches and have done volunteer work as part of a mission trip. The students recognize the similarities between themselves and other people in other places as well as realizing the way in which serving can become a regular part of their lives. The work with others allows them to learn more about themselves and walk in gratitude for the way in which other people have loved them in the past.
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My students serve the lower grades with weekly tutoring. They go out into the community for food service and community clean up. Missional service is incredibly important to our students.
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I have not had the opportunity to do this yet, but I do plan and hope to. I can only draw on an experience I had as a child. When I was in elementary school, the choir teacher took us to local nursing homes every Christmas to sing to the elderly. This has obviously stayed with me after all these years. I cherish these memories and came to understand how much they appreciated those visits during Christmas. It meant so much to them, but looking back now as an adult, I think it impacted me even more. Our choir teacher taught us how we could selflessly contribute in a meaningful way to others. I hope to offer something as meaningful for my students to experience. Perhaps, we could write encouraging letters to missionaries, create encouraging artwork for villages that our missionaries are visiting, visit a local food kitchen, and more.
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This is difficult to answer as this was my first year back to teaching after a long break to raise my own children. All of the COVID restrictions made it pretty difficult for us to go out into the community this year, but we did find a way to be involved in some things the best we could. Our school has a mission emphasis month every year in January or February. This year rather than focusing on something abroad we chose to support local organizations. We did a coin drive for a local foster care organization that supplies birthday cakes and parties to kids in foster care. The students were even able to design birthday cards that could be given out throughout the year. We also collected items for our local children’s cancer care program. The students were able to bring in all kinds of items such as food and snacks for the parents and siblings of children going through treatment, toothbrushes and other toiletries, activities and prizes for the kids with cancer that they could do in their room or get every time they had to get poked. We also supported through prayer and making videos a focused month on our local child evangelism program. The students really love participating in these activities. The variety gives everyone something they could get excited about. It also gives us a sense of family and unity as we worked together to bless others.
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Every year, my school offers “Mission Impossible” and students will travel out of state to do some service projects at a Bible camp. Students who participate in this event return with much energy, new relationships, and a deeper connection to God. I have not seen anything else that replicates that experience for them.