Families can make a difference
Doing missions with your family is an exciting prospect! When your family includes children, the time together becomes a time of learning about the importance of everyone’s participation in missions.
Consider the following projects for you and your family to use to help persons in your community and around the world.
- Set a family goal for a special missions offering. Talk about ways everyone can contribute to help meet the goal. Children can do extra chores and give the money they earn. Give 10 cents for every pair of shoes family members have. Give 5 cents for every half-hour of television watched.
- Talk about the missionaries whose work is helped by the missions offering. Learn about the countries where they serve. Use the public library for children’s books with photos of these areas that will make the mission field come alive for your family.
- Praying as a family for missionaries and their work can be very rewarding as it is part of the learning process for everyone. There is something special about praying for someone by name and when you know a little bit about the work they do!
- Using a world map is a good way to help children understand there are missionaries all around the world. You can mark the countries where they serve (or area, if they are in a sensitive one) with pins, flags or dots.
- Provide school supplies for needy children in your community. Family services often have the number needed, or contact elementary school principals.
- Collect outgrown clothing and take it to a community facility that distributes it to those in need.
- Participate in a migrant camp ministry by providing staple items before paychecks start or VBS supplies for volunteers to use in the camps. In California, contact Oscar Sanchez (559-243-9543), coordinator of “Feeding Those Who Feed Us” for information about how your family can get involved.
- How about making a care package for school bus drivers? Put together a package and let them know how much you appreciate the job they do.
- Leave a bag of goodies for your postman with a note of thanks.
- Take an elderly person grocery shopping as a family. Enlist everyone’s help to make this a fun trip. If possible take the individual to lunch before returning them home.
- Work as a family in a homebound neighbor’s yard raking leaves, weeding or planting flowers.
- Cook together as a family to help provide a meal for a homeless shelter or for victims of a disaster. Give everyone a job to do: peeling potatoes, shredding cheese, peeling bananas, washing beans for cooking.
- Make personal care baggies for the homeless or take them to a community shelter. To save money, purchase items at a dollar store. Include tissues, toothpaste, a wrapped toothbrush, small bottle of shampoo, bar of soap, inexpensive washcloth. Put a Christian tract inside the slider-lock baggie with the name of your church. Buy the items as a family and assemble the baggies together.
- Have a children’s day in your backyard. Use Vacation Bible School or Backyard Bible Club materials to help plan Bible stories and craft activities. Invite other children in your neighborhood. Host a hot dog party at the end of one of the days/evenings and include the entire family. This is a great way to meet neighbors and find out their spiritual condition.
Last Published: July 13, 2010 6:08 PM