Kids and Missionaries

Ted and I took a class last semester about Church History, from the time of Acts to the present day. It was extremely interesting to see how the church developed, learn more about some of the good things and bad things that have happened during The Church's History, and see how many of the denominations were formed. In another very interesting section of the class we learned about several missionaries.

The class included quizzes every week, which prompted us to study and actually remember the things we were learning. (What a concept!) When we were learning about the missionaries, there were so many names and countries and we knew we would have to keep them all straight. We went to our church's children's library and found a treasure trove of materials!

We've enjoyed checking out books about different missionaries and reading them to the kids, and we've also discovered an animated series of DVD's called The Torchlighters: Heroes of the Faith. So far there are 6 DVD's:

• William Tyndale, the man who risked his life to translate the Bible and make it available for all people
  
• John Bunyan, a pastor from England who was arrested and wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" while in prison
• Jim Elliot, a missionary to the Aucas who was killed by the people he was trying to reach with the gospel
• Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner who was featured in Chariots of Fire and was also a missionary to China (I never knew that!)
  
• Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China who led over 100 orphans to safety on foot, by herself, through a war!
• Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor in Romania during WWII who stood firm in his faith in the face of great persecution

They are currently working on the stories of Perpetua, a third century martyr, and Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India. These are wonderfully done, 30 minute animated videos summarizing the stories of these heroes of the Christian faith. Our family has thoroughly enjoyed watching them, and our kids ask to watch them over and over. I love that it is exposing them to missions and shows them how REAL people have stood firm in their faith. Through these missionary stories, our kids are seeing that being a Christian doesn't just mean calling yourself a Christian and going to church on Sundays.