As my wife and I become closer and closer to becoming parents ourselves, I’ve found myself wondering how to best to apply the practices of the Church to our children. My own upbringing in the Church proceeded under the assumption that I was perpetually limited to the cognitive abilities of a five year old (and I think it’s fair to say that much of the ’seeker sensitive’ movement continues to operate under this assumption!) But even if it had provided something more substantive I’d most likely be another one of those theo-zombies anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to debate the 5 points of Calvinism.
Fortunately, this summer I’ve gained some great insights about raising children from the accounts of my friends Mike and Katie, who are presently ministering in Nicaragua this summer with their four children.
Specifically, their ministry targets the glue sniffing street boys in Masaya. Here are a couple excerpts from their email updates (Katie I hope you don’t mind):
…my biggest prayer request right now would be for Mike and I to have wisdom on how to walk this journey with our kids.
Often Brayden struggles with new things. If he feels inept or uncomfortable, then he will retreat or not try things. I feel as though as a family we are in that place together.
I doubt that our kids will ever know the extent that the Lord uses
them to draw the boys out.
I was also touched by the tenderness of the boys. They eagerly followed our kids, corralled them, helped them off of steps, and cleaned their dirty faces. They sought our kids out to share with them a bag of chips that had been given to them…food that doesn’t come readily to them.
At first I was quite surprised, and a little concerned, to learn that they had brought all four of their children to spend the summer near the garbage dumps of Nicaragua. But after reading their updates it became clear that the experience is the perfect opportunity for their children to learn how to be the Church.
At the center of Christian education, young and old alike, are the Christian practices of kindness, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice, items that are vital for Mike and Katie’s (and their children’s) ministry in Nicaragua. I think where the Church errs is in believing that these practices can be effectively taught through puppet shows and flannel graphs. In contrast, I think these kinds of practices are not something you learn through study, but by going and doing. Thus the Church, and the families that make up the Church, should above all be in the habit of creating spaces for these practices to be, well… practiced.
The previous quotes are only a snapshot, but hopefully you’re able to see how the environment in Nicaragua allows their children to practice being the Church to the street boys of Masaya.
I hope that when I’m a father, my family will also be in places where we can teach and learn the practices of the Church by doing.
If you’re interested, a similar attitude is practiced by Dr. David Hilfiker, a physician, and father, who lives and works in inner-city D.C. I especially recommend his book:
Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen.
If you are interested in learning about the culpability of multinational corporations in the exportation and distribution of glue to the street children your friends are working with in Nicaragua and to children around the world, please see the documentary Glue Boys. You can order it at glueboys.com . This is an issue the church should care about. These are all our children.