Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

education was either from home school or correspondence courses.
My home school was based on books we had in the house, much as
kids on the American frontier learned.
My boys attend a Spanish-language school here in Colombia.
We pay the tuition for this private school because of the frequent
strikes that interrupt the public school year. Tuition is inexpensive
here—only about fifty dollars a month per child, plus books and
uniforms. Our children are getting a good education, perhaps even
better than they would in many places at home, and they’re learning
more of the language and culture in which they live. We speak
English in the house, and we tutor them in English to keep up their
reading skills.
Don’t let kid worries keep you off the mission field. Kids are
resilient.
Answer from Paul in Colombia, who has served fourteen years as a missionary.
A:
Consider an agency’s values on education
before joining.
As you examine various mission agencies, balance their values
on schooling against your own. Some agencies consider the parents’
missionary work to be the priority—so parents must send their kids
to boarding school when they turn six years old. Other agencies let
parents make schooling decisions.
Some common choices for schooling missionary kids include
home school and the local school. My assistant Paul, who grew up
overseas, attended a neighborhood school. He never knows how to
answer the question, “What was it like to attend school overseas?”
He says it’s no different from school anywhere—some things are
fun, and some things aren’t. To get an idea of how missionary kids
live, visit mukappa.org.
Answer from Jack Voelkel.
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