Helping kids to be mission-minded

In my search for a current copy of You Can Change the World and my inability to locate it, I stumbled upon a treasure, The Mission-Minded Child—Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose by Ann Dunagan.

You Can Change the World was a book that I purchased about 20 years ago to help my family pray for countries around the world. The book was reprinted and updated in 2002 and now is titled Window on the World by Jill Johnstone and Daphne Spraggett.  It is the children’s version of Operation World.  There are 100 countries and people groups in the book and it provides a great learning experience and tool for prayer. It is not easily purchased in Australia but can be sourced through Amazon or Fishpond, and the cost is about $AUD40.

The Mission-Minded Child—Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose

By Ann Dunagan

David Livingstone—the famous missionary explorer—said, ‘This generation can only reach this generation’.  Ann Dunagan’s question to her readers is, ‘Will we raise our children to reach effectively their generation for Jesus Christ?’

Ann Dunagan is a mother of seven and an international minister. She has personally ministered in over 25 countries and enjoys teaching children and encouraging parents and teachers. The ideas in the book are tried, tested and easy to adapt to either a family or church context. The book was published in 2007.

In the introductory pages of the book, Dunagan includes a section titled ‘How to Use this Book’.  In it she says, ‘This book is simply a tool to help you, as a Christian parent (or teacher), to impart to the next generation a passion for Jesus Christ and a heart for God’s mission to our world. It’s not just information; it’s inspiration!’(p xiii)

The book is a good balance between the biblical basis for mission and the practical ways to transfer that knowledge to children. There are facts on mission and quotes from famous missionaries and lots of ideas of how to teach about mission, including ‘Ten Prayer Projects for your Child’ (p150–151).

One of the features of the book that I particularly enjoyed was the mini missionary biographies. More than 60 pages are given to short biographies which can be read to children or even performed as a monologue. Each biography gives ideas for ‘kid-friendly resources’.

The content of the book and the resources have certainly inspired me. It is a book that I will definitely buy as presents for my friends with young children, and one that I would encourage children’s ministry workers to get as a resource for their own library to help children be ‘world Christians’ and to be serious about Jesus’ great commission to ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel’ (Mark 16:15).

This practical book can be obtained through Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) at [url=http://www.omf.org/omf/australia/book_shop]http://www.omf.org/omf/australia/book_shop[/url] or call the OMF Bookshop direct on +61 2 9868 4777. At the time of print, the price of this book was $AUD17.50 plus postage.

The Mission Zone

Teaching Resource also available through OMF

The Mission Zone is a fun, easy-to-use resource that aims to teach children about world mission. While it is primarily aimed at seven to 11 year olds, many of the activities can be adapted to either younger or older groups. This book helps people to get a basic understanding of world mission and how to teach it to children in an engaging way. It has ideas that range from mission spots at church to week-long holiday programs. There are crafts, games, food ideas and Bible-teaching notes. A great resource for anyone who wants to develop an interest in children for missions. At the time of print, this resource was priced at $AUD12 plus postage.

For more articles from Growing Faith, subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.
To hear about the latest books and resources from Youthworks Media, subscribe here.