My oldest son is on his first mission trip without us to Guatemala.  He went with an organization called RIM which stands for Real Impact Missions.  They take 20-25 teenagers from around the United States and go to different countries around the world.  The first 2 weeks of the mission trip is outreach and serving the people.  There is an option of staying for another 2 weeks for a medical mission trip in the same place.  RIM is a great organization and opportunity for young people to go on mission trips.  They have a website that you should check out if your kids are wanting to go on mission trips.

I have always wanted my children to have a heart for missions and the world.  If God asked our family to move to Africa, I would be there in a heartbeat.  My challenge as a teacher and parent has always been on how to cultivate this in my children while still  living in the United States.  One of the resources that our children have enjoyed doing is going through the children’s book called “Akebu to Zapotec”.  This book goes through 26 countries that do not have the Bible in their own language using the first letter of the alphabet for each of the different countries.  This is the 2nd book that the author has written because kids prayed for the countries in the first book and all those countries received the Bible written in their own language.  We take a different country every week and pray that they will receive Christ and get a Bible in their own language.  This has been a great introduction to kids on how they can reach the nations and change the world with their prayers.