When I was a little girl, I never wanted to eat the crust of my sandwich. Instead, I would ask my mom to put it in a brown paper bag and send it to the children in India. I saved my pennies for the children in India, I prayed before dinner for the children of India, but to this day, I have never been to India.

I guess you could say I grew up somewhat mission minded; however, I’m not so sure I was aware of the needs across the street, at my school, or on my sports team. I now know that being mission minded isn’t just about wanting to provide food and meet practical, physical needs to those living in poverty . . . it’s about so much more. It’s when one sets out to fulfill the great commission to go and make disciples! It’s about living life on a mission.  

Furthering God’s kingdom is the most important thing any of us will ever do. And, as parents, we need to be intentional about raising up children who have a heart for global missions! But we also need to teach our kids that we can change the world without ever even leaving our own city. We don’t have to go to India to spread the gospel—but if you do, that’s amazing! 

Raising mission-minded kids can be extremely challenging in today’s world. We can talk about Jesus, love Jesus, and take our kids to church, but how do we cultivate a heart for missions in our home? Simply by raising awareness! 

Here are just a few ways you can raise awareness regularly with your children:

• Educate your children by reading biographies of missionaries. 
• Check out charity: water, a ministry that invites kids and teaches them how they can make an impact.  
• Bring your kids out to experience Global Missions Week January 23–29, where you’ll be able to meet missionaries who are impacting our world.
• Raise money as a family to support missionaries. This can be as fun and easy as selling lemonade at a homemade lemonade stand, putting on a car wash, selling baked goods, or selling old toys.
• Assemble bags filled with snacks, waters, socks, hand wipes, a handwritten note, and other goodies and keep them in your car to give out to homeless people on street corners. 

Again, we need to make sure our kids know they don’t have to travel to a different country to be a missionary. There are children and adults right here in South Florida who don’t know the gospel and who don’t have a relationship with Jesus! So, let’s be intentional in raising our kids to grow up with zeal for the gospel and a passion to share the message of hope in our world, neighborhoods, community, schools, sports teams, and so on.

Mission-minded kids . . . 

• love others
• love Jesus
• pray for others
• have a strong conviction of being a light and a leader in their world
• want to make a difference in their generation any way they can
• are servants through giving and serving 
• are compassionate and empathetic
• have a sense of purpose
• know God created them for such a time as this
• are bold, fearless warriors for Christ 

Together, we can raise mission-minded kids and change the world starting right here in South Florida. Global missions can happen anywhere, but it must first start in the hearts of the next generation—and these hearts are formed in our homes. Let’s do this!