Raising Kids Filled with Compassion

Reflections from Melissa Giles, FH Canada Training Manager

"Families learning together, to disciple our children in the ways of God, 

while exploring our world with hearts of love, justice and compassion."

Home School Co-Op Visits FH Canada

This is the Mission Statement of the Heritage Christian Online School (HCOS) group that visited FH Canada's office Wednesday May 29. This great group of 14 children and 5 adults came to present us with the $541 they had raised at the Fort Langley Farmer's market. The group had worked together to prepare items for sale, such as home made granola, lemonade and hot chocolate mix, hair ties, wooden toys, and bath salts.

It's powerful isn't it?  No, I'm not talking just about the funds they raised (although that is very impressive).  But rather, a group of parents united together, committed to raising their children in a way that teaches them that to understand the heart of God, to be a disciple, requires a commitment to seeking justice and showing compassion.

I am a teacher by profession. It doesn't take much effort to realize why I love this story.

Example of Items up for Sale

I had the opportunity of meeting this group last September in Fort Langley at their regularly Monday morning Co-op learning time.  They invited me in as a guest speaker to talk with the kids about my own personal experiences working overseas and then also to share with the children examples of the work that FH Canada is part of worldwide.  I've gone back a few times to encourage them in their learning.

You would assume, that as a teacher, the part of the story I would love the most would be the learning that took place for the kids. Surprisingly though the part of this story that will stick with me the longest is the decision making process on where to allocate the funds.  I think we can all agree, it would have been easier and simpler for the parents to decide. Instead they created a voting system in which pictures were taken from the gift guide, and then each student was given a number of stickers to place on the item of their choice.  In the end, the items with the most stickers received the funds.

FH Canada staff teaching about Child Sponsorship

The kids had a voice in the decision making process!

It's a simple take away, but it impacted me because it reminded me of what FH strives to do at a community level. FH staff working in the communities use a participatory based approach that through a variety of activities involves the whole community, and gives a voice to those that don't typically have the opportunity to have their ideas heard.  The parallel between the two was not lost on me.

So Thank You to HCOS Fort Langley Co-Op group!  Thanks for coming to visit us, for fundraising, for teaching your kids about compassion, and for reminding us why hearing from all members of our communities is so important.