At Connect 2 Ministries, we believe that ministry is a community effort. The Great Commission is a call to all God’s people, and making disciples is not something we do in isolation. That’s why we try to encourage families to make missions a regular part of life. Here are some practical things you can do to get started.

• Pray Together. Prayer is the most powerful thing we can do as Christians, and the best thing you can do to get your family involved in ministry is to pray together. Sponsor a child as a family, and commit to praying for them on a regular basis. You can even write them letters to show your support in a really practical way. Fill your mind with thoughts of others, and bring your burdens for the world before the Lord in prayer.
• Make It Real. Kids are pragmatic, so it can be helpful to do something that will make the reality of foreign missions tangible. You can identify with those in poverty by skipping one meal in a day, wearing the same clothes for a few days in a row, or not having light in your room in the evenings (which often are all realities for Haitian children). We know one family who lived one mile away from a lake, so they turned the water off at their house for a day and only used what they carried from the lake themselves. They would go to the water, fill a container, and then walk back to the house and use only that water communally, all day. That’s a typical thing that would happen in Haiti, so through that one creative experience, this family had made the abstract notion of poverty real to their children in a memorable way.

The essence of compassion is care for others’ suffering. Without understanding, there is no compassion. So how do we become compassionate people? We can begin to understand what’s going on in Haiti in a small way by experiencing what they experience and understanding life as they live it, not as we live it. That’s the reason we take teams. Like so many have said before us, poverty and suffering don’t have meaning until they have a face and a name. Once you have a personal association with these abstract realities, they become more real. It’s true for adults, and it’s certainly true for kids.

When someone comes on a team trip to Haiti and meets one of our restavek children in person, they’ve instantly made a meaningful connection. Now the concept of suffering has flesh, and scars, and a story. But until that point, it’s all academic. At some point, you need experience. Pray with your children, and help them understand the suffering others live with. By making these big ideas real to your kids, you can help them grow into a heart of genuine compassion for those in need. It’s hard to think of a bigger gift to give your family.