by Helen Leibee

1. Learn little choruses, especially from scriptures, in another language; then look for the many opportunities to have children sing these to others. This may be at a nursing home when you come upon that language speaker. Or in street ministries. Or when you meet someone in a store you can ask to come and sing for them. Use these opportunities to get your children comfortable with people of other countries and excited about trying out new languages.
2. Help children to break down the barrier of pride (usually disguised as shyness) which hinders us from using another language or approaching people of a different culture.
3. At a loss as to where to being? Try CLP’s Speedy Spanish which has a treasure store of short scripture memory passages and many short, easy to learn choruses. There is a tape to accompany it and the words are also written out.
4. When you meet people of another background, ask them to teach you a song. If they are not Christians, they can teach you an appropriate, simple children’s song. This is a double blessing because it links you to the person and paves the way for later encounters with that language group.
5. Listen as a family to language tapes and learn some basic greetings and phrases; then be on the lookout for people who speak that language. Approach them saying something like, “Oh, we know a few words in your language!” Always be humble yet eager and interested.
6. Buy children international cookbooks and check out cookbooks from individual countries from the library. Show the children how delightful and interesting other cultures can be!
7. As a special treat, take the family out to a foreign restaurant. Have your mission two-fold: to enjoy the cuisine of other countries, and to possibly meet waiters that you can connect with. We often offer a little prize for whoever can draw out the waiter. ?
8. Have a special evening surrounding a country or a people group. Eat their food, decorate, tell facts about them, find out from Operation World their spiritual needs and pray for them. Invite others to come.
9. Ask a person from another culture to come to your house and cook for or with you. It will be a tasty and interesting evening and will give you an inroad into that person’s life, whether Christian or unbeliever.
10. Purchase and borrow from the library picture books or informative books on other countries and cultures. Teach the children to be somewhat knowledgeable about geography and other people groups, but always teachable and humble.
11. Look for puzzles and games that spark an interest in the world.
12. Expose children from toddler hood to puzzles, maps, books and songs of other cultures and try to develop in them very early on an attitude of love and interest in other people.
13. Keep some tracts in other languages and look for opportunities for you and the children to give one out.
14. When meeting foreign people in stores, etc. be friendly and attempt to get their addresses for future contact. This is usually very simple because in the U.S., foreign visitors, newcomers, students,etc. are rarely invited into homes, and long to come.
15. If you do make a contact with a foreign family living in the U.S., at a later date send them a surprise box in the mail. Send homemade jam or candy, tracts in their language and if possible a Bible or book in their language. Grace Press and CAM are good local sources for helping you acquire these things. Get the children excited about this.
16. If you meet someone who is currently living in another country, send them a package of things from your area (postcards, little brochures, small trinkets) and they might send you a package from their foreign home. This generates excitement about different countries.
17. Raise money and become a part of sending Bibles to different people groups. One source is Asia Harvest www.asiaharvest.org. They have a program called Southeast Asia Bible fund. Some organizations (Bibles for the Word ) will send you Bibles in another language and mailing lists and packing envelopes which allow you to send the Bibles and pray for each family as you send.
18. Go to flea markets and look for stalls operated by foreign people. You and your children get to know them and whenever possible, return other days to establish a friendship.
19. When doing EXPO night or some similar home school program, ask someone to help you prepare something about his or her country. Invite them over for advice and help, and then take them to the program.
20. Go to foreign food stores with the express purpose of finding and meeting people from other cultures. Have the children ask them questions. At first you can practice some questions but later it will become natural with your children to express genuine interest.
21. Invite someone to come over once a week for several months to begin teaching your children a language. You can then have exposure to language learning, and connect with that person and his family.
22. Let children have a penpal in another country. Your missionaries could help you with this one.
23. Always foster courage in your children to get involved with other people. Courage does not have to be pushy but can still be humble and caring.
24. Adopt a child through a mission program and keep in touch with him through the years.
25. Keep the children’s interest in other cultures in its proper Biblical place – that God loves all people and desires that they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We do not want to Americanize other people, nor do we want to adopt unscriptural practices; but we DO want to point to Jesus as the ONLY WAY to eternal life.