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Muslim evangelism… unreached people groups…the 10-40 window-they’re “hot buttons” that get people excited. They help people focus on legitimate need in places where people have little opportunity to hear the gospel. Workers who are raising support to minister in these areas seem to find a ready audience in many congregations.

The call to teach missionaries’ children (MKs) doesn’t make such exciting copy. MK teachers can’t report on the unreached people groups with whom they work. Some of them serve in the world’s least evangelized areas, but the primary recipients of their labors are not the host country nationals.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not minimizing the importance of ministering to unreached people or focusing energy on people with the greatest need. However, as we direct our missions efforts in these ways, we must not lose sight of those whose work supports others engaged in direct evangelism. Church mission policies that support only those in immediate evangelism or work with unreached people are shortsighted. They miss the critical role that teachers of missionaries’ children and other support workers play in the task of global evangelism.

Teachers of missionaries’ children are an important part of the missions team for at least three critical reasons. First, we need teachers because of the presence of missionary kids overseas. Christians value people because Jesus values people, and children are part of the people he loves. He told the disciples to “let the children come unto me.” Christians care for one another because that’s what Jesus taught us to do. In fact, the mark of the Christian is love (John 13:35). We care for MKs simply because they are there.

Teachers are also important because of missionary parents. The oft-quoted figures on missionary attrition remind us that, after retirement, the most frequent reason for missionaries leaving the field is family. Children’s education is high on the list of family reasons. Admittedly, there are educational options that do not require a specialized missionary teacher. However, those options do not work for all families or in all situations. The fact is that without the missionary children’s school, many families would head for the homeland. As missionary teachers minister to the children, parents have greater freedom to carry on their “frontline” ministries. Teachers also serve parents by enabling them to keep their children nearby. In recent years, the number of international Christian/MK schools has grown dramatically because parents want their children to live at home whenever possible. MK teachers help make that possible.

Finally, MK teachers are invaluable because of the potential of the children they serve. MKs have language and cultural skills that position them for strategic kingdom service, whether in vocational or lay ministry. Even after twenty years of speaking Spanish, people can still tell that I’m not a native speaker. That’s not true of our daughters. In addition to language skills, MKs learn to observe cultural norms and adjust to different cultures. It’s almost second nature to them since they’ve been doing it most of their lives. In our increasingly globally oriented population, missionary kids have tremendous potential to be a positive influence for the kingdom.

When a country goes to war, it takes both frontline soldiers and support troops to win the battles. Without the cooks, supply sergeants and countless others, those at the front would be unable to fulfill their mission. All are an important part of the team. It’s the same in missions. We need many members on the team, including teachers of missionaries’ children.

August 9, 2002