Homeschool Ministry

If you’ve followed along with our blog this past year, you might remember us mentioning the idea of wanting to develop a homeschool assistant program for the missionaries here in Asia. The longer we’re on the field, the more missionaries we talk to and discuss the idea with, the more we see the need for this ministry. 

​Our vision for this is two-fold. First, to aid established missionaries on the field by taking on some of the homeschooling burden so they can be more effective in their ministries. This can be needed for many reasons, such as, so the family has more flexibility to minister, opportunity to learn the language, ability to work on a new project that requires more time, to allow greater space for recovery after a particularly hard season on the field, or to provide help with kids who have special needs. 

The second goal is to provide an opportunity for young people or retirees to experience Asia and the realities of living on the field, while also being of immediate service to an established family. Many young folks want to explore whether long term missions might be a direction God is leading them in, but they only have opportunity to take a short trip somewhere, which doesn’t give them the “real” experience of life in another culture; the joys, the struggles, the discomfort, and the rewards of seeing God move, and of having their worldview expanded beyond what might have been possible had they not left their home culture. 

Who this is for: Any believer commended by their home church (college age up through retired person) who is interested in serving missionaries already established on the field as a ministry to them, and thereby indirectly joining them in their work. Someone prepared to make a one-year commitment to live and work in Thailand helping a missionary family with their homeschooling.

What’s required: A willingness to step out of your comfort zone, be flexible in your thinking, and consider new ideas. Willingness to raise financial support through church members, family, or others who may be interested in helping with the financial requirements of the year. Willingness to live on your own or with a roommate paying rent and utilities, shopping for and making your meals and directing your life beyond the homeschool ministry. Willingness to intentionally plug into the community available for fellowship and everyday life beyond the family you’re serving, approach daily life problems with an adult problem-solving mindset, and to strive daily to be a blessing to the family you are paired up with.

What ISN’T necessarily required: People trained to be teachers or who have curriculum prepared. People with previous experience homeschooling. People who have already lived in a foreign culture.

What we provide: We will assist with visa application for the year, financial budgeting, matching the assistant with a homeschool family, help with choosing rental housing, showing how to get around Chiang Mai and get groceries, where some church locations are, and where/how to potentially get connected with peers for community. We will encourage the homeschooling family to help you with these adjustments as well, providing resource options for your interests and even ministry beyond their family. 

What helping looks like: You will work out with the family you’re helping what helping looks like for them. In some cases it may mean teaching alongside the parent, watching the younger kids while the parent schools the older ones (some families have a lot of kids), daily teaching of multiple children, working with one special needs kid while the others are in school, or many other situations as unique as each family. What it looks like for each assistant will vary depending on each family’s needs. The family will provide the curriculum for their children from which the assistant will teach and plan lessons in the style of homeschooling and class structure the parents prefer.

This is just a quick overview, but please feel free to link anyone who’s interested to this page, and then they can inquire directly via email at lanceandruth@psmail.net for more info to move forward in the process if they feel led to do so!

Blessings
-Lance, for the Baker family