We Were Late For Lunch...And No One Cared

Kristi Pananas is a kindergarten teacher at Grace Christian School, a Worldview Matters "WRAP" school in Staunton, Virginia. In the above photo, Mrs. Pananas is with Ella, a student who asked a question that turned a 20-minute math lesson into a 45-minute “worldview lesson" that was so engaging the class didn’t care about being late to lunch! Mrs. Pananas writes: “Recently, during a kindergarten math lesson, I introduced patterns: red, yellow, red, yellow; smiley face, star, smiley face, star; ABAB, etc. We practiced a few different examples. And then, the neat stuff happened.” The rest of the story is below, in Mrs. Pananas own words. (Thank you, Kristi.)

A little girl [Ella] raised her hand and asked, “What does God think of patterns and does he like them?” Wow!

I put my worksheet aside, sat down and knew that this discussion was more important than the “math” lesson. I asked the question back to the class.

And the following were some of the answers:

The first little boy said, “We know God likes order so he must like patterns because patterns are in order.” We had previously talked about how God is a God of order, not chaos. I thought, “They are getting it, they remember, this is important to them!!!”

Hands were flying, and everyone wanted to be part of the discussion.

Another student added, "God ordered the days, he made all things….” We had talked about creation, and how our calendar was in order, and what God thought of that.

And another remembered, “God made animals with patterns.” Patterns were related to camouflage and a way of protecting animals, and God did that.

We discussed how God made people with patterns: 2 eyes, 2 arms, boys/girls. How God doesn’t make mistakes when he creates anything. How we are all created perfectly and in a special way and are made in His image (patterned after God).

To answer the question about, “does God like patterns?“ everyone agreed that he does!  He made rainbows, and they are patterns. He likes pretty things. He wants to enjoy patterns; they thought that God wanted us to like patterns, too. We talked about how God is creative and thinks of everything.

A 20-minute math lesson turned into a 45-minute worldview lesson initiated by a child with a heart wondering about God. We were late for lunch...and no one cared, and kindergarteners always care about snack and lunch (and recess)!

I was amazed and proud. We had been in school less than a month and the kiddos were using the questioning that they hear at school…“what does God think/feel about...?” These kiddos are 5 and 6 years old! I can only imagine what the rest of the year will be like. God is at work in the hearts and minds of these kindergarten students.

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Postscript: If you are a teacher, or a parent, wondering what sort of questions the teachers at Grace Christian School are asking to prompt “worldview conversations,” click here for examples. Use them yourself!

Mrs. Pananas with another student, Max.

  

600-700 Illiterate People

The Living Water Translation does not read like a translation, although it is a true translation, not a "paraphrase." It flows in the most natural way--with supernatural effects. 

In 1958, Roy Mayfield, and his wife, Georgialee, a young American couple, made their new home among a remote group of 600-700 illiterate people called the "Agtas," in the northern Philippines, as Wycliffe Bible Translators. 

Roy and Georgialee raised their four children in this community. They learned to speak the Agta language, put their words into written form, and taught the Agtas how to read their own tongue.

Why? Because the Agtas did not have the Bible in their own language, and the Mayfields wanted them to read the Word of God for themselves [as Luther wanted Germans to be able to do], and to know the Savior's love and will for their lives. After 30 years, the New Testament was complete. They stayed another 10 years, and by 1994 half of the Agta group had committed themselves to Christ. 

“It was primarily through the Agta leadership and witness of individual believers that the Agta Church grew,” says Roy. "When the Agta New Testament was dedicated [in 1993], isolated Agta communities from a large geographical area were invited to participate for a two-day affair. This experience motivated them to hold a gathering the following year. And for the past 20 years the annual Agta Christian Convention has been a venue where some find Christ for the first time, and others grow in their spiritual walk with the Lord.”

When Roy returned to the United States, he did not stop translating. He turned his attention to writing an English version of the New Testament, which sprang from his own longing for a "more readable translation." One that was "clear and flowing."

I can personally attest that Roy succeeded in reaching his goal! His translation is indeed "a more readable translation." It is really "clear and flowing."

Roy calls it, The Living Water Translation. It is my favorite translation of the New Testament, and my wife's favorite also. She spends hours reading it while soaking in the tub! (Well, not hours in the tub at once...)

The Mayfield translation has not yet been "discovered." I want to get the word out. It is a treasure hidden in a field. To order your copy, click here. You'll be glad you did! Give yourself an early Christmas present--and someone else, too.

Take a look at the photos below, courtesy of my Aunt and Uncle, Roy and Georgialee Mayfield:

Roy and Georgialee teaching a group of Agtas to read their own language.

Roy (far left) and Georgialee with three of their four children and some Agta friends.

Roy with an Agta helper, "testing" his choice of words. Roy was trained in linguistics at the Universities of North Dakota and Oklahoma, as well as Indiana University. As a Wycliffe Bible Translator, Roy was trained to "translate in a way that does not read like a translation." As Roy puts it, "Any literary work calling itself a translation must be as understandable and idiomatic for the modern reader as the original was to the original readers of the content." After 30 years of applying this principle to the Agta New Testament, Roy applied the same principle to his English translation of the New Testament, calling it, The Living Water Translation. To read sample chapters, click here.

Down Under

By Australia_(orthographic_projection).svg: Ssolbergjderivative work: Roke (talk) - Australia_(orthographic_projection).svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9397159

Since the year 2000, I have traveled the globe extensively, speaking on topics related to Christian education, from Europe, to South America, to Africa and Asia, as well as crisscrossing North America. What never ceases to amaze me is the number of like-minded Christians who are quietly and diligently working toward the same ends. The Spirit is moving all over the world, stirring the Body of Christ to fulfill its responsibility to pass on a “Christian mind” to the next generation.

One such tireless Christian school advocate is Dr. Richard Edlin, Director of Edserv International, a worldwide educational service organization based Down Under, in the kangaroo capital of the world—Australia.

Richard is originally from New Zealand, but has lived in various places around the world, including a stint in Bolivia as principal of a Christian school there. He is a well-known international speaker on topics related to Christian education. The Cause of Christian Education, now in its 4th edition, is his most popular book. In my opinion, it is one of the best and most thorough treatises on Christian schooling available today. His recently published little book for Christian parents, Thinking About Schooling, has been enthusiastically received.

At present, Dr. Edlin is focusing on “train-the-trainer” strategies, particularly between countries across the Asia/Oceania region, as well as speaking on "imagination and the Christian school," and mental health issues in Christian school communities. 

I’m pleased to announce that Dr. Edlin will be doing a speaking tour of the US in 2018.

The passion that Richard and his wife, Annette, share for Christian education is born out of their deep desire to see young people celebrating the Lordship of Christ over all of life, interacting humbly yet boldly with the world around them in all its dimensions, in every vocation. It’s a passion we both share.

Richard is also concerned about how Secularism is increasingly capturing the public space in Western countries. What is currently happening in the US is also happening Down Under. Last week, Richard sent me a stunning speech by a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, expressing in no uncertain terms his serious concerns about the direction things are going (and at such a rapid speed) toward shutting up Christians in the West. Check it out here.

You may contact Dr. Edlin at redlin@edservinternational.org.

Richard Edlin, Director of Edserv International.

Radical Teaching!

Martin Luther spent portions of his life in seclusion. The establishment did not appreciate his efforts to drain the swamp of anti-biblical practices. This is a 1521 painting of Martin Luther disguised as “Jonker Jörg,” an identity he took on while secluded at the Wartburg castle. This man looks haggard and stressed, to me. He paid a high price for his passion. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo by nevsepic.com.ua.)

When the television series Biography addressed the question of the most important figure of the past millennium, they placed Johann Gutenberg first, Isaac Newton second, and Martin Luther third.

When members of the Religion Newswriters Association were asked to vote for the most significant religious story of the past 1000 years, the event that came out on top took place in 1517, when Martin Luther went public with 95 propositions supporting his contention that the Church's practice of selling "indulgences" (whereby people paid money to cut down their time in purgatory) was wrong and abusive, which, the newswriters said, “sparked a Protestant Reformation whose results are still being felt."

The 500th anniversary of that event was commemorated around the world last Tuesday. Has your church celebrated the kick-off of the Reformation?

We have a lot to celebrate with respect to Luther's courage and the Reformation that ensued. Luther is often acknowledged for his role in restoring great truths such as "Scripture alone," the "priesthood of all believers," and "saved by grace, not by works." But what is not often mentioned in Evangelical circles is Luther's radical teaching on the sacredness of all vocations. 

His teaching on this forgotten truth elevated the work of the milkmaid and the farmer to that of the pastor in the pulpit, and the monk in the monastery. Yes, this was radical teaching!

A few years ago, I had the privilege of video recording a conversation with Os Guinness, one of the most respected voices in the Evangelical world today, about the effects of the Reformation upon Western culture, and specifically the effects of Martin Luther's radical teaching on work. 

The Doctrine of Vocation was a powerful driver in the early Reformation, but it has been largely forgotten today. It begs to be recovered, and, by God's grace, this is something Worldview Matters and others are laboring to do. Our particular focus is on restoring theology of work to the standard curriculum of elementary and secondary schools, and to the hearts and minds of adults in the church.

An excellent book that deals specifically with Luther's Doctrine of Vocation is Gene Edward Veith, Jr's, God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. I highly recommend it.

I invite you to view an edited version of my conversation with Os Guinness here.