What's your vision for your family? I would love all my kids to complete a mission trip before going off to college as part of their spirtual and character developement. So far, only one has had that opportunity, but we can surely read about World Missions even if we can't participate.
The book by Greg Mortenson called Three Cups of Tea is a world-wide best seller about his passion for World Missions. Greg was a mountian climber in his spare time, and one day found him self returning down K2, the second highest peak in the world, when he was injured and lost. The Muslim people in a remote village of Pakistan took him in and healed him. In return Greg promised to do everything he could to build them a school. The village had no school at all, the kids would meet and do their math problems in the dirt with a stick at school time. But, despite the village's remote location, Greg was eventually able to do just that, build a school, for these poor generous people who had taken him in.
Actually, Greg built over 170 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan over a number of years. The book explains how he persisted to find funding for this overwhelming project, and how village after village came to him begging for his help. There was of course, lots of opposition to his project, especially after 9/11/2000, and it is heartening to read how he didn't give up, but found a way to make things happen.
It's hard to find material that the whole family can study. Some items may be in appropriate for the younger ages, and some material may be too simple for the older kids in the family. Three Cups of Tea which was published in 2007 comes in three different versions for different ages of children.
There is the adult book, Three Cups of Tea:One Man's Mission to Promote Peace........One School at a Time:
The Young readers version, Three Cups of Tea:One Man's Journey to Change the World.........One Child at a Time:
The Picture book version, Listen to the Wind:
We own the first two versions, I have not personally seen the picture book, but the artwork on Amazon looks beautiful. There is also a study guide for these books, available in downloadable format from Monkeynotes. It's only $4.97, what a great price! Here's the link:
There is also a chapter guide that has review questions and vocabulary at this link:
These books were orginally published a number of years ago, we did this study in 2008. Last year, there was another book published regarding Greg's mission, this one sheds an entirely different picture on the subject. The author Jon Krakauer acuses Greg Morrison of misleading his readers, mismanagement of non-profit organization funds, and slander in his book Three Cups of Decit. I have not read it yet, but according to the reviews, there are many inaccuracies in BOTH sides of the story. This would be an interesting addition to the study for a high school student. A good lesson in acountability and how anyone in the public eye is scrutinized for everything that they do.
Three Cups of Tea has many interesting topics to study. You can study the Muslim religion, politics, geography, the 9/11 Crisis, the media, and Humanitarianism. It's also interesting to note that the author Greg Mortenson is not a Christian, yet he accomplished what many Christians have not. Great topics of discussion for a book club or Co-op group.
I highly recommend it, regardless of the controversial press. We thoroughly enjoyed it and have a new understanding of the Middle East, World Missions and modern politics. I would be interested in your feed back here, if you have read it, what did you think?
Designer Mom
What a neat story! Thanks for sharing these books with us at Trivium Tuesdays!
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