Our lives as homeschoolers are busy, and it is easy to spend all of our waking hours meeting the needs of our family and our immediate surroundings. There is, however, a whole world that we must remember; the world of those that don't know Christ and those that are living in terrible poverty and experiencing physical and spiritual suffering. Gospel for Asia longs for us to educate our children to "look at life through the paradigm of God's heart for the lost." Their new curriculum resource, Window to our World, is designed to help us, as well as our children, to learn about the countries in the 10/40 window (the box between 10-degrees-north and 40-degrees-north latitude lines on the globe across Africa and Asia). In this area are 80 percent of the world's poorest people, a large percentage of which have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Window to our World curriculum is organized around four units: Window to Missions, Window to Bhutan, Window to India, and Window to Myanmar. Each unit includes the following subjects: history, social studies, science, vocabulary, hands-on activities, a recipe, Bible study and memorization, stories of children and native missionaries in those countries, and opportunities for studying deeper into the different subjects. There is a page called "Dear Aunt Heidi" where Heidi Chupp from Gospel for Asia talks with students about having a heart for God's people. In the unit on Bhutan, I love what she closes her letter with, "Open your heart to Him, and tell Him what you lack. Be honest. When you give your life to Him like that, He will be faithful to His Word and fill your heart with His love."

In the Teacher's Guide, there are some important reminders. One is that we must first have a heart for the lost to know Christ, or it will be an empty study with our children. The point of Window to our World is not to teach geography or trivia about the people in third world countries. It is to see that the people in these countries are real, and they need to know Christ. There are also suggestions for teaching, as well as activities that can be done during non-school time.

If you are interested in learning more about Gospel for Asia, or if you would like to order the Window to our World unit study curriculum, you can visit their website at www.gfa.org, or call their office at (972) 416-0340.

Gospel for Asia describes Window to our World as being "designed to inspire the hearts of children ages 8 to 14 to follow Jesus in making disciples of all nations." Whether using this as the mainstay of your curriculum, or supplementing your schooling with their stories and activities, this is a resource that can have a deep impact on the hearts of our families. It will give us a view of missions and service to those who are lost.



-- Product Review by: Diane Wheeler, Senior Staff Writer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine