DFW Mama

Giving Our Kids A Global Perspective

I grew up in a very small town about 45 minutes from Dallas.  While in high school, I discovered that I had classmates that had never ventured to Dallas.  I couldn’t believe it!  Call it rebellion, but I decided then and there that that was NOT going to be me.  I was going to venture out and see the world beyond my little home town.  Little did I know what exactly that would mean.

I left home about a year after high school and joined a mission’s organization.  Fourteen years and 17 countries later, I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of the world beyond Dallas. Not only that but along the way I got married and had 2 precious children.

Some people may think we are crazy for traveling so much with kids, but when I think about the fact that my 8 year old has already been to 8 different countries, my heart leaps for joy.  I know he has to see his surroundings through a different set of lenses.  He’s delivered groceries to the poor in Romania, played tag with orphans in S. Africa, and tasted ethnic food from cafes in Maputo, Mozambique.  And he thinks that’s normal.  I love that!

One time my husband and I were on a little getaway, just the 2 of us, in Austin, Texas.  We strolled into P.F. Chang’s for lunch.  I don’t remember how the conversation happened, but somehow we started talking with the waiter about our work in S. Africa.  It was like every time he left our table and came back, he had thought about it a little more.  One time he came back and said, “My wife and I would love to do something like that, but we have kids.”  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that, so I said, “We actually have 2 kids.”  He didn’t know what to say, but the look on his face told me he was quite surprised.  He ended up giving us our lunch for free, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the conversation had some kind of impact on him.

my niece playing with one of the orphans in a community in Africa

So why do I write all this?  I know that not every family can travel the world.  Face it.  It’s expensive to fly over an ocean.  However, I do think that it’s so important to give our kids a global perspective, to let them know there’s a world out there that lives very differently than how they do.  Did you see the movie Babies?  The thing I love about that movie is that it follows 4 kids from 4 different countries. They are kids all the same age, but they each live so differently.  It was fascinating to watch.

painting faces at a christmas program in africa

So how do we give our kids a global perspective? The best way, obviously, would be to go, if you can.  Let your kids experience it firsthand.  Traveling overseas with kids isn’t near as scary as it sounds!  If this isn’t an option, then I think there’s other ways to begin to show kids of the world beyond their immediate surroundings.  Maybe you have friends that live overseas.  This is a great way to learn about geography as well as what life is like for that family.  If you don’t have friends living overseas, maybe you can find an organization that is doing work in a particular place.  Studying about what they do to help others can be very inspiring.  We’ve had kids start collecting cans to cash in for orphans in Africa.  While the amount of money may not be huge, the heart behind it is priceless.  Even visiting museums and seeing exhibits on other parts of the world or cooking an ethnic dinner (google is a great resource for finding all sorts of recipes) and talking about that country are all great ways to show kids other cultures.

eating prawns in mozambique

Whatever way you find, I think the clash of cultures and the diversity it brings is such a beautiful thing.  Even though the mind of a child can’t always comprehend everything, you can’t go wrong giving them a global perspective.

To read more about our Africa adventures and the work we do there, visit my personal blog, I Believe In Love.