Paideia Network Newsletter Oct. 14, 2006
Friends,
We are happy to announce that we have started Paideia Network for Christian homeschoolers. We have a vision for raising future generations for the Kingdom of God. Our main concern is the homeschoolers who are using English as their academic language though many of them are not native English speakers.
We have a cooperative relationship with AHSIC (Association of HomeSchoolers' In Christ/ www.ahsic.com) which is a nation-wide network of Japanese homeschoolers.
We have our website.
http://paideianetwork.org/
We stand on the five principles shown on our website;
http://paideianetwork.org/paideia%20network/five-principles-paideia/
We believe that the Lord has entrusted to us the special task of contributing to His Kingdom, as shown below;
1) Establishing a strong relationship between Japanese-speaking homeschoolers and English-speaking homeschoolers
Establishing a strong relationship between English-speaking homeschooling families and Japanese homeschooling families is an urgent task with respect to effective evangelism in Japan. We would like to serve for this objective also.
We see great opportunities for evangelism in Japan through homeschooling.
2) Helping Japanese homeschooling families to equip their children with English skills, so that they can afford good methods for Christian education and be connected to the Christian community worldwide.
Japanese homeschoolers are in a standstill mainly because they lack the methodology, due to the serious shortage of materials such as Christian textbooks written in Japanese, curriculums, and other good Christian resources. Because of the language barrier they are isolated and cannot receive help from the outside. Many of them give up on homeschooling because of this.
This is the reason we have been homeschooling our children in English although the English language is not the mother tongue for my wife or me.
CONCLUSION
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground(Genesis 4:10)
The stones would immediately cry out.(Luke 19:40)
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(Matthew 18:5,6)
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
(Acts 17:24-28)
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.(Galatians 6:2)
In public schools, morals are degenerating. We see atrocities such as bullying and child abuse by teachers in the Japanese educational system. Many children who attend public school commit suicide and are lost for eternity. Japanese children need the Gospel.
Christian children suffer in the public schools. Public education plays a significant role in "de-christianizing" children from Christian families.
Our Lord raises homeschoolers even in Japan, one of the most unlikely places for the emergence of the homeschooling movement. Without knowing where to go, these Japanese homeschoolers seek refuge from the public school system, which is a totalitarian "human processing machine." Japanese homeschoolers are in a spiritual refugee camp. We need help from outside. Of course, God is providing us with all we need. However, at the same time He has appointed means through which we can receive His grace; such as encouragement from non-Japanese speaking Christians.
We do not have any generational assets like many American homeschoolers.
But the Japanese homeschoolers have great potential. So far the history of Christian churches in Japan is the history of setbacks as I have written in my essay "Why Japan(http://paideianetwork.org/evangelism/whyjapan/)."
The homeschooling movement is the last opportunity for evangelism in Japan. It is a call from God. If we fail to respond faithfully, we place ourselves in the situation of the unprofitable servant who grudged to use his talent (Matthew 25:14-30).
May our Lord encourage us so that we can work together for His Kingdom.
In Christ,
Shu Suzuki
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14.10.2006.