Another idea is to check with your supporting churches to see if there’s a young person who’d be willing to come for the school year. Just a warning about that, though. Be careful to go through the pastors. Two reasons: 1) it’s just the right thing to do since God has placed him in authority over his flock; and 2) a pastor will know the young person and be a little less un-biased that the parents who may not see potential problems. We’ve seen situations where enthusiastic but totally unprepared-to-be-away-from-home-for-that-long young people can end up being more work than help. We’ve seen an extreme case where the young person had such deep personal issues to deal with that they became suicidal when confronted with culture shock and actual responsibility on top of the issues, and ended up taking a HUGE amount of the missionary’s time before they were finally sent home. (Which then caused problems with that particular supporting church who didn’t understand and thought the missionaries were the cause of the young person’s problems.)

Not to sound too “gloom and doom” about it, but just to point out the need for caution in proceeding. We’ve also seen many successful situations where the young person was a HUGE help to the missionary family, and in turn learned a lot through the experience. When it works out, it’s beneficial on other levels too. The church that sends the young person becomes more involved with and supportive of the missionaries.

What a wonderful idea. I could use one some days here in the States, as well!