I
S CHRISTIAN EDUCATION really that important?
Math is Math and English is English no matter how it is
taught, right? Aren’t all kids going to grow up
someday and turn out okay? Does education
affect culture?
Culture is defined by Merriam-Webster
as: “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc. of a particular
society, group, place or time.” Using this definition,
it would make sense that education affects culture.
How and what one is taught greatly influences what a
person believes or will believe, customs which are or will
be considered dear to their heart, and how they express or
will choose to express these beliefs and customs. This creates
behavioral patterns which will be communicated through-
out their lifetime in work, in love, and all aspects of living.
In America, it is easy to see how education has affected
culture. When education became public in our country, the
Bible was at the core of the curriculum. McGuffey Readers
and other early educational literature took the teachings
and principles from the Book of Books—the Bible. Taking
the time to complete a cultural study would take much
longer than one article, but the change in our Ameri-
can educational culture since the removal of prayer
and the Bible has been drastically negative.
In 1962, the Supreme Court removed prayer from public
school. In 1963, they removed God’s Word, the Bible. In
1980, they removed the Ten Commandments. Removing
these foundational stones began crumbling the structure
of our country. Today, we are working together to rebuild
this foundation. We must not quit! One bright light in the
middle of this darkness is our Christian schools. We must
keep this light shining to train our children and impact our
culture.
Eighteen years before the Supreme Court was removing
these imperative things from our schools in America, an
Ohio farm couple was hearing the calling of God to take the
Gospel of Jesus to another country which would result in a
unique type of Christian education. Don Hawk had been to
a service at his church where missionaries shared the great
need for the Gospel in the country of Honduras. As he was
working in the cornfield the following day, he could not get
this country out of his mind. Finally, he stopped right there
in the middle of the field and told the Lord that he was will-
ing to obey Him, “come what may.”
Selling their farm, the Hawks took their children and
moved to Honduras as a family. Their desire was to take the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Honduran people. This alone
would bring light into the darkness of sin and would begin
changing hearts and lives—and result in cultural change.
While the Hawks’ main reason for going was to share
the Gospel, they were quickly aware that there was much
more poverty in Honduras than in the United States. They
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