With already so many demands for your time, and with an array of homeschool groups to choose from in the Wichita area; we hope to express to you our distinguishing attributes.
Our purpose is to educate, inspire, encourage, exhort and equip you to be confident in your ability to teach and disciple your children at home with an eternal perspective. Further, we desire to see you go on to mentor other mom's interested in and/or already involved in home education.
We are a volunteer organization of home schooling parents who are seeking to lead lives pleasing to the Lord by being faithful to disciple our own children, and to help others along the way. We view the education, discipleship, and stewardship of our children as a welcome privilege entrusted to us by God. We value ministering to others in order to help them in their journey with the help we've received.
"Where There is No Vision, the People Perish."Proverbs 29: 18a (KJV)
There are two main motivations Christian parents have when reaching the decision to home educate their children. The two motivations can be described by the terms *reactionary and visionary.
Reactionary families comprise the vast majority of the home education demographic. They are trying to keep their children, and thus their family, away from something they deem unacceptable. Secular beliefs. Personal Danger. Drug use. Promiscuity. A mediocre educational experience. Perhaps this is coupled with the fact that they can't afford to send their children to an expensive Christian school. The reactionary motive is a conviction to guard their children from harmful things.
This is a good thing.
Many, if not most, home educating families begin the journey this way. God uses these good reasons to accomplish His will. However, this particular posture has positioned these families against something rather than for something. And God certainly desires a more victorious life for His children.
The visionary motive is characterized by strategic and intentional living. These families advance toward something - not fortress themselves against something. Their goal is to steward their children for God's glory and to equip them for their unique, God-ordained purpose in life. 'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.' (Ephesians2:10) The visionary motive is a divine call to accomplish, not to avoid.
This is a betterthing.
* A specific thanks to David Reece for such an eloquent explanation - Christian homeschool dad and developer of Student Of the Word (SOW) Bible based curriculum.
"In light of the various roles we play, we all end up somewhere.
Some of us end up there on purpose."
~ Andy Stanley ~
Parents and families participating in V-CHE believe every person on earth has a mission to accomplish; and this reaches beyond mere academia and personal safety. Further, if he or she is a child of God, that assignment is the high purpose to serve Him and fulfill not only the Great Commission but to also fulfill the Cultural Commission. This requires intention, assertiveness, modeling, and civic participation and activism within the culture.
VALUES WE HOLD:
We have a multigenerational Christ-centered and family-focused orientation
- Seeking to help give families inspiration, vision, and tools to impact the culture
for Christ.
- Actively preparing our children for their God-designed, unique life purpose.
- Building a multigenerational family ethic.
- Building a solid Biblical worldview.
- Encourage commitment to home education that is home based and parent
directed.
- Evangelism coupled with political and social action to reclaim the nation.
Jill Grier is the founder of Visionary Christian Home Educators. She was inspired by the likes of Vision Forum Ministries, WholeHeart Ministries, and Texas-based Smoothing The Way. V-CHE was launched after three years of prayer, preparation, and development in 2003. The vision for V-CHE was conceived in the Austin, Texas area, birthed in the Dallas/Forth Worth area, and is currently maturing in it's fourth year here in the Wichita, Kansas location. We are eager to see what the Lord has planned for us in 2008!
"I am most interested in leading a life that earnestly seeks to honor God and influence our culture for His glory, as His steward; actively working to make this world a better place by communicating vision, values, and duty to those around me - primarily my most precious husband and sons. My interests always have at the core a desire to exalt Christ and His truth; to know Him more, and to make Him known. I have a particular heartbeat for the Matthew 7:21 Window sitting in our pews each week...those captives whom Satan has deceived into thinking they are reconciled to God by praying 'the sinner's prayer', 'believing' some basic doctrinal truths, and making a 'decision for Christ' - even though their life shows no fruit of repentance, no fruit of righteousness/sanctification, fruit of the spirit, no bending of the knee, no love for TRUTH/Scripture, no affection for the local Body, and no concern for the living dead."
We recognize these are not the typical priorities establishing a home school group. Home school groups are a dime a dozen and they pretty much look the same. Monthly Moms gathering complete with a goodie to nibble on and perhaps an interesting speaker to listen to. Park days and field trips. An occasional family event.... The parents participating in V-CHE however, are called to a higher standard for our personal time and for the reason to home educate. We are all about striving toward excellence. We're about leading, discerning, affirming, and cheering our children in who it is God has prewired them to be. Our goal is to educate you in order that you can go on to - not only educate your child, but also go on to educate other mom's interested in homeschooling. Too many mom's have to reinvent the wheel of home education and discipleship lifestyle needlessly. Within the professing Christian community, this should not be!
Drawing from the population of mom's who hold this as a value, we are a small group of similarly-minded parents in this incredible lifestyle journey we call home education.
If these qualities and values appeal to you and your sense of what your home school could or should be; we heartily invite you to join us for learning, fellowship, and fun.
