Peanut butter and jelly just go together. How about pairing a homeschool co-op and your local church? Tune in to today’s Home School Heartbeat as Heidi St. John talks with HSLDA President Mike Smith about this topic.
Mike Smith:
Heidi, you said that homeschoolers should be able to turn to the local church for support and encouragement. Can you share with our listeners how you’ve seen churches provide that opportunity?
Heidi St. John:
Absolutely. One of my favorite stories is how the Lord led us to Northside Baptist Church. When we first approached Tim Crownover, the senior pastor there, I was eight months pregnant with our sixth baby. Tim was the last in a long line of pastors we had approached, so we were a little leery of his response. Jay and I sat in Tim’s office, and I explained that we felt that God wanted us to start a homeschool cooperative and even though we didn’t have a church home yet we already had over 100 children signed up for classes. We could tell that Tim was listening. Tim has a shepherd’s heart and he didn’t ask us about red juice on the carpet or about wear and tear on the building. He really had a kingdom perspective. His questions centered around impact in the community, and if we thought a homeschool co-op might encourage families who wanted to try homeschooling. After our meeting, Jay and I prayed that God would give us an answer about a church home for the co-op before our baby girl was born. And on the afternoon of August 4th, 2005, just five hours before we welcomed little Sydney into the world, we had the answer we’d been praying for. Northside now has the largest First Class co-op in the network, over 400 parents and children come each week.
Mike:
Well, Heidi, that is so encouraging. Thank you for providing that information for us. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
