This week at Homeschool Fridays

We met at Jakkur Lake.
On a map this is where you'll find it -
Agrahara, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560064
https://maps.app.goo.gl/uZdWqPuAq1LBuwpb7

The kids walked around pointing at plants and birds that caught their attention. Of course they ran about like crazy till it was time to go home. I pinched off some basil seeds to drop in one of my pots.
This is our third Friday together after the summer break. 

This week ...A Christmas season class assignment

Missionary Mondays - Samuel Morris

Samuel Morris -  (1872-1893)

You have heard of missionaries who went to Africa to tell the people about Jesus. But did you know that in the late 1800s an African man came to our country and showed Americans the love of Jesus?
His name was Samuel Morris, or Kaboo, as he was known to his tribe. His story is as amazing today as it was to those who met the young Samuel Morris more than 100 years ago. Here is his story based on his own account.

Pay or Sammy Suffers!
The year: 1872
The place: My native country of Liberia, in Africa
"You must pay if you want peace," threatened the enemy chief. "We will pay," thundered my father, "We will pay." As the oldest son, I was taken as a hostage until my father, also a tribal chief, could pay off the war debts. Each month, my father brought gifts to the enemy chief, but they were never enough. The chief beat me daily with a poisonous, thorny vine he used as a whip. The poisonous thorns infected the wounds on my back, making me sick with chills and a fever.

A Bright Light and Broken Knots
After many whippings, I was so weak, I could no longer stand. I was tied to a wooden cross to be beaten. My captors planned to bury me alive if my father didn't bring enough goods next time. I actually began to look forward to death. At least I would be released me from this unbearable pain. As I hung over the grave they had dug, I could feel myself slowly dying. Then suddenly a bright light appeared over me! The ropes miraculously fell off my hands and feet! I heard a voice call my name, and it told me to run! All of a sudden, I felt strong. I ran as fast as I could into the jungle and hid in a hollow tree until night came. I now had time to think about what had happened. What caused the bright light? Who had spoken to me? How did I become strong so quickly? I didn't have any answers, but I knew I must run far away. If I returned to my father, the enemy chief would kill my entire tribe.
As I stepped out of the hollow tree into the darkness, I was amazed--the bright light that shone on me earlier was still there. It guided me through the night.

After walking for many days, I came to a farm. A young worker greeted me and took me to his boss. The boss gave me clothes to wear and a job. I noticed there was something different about the young farm worker. I often saw him kneeling on the floor. He told me he was praying to God, his Father in heaven. He invited me to go to church with him. I went and found the presence of God there. It all began to make sense to me. I now know it was Jesus who saved me from my captors. Jesus was the light who guided me through the jungle and to my new home!
As I began to learn more about Jesus, I asked him to be my Savior. After I was baptized, an American missionary who was teaching me gave me a new Christian name: Samuel Morris.

It Really Did Happen
I know my story about the bright light seems impossible, but many months later I met a young boy who had been a slave of the enemy chief at the time I was a hostage. He said, "We did not know what had happened to you. We saw the bright light flash over you. We heard someone call your name, and then you were gone." After I told him about the miracle, he became a Christian, too.

Nothing Stops God Taking Me to America
I had so many questions. I was hungry to know more about God. I decided to go to America to study and learn. I went to the African coast and found a ship headed to America. The ship's captain refused to let me on board. I asked God to change his heart, and he did! One of his sailors became very sick. The captain let me take his job, assuming that I knew how to sail, but I didn't. When he and the sailors drank too much, they treated me very badly. One man even tried to kill me. But I showed them God's love. Over the months at sea, many of them, including the captain, became Christians. A ship, once so full of hatred and drunkenness, became a vessel of love and unity in Christ.

America Warms to Sammy Morris
We arrived in New York City, and I spent many months with Stephen Merritt, a man the missionaries said could teach me more. My desire to know God better helped stir the hearts of the men at the homeless mission that Stephen operated. Many of them became Christians. Stephen later urged me to go to Taylor University, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even though the University was having hard times, the dean felt that God wanted me to come. God used my desire to know him better to start a spiritual revival in the town, after a local newspaper printed a story about an all-night prayer service we had. It also included the story of my capture and conversion to Christianity. The name Samuel Morris became known in almost every home in Fort Wayne. So many donations came in to the "Samuel Faith Fund" that the university began to grow. (The fund helped other needy students, too.)

Samuel often became sick because of the cold Indiana climate that he was not used to. He asked God to heal him, but Samuel's work on earth was done. He died just five years after coming to America. But the story doesn't end there. God used Samuel's simple faith and strong prayer life in a mighty way. Many students took the Gospel that Samuel understood so well back to Africa and even around the world. Taylor University is still sending out missionaries today, thanks in part to the faith of a young African man named Samuel Morris.

Missionary Mondays ( on a Friday :)

William Borden

There are many, many wonderful things about being part of the family of God.  Can you think of any?
A very special blessing that comes with being part of God’s family is that everyone’s story has a happy ending…there are no sad ones!  No one who loves and obeys God will ever be separated from His forever love…and because of that – no matter what happens to you – your life will have a happy ending.  You will end up in Heaven with your King and all of His people!
For those who belong to God, a happy ending is not decided by how many years you live, how much money you make, or if you become the best at something.  Even if none of those things ever go well for you, your life is is wonderful and important because God is the King of it.  Because you belong to Jesus and trust Him.
Happy endings come to God’s people no matter how long they live or how successful they are!
There is a man who lived a long time ago who loved God very, very much, and his story has a very happy ending.  But for people who didn’t understand God and His love, they thought that his life had a terrible ending.  They thought that God cheated him of a happy ending.
This story is about a man named William Borden.
William Borden had a wonderful childhood filled with love and adventure.  He grew up in a home with a mother who loved Jesus very much and who poured her life into teaching her children about Jesus as well.  Because of his mother’s teaching about the love and truth of Jesus, William accepted Christ into his heart as a very young boy.
William’s father was a hard-working businessman who became very successful.  In fact, his father made so much money that William’s family was one of the wealthiest families in the whole country!  There was nothing that William and his brothers and sisters wanted that they couldn’t have.
When William turned 16, his father surprised him by sending him on a trip around the world!  Can you imagine…being just a young boy and going all the way around the world by yourself?  Imagine the beautiful places that William saw, the strange animals, the new foods that he tried and the new languages that he heard.  It must have been quite an adventure!
One of the unique and spectacular things about William Borden is that all of the comforts of his life that were due to his family’s wealth were not important to him.  He didn’t want to keep all of that money for himself.  He knew that God made him wealthy because he was meant to help others.  Even the wonderful trip around the world that he was blessed to go on was much more than just a relaxing vacation for William.  He saw it as a time to understand the need that the entire world had for the gospel of Jesus.  When he returned home from the trip, he was completely convinced that the Lord wanted him to be a missionary on the other side of the world…all the way in China.
Before William headed to China, though, he decided to honor his father’s wishes first and get a college degree.  He entered Yale University in 1905 with the desire to keep his wealth a secret and blend in with all of the other students.  It wasn’t long before he became very popular among all of his classmates, and it had nothing to do with his money.
William was instantly recognized as a Christian leader on campus.  His love for God and his passion for telling others about Him was what everyone first noticed about William.  And everyone loved and respected him for it.
When William decided to start an early-morning Bible study and prayer time with one of his friends, it wasn’t long before another student joined, and then another, and then another.  Eventually, close to every student that attended Yale University was attending William’s early-morning Bible study!
God had fired up William’s heart for sharing the truth of Jesus, and because of William’s obedience to do so, he was making a difference on an entire college campus!
William was also very involved in serving and taking care of the poor and homeless people in the city.  He could often be found in dark alleyways on the weekends, where it was dangerous and where most people would never dare go.  He would buy food and clothing for people who had none.  And of course, he was always speaking of the kind and compassionate God whom He served.
William’s life amazed his friends, because it was so unlike what the typical college student was interested in.  William was interested in everyone except himself.  Rather than spending his time to enjoy his money and indulge in comforts, William’s purpose for living was to spread the good news of Jesus.
Once William graduated from college, he was more excited than ever to obey God’s call to join the mission field in China.  His heart was ready, he had obeyed his father’s instructions to graduate from college…it was time to go!
He boarded a ship that was to take him first to Egypt, for he wanted to spend some time there learning the language of the Muslims before arriving in China.
It is here that William’s story takes a surprising turn.  Rather than have William continue on to China and spend the rest of his life serving the Chinese Muslims, God decided that William’s work was already done.  He allowed William to get sick, and soon after, die in his bed and go home to Heaven.
William never made it to China, and this really confused many, many people.  Why would God give such a wonderful person such a sad ending?
The truth is, and what William knew, is that God’s plan was perfect for William.  And William’s story did, in fact, have a wonderful ending.  William lived his life in obedience to and with a big love for his Savior, and that is all that matters.  A certain number of years were not promised to William, but Heaven was.  And Heaven came to William right when God wanted it to.  William lived a very impactful life and he enjoyed a very happy ending.
After William died, his family found his Bible next to his bed.  Inside the cover of the Bible were written 3 sentences…3 sentences that sum up his life and his death:
No Reserves.
No Retreats.
No Regrets.
William wrote the last line – “No Regrets” – when he knew he was dying.  He was not afraid or confused or angry…he was content in God’s plan.  He had no regrets.
This story is a comfort to all of us because we are reminded that – no matter what trials come our way – our future is secured in Heaven with Jesus.  And it is when we know and love that truth that we can live our life without any regrets, the way William Borden did.
Prayer:  Holy Father, thank you for the life that you planned for William Borden.  Thank you for saving him and using him so that we can learn from his faith and obedience.  We ask that you would make us more in love with You than we are with money or comfort or even the desire for a long life.  Help us to trust Your perfect plan for us and to live a life with no regrets.  We love You so much, Jesus.  Amen.