Quote from Forum Archives on November 24, 2001, 9:22 am

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

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THE HOPE CHEST: Ideas and Inspiration for Home Education
Issue #46 part 1
November/December 2001
A Cross-Cultural Christmas
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WELCOME TO THE HOPE CHEST!
The Hope Chest Home School News is a free bi-monthly e-mail newsletter
with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The editor is Virginia
Knowles, wife of Thad, and mother of eight, ages baby to teen. Virginia
is also the publisher of five books: The Real Life Home School Mom, three
volumes of The Best of the Hope Chest, the Learner’s Journal lesson
planner and record keeping log. (Ordering information is at the end of
the newsletter for these resources and several by Cindy Rushton.)

If you like this newsletter, please forward it to your friends! THANKS!!

Hope Chest contact information:

Web site:
www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html

Resource descriptions:
www.hopechest.homestead.com/resourceorders.html

Personal e-mail:
[email protected]

Subscription address:
[email protected]

Unsubscription address:
[email protected]

This newsletter is currently sent out in a few parts per issue. This is
part 1 of 4.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS: Thanksgiving Indians
by Virginia Knowles

Part 2
A Cross-Cultural Christmas by Virginia Knowles
World Crafts: Christmas Presents with a Difference by Jennifer Lane
Samaritan’s Purse: Gifts for the Hurting World by Virginia Knowles
A Psalm from My Heart by Virginia Knowles

Part 3
Alphabet Books for All Ages and Vocabulary Bingo
by Bonnie Bonnette
Mancala, A Game from Africa by Virginia Knowles
Resource Recommendations by Wanda Carlton
Practical Errand Tips by Virginia Knowles
Ten Tips for Memorizing Bible Passages
by Virginia Knowles

Part 4
ON OUR HOMEFRONT: What’s New at the Knowles House?
by Virginia Knowles
WHAT’S UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE?
RESOURCE ORDERING INFORMATION
REPRINT PERMISSION

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Thanksgiving Indians
by Virginia Knowles
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Darshan, Kartik, Siddharth, Nilesh and Ramaram. No, these Indians weren’t
guests at the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621, along with Squanto and
Samoset. They are REAL Indians, from India! And we hosted them, along
with Nan and Feixue from China, for a traditional American Thanksgiving
in 2001. I suppose I should back up a little here in the story.

Last year, I saw a notice in our church bulletin that a ministry to
international students was looking for donated furniture and other
household items to help the newcomers get settled. At the time, we had
two extra couches sitting in our garage, waiting for a good home. We
called Mei-Ling Liu, and she arrived with an Indian student and loaded up
a pickup truck! A few months ago, we had some dining room chairs ready to
go, so she came again. On the phone, she mentioned that the student who
would receive the furniture had been sharing an apartment with several
other students, but since his wife was arriving from India the following
week, he was going to get his own place and had nothing for it! Before
they got to our house about an hour later, I scurried around and filled
some plastic bins with spare sheets, cleaning supplies, laundry
detergent, kitchen utensils, an extra queen size comforter, and whatever
else I could find that they might need. This time, my husband Thad, and
my daughter Julia, who is twelve, took our van out to the campus area to
help with the delivery.

Anyway, this was SO much fun, that several days later, using some profits
from the Learner’s Journal, I bought four small trash baskets at the
dollar store, and started stuffing them with goodies: scissors, tape,
mug, hot cocoa, utensils, soap, wash cloths, measuring spoons, etc. When
I told Mei-Ling that I had four gift baskets ready, she suggested they
use them for the new student prize drawing. Last month, Mei-Ling, Joanna
(almost 9) and I had the pleasure of delivering them to Darshan, Nilesh,
Kartik and Nan at their scantily equipped apartments. At the same time,
we invited them to come, along with a friend (hence Ramaram, Siddharth
and Feixue), and join us for Thanksgiving. They all eagerly accepted.

As the time drew near, plans began to take shape. Joanna sat down several
days ahead of time and wrote out a menu. It was great practice making a
list and sorting it by categories: meat, vegetables, side dishes,
desserts, beverages. She put a check by the items we already had, and a
circle by the ones we needed to get. Then Lydia, who is 7, wrote out a
shopping list for us. We had to plan for plenty of non-meat-product foods
for our the vegetarians among our Hindu guests. I ended up cooking way
too much food, but leftovers never go to waste around here, so that’s
cool. We actually roasted and carved the turkey a day ahead of time and
reheated it with the broth. It turned out great, and relieved me from a
lot of the hassle on Thanksgiving Day. It was one way for me to be more
"Mary" and less "Martha" in my hospitality, and it made a world of
difference. The girls also made several desserts a day ahead of time.
Even four year old Andrew helped make the punch and rice crispy treats.
They all made such a great team! Of course there was still lots to do on
Thursday, but everyone pitched in wonderfully. Thad mowed the lawn,
mopped the floor, brought in our folding table from the garage, and drove
our van out to the University of Central Florida to pick up our guests.
Mary and Lydia hung autumn-colored paper leaves from the ceiling. Rachel
folded the napkins all fancy and raked the yard. Joanna cleaned up the
living room and made name tags and place cards on the computer. Julia
pitched in wherever she was needed. I washed off our wedding crystal and
china. Everyone cooked up a storm, but we still put our guests to work
opening cans of vegetables at the last minute. (They WANTED to do
something to help!)

Our dinner conversation was lively. We talked some about American culture
and foods, about their majors at UCF (all engineering and computer
science, and mostly, if not all, at the graduate level). One of the
Indian men happened to ask Feixue about freedom of religion in China (in
reference to the Fulang Gong cult), and she staunchly defended her
government and said that they were merely educating people to be more
scientific instead of superstitious. To an atheist like her, it seems the
reason that people are religious is that they are raised that way by
their families and don’t know what else to believe. She and Nan (a man)
are both atheists. The Hindu said he could not imagine not being able to
talk to a god about things that bothered him. Feixue joked that in China,
before you get married, your father is your god, and after you get
married, your husband takes that place.

After dinner, we enlisted a couple of the men to haul our heavy TV out of
its hiding place so we could watch an animated video about William
Bradford and the First Thanksgiving. This was my husband’s great idea. At
first, we couldn’t find the video, but then Mary remembered that it was
in her babysitting bag. I’m so glad she found it! The video is neat
because it tells about a group of dedicated Christians leaving England in
1620 to gain religious freedom, and how they set up their own government
where each man could vote and help make the decisions. (What a radical
concept for a Chinese person!) It also showed how much friendship there
was between the native Americans and the Pilgrims in those early years.
After the video I explained a few things they may not have understood,
and told how the colonists eventually won their independence from England
and became the United States of America. I also shared the story of how
the Star Spangled Banner was written during the War of 1812.

My friend Mei-Ling had suggested that we ask each of the students to tell
us something about their country or their growing up years. This sure
made for a great geography lesson! Some of the Indian men told us about
the temples, idol worship, pilgrimages, arranged marriages and other
Hindu customs. Our new Chinese friends told about inventions and
education in their country. It’s interesting to note that Feixue, the
young lady, was much smitten by baby Naomi, our eighth child. In her
country, families are usually only permitted one child each, with forced
abortions for those who try to have unauthorized extra babies. Sigh... We
did have a few opportunities to share tidbits about our Christian faith,
and for that I am thankful.

The students were most intrigued when I told them about home schooling.
One asked about diplomas, and another asked about how we choose our scope
and sequence. I told them about how I approach each school subject, and
mentioned that for geography we pick a different continent each year.
Last year, when we studied Asia, we learned about Mahatma Gandhi and
Indian independence. This year we are studying Europe. When I told about
how we get to choose our own curriculum, I can only wonder at the
impression this made on our Chinese guests, where education is so tightly
controlled by the government.

We also had a little musical entertainment. Julia played a Beethoven
Sonatina on the piano, and Lydia sang My Country Tis of Thee and Come Ye
Thankful People Come. Feixue then asked each of our daughters to tell
something about themselves and what they like to do. I was in the bedroom
changing diapers on the two little ones for part of this time, and I kept
hearing uproarious laughter! What a jolly time! At the end, we all
gathered on the couch and Thad took pictures. I am going to scan them and
send them to each one by e-mail. I told the students that they are
welcome to e-mail us with any more questions about American culture.

All in all, it was a most wonderful experience! The students all
expressed their delight at being invited for an American Thanksgiving
just a few months after arriving here. One student pulled Thad aside to
say how much he appreciated visiting our family because he had been in a
boarding school most of his life. Another one called the next day to say
how much he liked the food, especially the desserts! Thad and I are
already planning to invite them back for a Christmas party next month. We
won’t attempt a big meal, just lots of desserts! Thad could also drive
them around a few neighborhoods to see Christmas lights!

I write this to encourage you to consider showing holiday (and every
day!) hospitality to folks outside your normal circle of friends and
relatives. Ask God to connect you with someone who could appreciate a
home cooked meal eaten with a friendly family. This might be an elderly
neighbor or nursing home resident whose children and grandchildren live
far away. It could be a young single mom who has been forsaken by the
ones who were supposed to love and support her. It could be someone who
suffers from mental illness and lives in a group home. Or it could be
that college student, international or not, who is missing his or her
family at holiday time. (I remember being in this unenviable position in
1983, and am grateful that the Waughs invited me for Thanksgiving. If you
are reading this, thanks!)

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame,
the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you
will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Luke 14:13-14

These small acts of kindness do make a huge difference!