“I don’t want to go in there!” my youngest brother said. “It’s hard to breathe! Can’t I just stay in the car?”

      I climbed out of our van into the heat of a summer Sunday afternoon, following the rest of the family. I didn’t particularly feel like visiting the nursing home either. There were more pleasant things to do on such a beautiful day.

      An older brother argued with the younger one: “How would you feel if you were stuck in that place without anyone to come and see you? Would you like to smell it all the time?”

      Reluctantly my younger broth­er climbed out of the van. I knew he would soften up and be praying for and talking to the people by the end of our visit.

      As we made our way toward the doors, the cynical thought entered my mind: “They’re used to the smell!” But simultaneously a new thought struck home, “Yes, but no one can get used to loneli­ness.”

This trip to the nursing home wasn’t Michelle Elgersma’s last visit. Though it’s not always easy, she and her fami­ly have made a habit of reach­ing out to others. Last issue she wrote us a letter stating, “As home schoolers, I think it’s easy to become introverted and forget that there is a hurting world around us in need. We get so caught up in being ‘focused on the family’ we forget that we should be families with a focus.” That “focus”, Michelle earnestly stated, should be to reach out and share Jesus’ love with the hurting and lonely of the world.

      Jesus’ prayer for all believers in John 17 says: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Home school­ing can be a healthy part of shield­ing us from evil so rampant in this world, but we can’t think we’re exempt from the rest of Christ’s prayer: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

      All of our careful training, all the loving nurture, all the individualized education should be to equip and prepare us for Christian service. Here New Attitude spotlights both a family and a home-schooling group who are “giving a cup of cool water in Jesus name.”

When Michelle was a youngster, her house was the center of all neighborhood activity. Their yard was the biggest on the block. It was perfect for base­ball and soccer games. But the thing that kept the neighbor children coming back was her parents who always took interest in the children and talked and played with them. Many were from broken families, and the attention meant a lot to them. The Elgersma house was so popular that Mr. and Mrs. Elgersma finally had to establish a “no kids day” when no kids were allowed over. Michelle laughs at the memory of neighborhood children knocking on the door asking, “Is this ‘no kids day’?”

      The outreach-conscious spirit of the Elgersma family has extended to two other groups in their communi­ty: the elderly and prisoners. Michelle writes, “Our family has been going to nursing homes for sev­eral years now. Our hearts break when we see so many elderly people who have been forgotten. They sit day after day in the nursing home, knowing they’re going to die soon and thinking no one cares. Many are bitter about their childhood and angry because of where they’ve ended up.

      Many can neither walk nor speak. Those who are capable of being taken places have no one to take them. Most whom we visit have no regular visitors. Their apprecia­tion for our little visits is so great. They love to see children and cry when we hug them and pray for them.

       Although the doctors and nurses who work in these nursing homes are usually concerned about the patients, the residents are not treated as indi­viduals. Their specific likes and desires are not heeded, and they are left with the feeling of being “just another old person” without an iden­tity. The message of God’s love and their specialness to Him is something these hurting people desperately need.

       Our family has had the privilege of sharing Jesus with several of the elderly patients, as well as leading some to accept Him as their Lord and Savior. Two went on to meet Him shortly afterwards. Their death made us realize more fully the urgency of sharing Jesus’ love with them. Doing it can be so simple. Call up your local nursing home and schedule a visit for next week. Our family has brought them cookies, read them the Bible, sung to them, taken them to church functions, and just listened to them.”

      The most important thing is that you take the first step and reach out. “Don’t be afraid to “adopt” a couple of extra grandparents,” Michelle says. “Your visits could be the last chance they’ll ever have to see Jesus’ love in action.”

A second way Michelle has made her home a base for ministering has been writing to prisoners in jail. While nursing homes are filled with the old who are dying with no hope, our prisons are packed with lonely men and women dying spiritually. “Many prisoners have families who won’t have anything to do with them or children whom they haven’t seen in years. Michelle writes. “Recently I heard a former drug-dealer and prisoner give his testimony at my youth group.  He had been in prison for seven years and never once received a letter or was visited. In all those seven years, if someone like you had written him a letter about the love of Jesus or just a friendly note, perhaps his lonely and dark solitude would have lightened. In some ways, life is harder for the prisoner who has become a Christian while in jail. Christian prisoners feel even more alone in the environment in which they live. Imagine trying to live faith in such surroundings! A 1ittle note from you can provide encouragement and hope to them.

      Ask your pastor or someone who is already involved in prison ministry to help you get a list of prisoners who never receive mail. If feel uncomfortable giving out your home address, use a P.O. box your church’s address. Although you’ll need to check for any restrictions on food boxes, we’ve sent fruit, and home-made goodies. You can do the same on holidays or any day! This is a terrific way to touch people who have come to a dead in their lives with the love of Jesus.”

Keith Sherwood, a New Attitude reader from Florida, wrote  and told us about the volunteer service club that was started by a group at his home-school association, Circle Christian School.  A year ago Jennifer Holcomb, a junior at CCS, shared her vision of a service club that would provide outlets for home schoolers to help their community. The response for the idea was overwhelmingly positive, and Circle of Service was born. Keith shares their story...

      “Circle of Service started with a very small group of high schoolers and then grew to a size of 25 to 30 students. One parent volunteer house for use as a “headquarters.”  We found projects in our city that might need volunteers, and we tried to be available to them. Projects came from everywhere. We asked around at our churches to see if there were any elderly or sick people needed things done around the homes. We also found organizations that are helping people in need then volunteered our time.

      Circle of Service is also a chance to make new friends who home school. Working together on a pro­ject can really build and strengthen a friendship. Nicole Bond, the treasur­er of the club, said that she enjoys Circle of Service because “It’s a social function more geared towards others than us. Other activities focus too much on ourselves. I biked help­ing others, and I got to know a lot of people.”

      During the first meeting, we decided to elect officers. The four officers, President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary, handled dif­ferent responsibilities of the club. We also had a Project Coordinator for every project we did. This person would take on the duties of making all the phone calls and arrangements for that particular project. We real­ized that no home-schooling family would have time to organize all the activities, so we tried our best to divide the responsibilities.

      The best part of Circle of Service is that it gave us all a chance to be witnesses in our actions and not just our words. We’ve visited nursing homes, fed the homeless, and cleaned people’s homes. During the holidays we worked with the Salvation Army. We interviewed needy families at the beginning of December and then came back to help the families get toys and food for their children.

Another big project was the local Special Olympics. Special Olympics is an organization that helps mental­ly and physically challenged kids gain self-esteem by giving them a chance to participate in a track-and-field “Olympics.” Everyone wins something, and no one is a loser. Sarah Werner, this project’s coordi­nator says, “I’m so thankful that I have a chance to help kids who are struggling to feel good about them­selves see what they can accomplish through dedication.”

    Not all of our projects were as big as those two, but the smaller ones are sometimes more rewarding. One of my favorites was helping the Fields, a family in our school, clean their home. Mrs. Fields and her son are both confined to wheelchairs, making it difficult for them to clean, especially higher places. They opened their house to us, and everyone had a great time. (It was the most fun I’ve ever had cleaning!) Ironically, this small project led to our biggest pro­ject ever. While cleaning, we noticed that Mrs. Fields needed new carpet. We decided we wanted to help her get some. It was discouraging when we first saw the price tag for the car­pet and installation, but we were determined and decided to start fundraising. We held bake sales and even ran a mini-restaurant at a cur­riculum fair. With God’s help, we raised enough money to buy the car­pet and have it installed for the Fields.

      Having a volunteer club is a great way to serve people in your community. It is also an effective way to witness for Christ. In the words of Jennifer Holcomb, “Circle of Service has provided me with the opportunity to expand my leadership skills and be a witness in my commu­nity. The friendship of my fellow stu­dents was an added bonus!”

Whether as an individual, a family or a group of home schoolers, the ideas shared here are simple enough to be put into action right now, right where you are. Do it today.

PROJECT PUPS: Lauren Dorough, a 13-year old home schooler from Ocala, Florida, blesses the elderly in her area with the help of her dog. Project PUPS (Pets Uplifting People) is a volunteer group of pet lovers who are approved by a des­ignated veterinarian to share their easy-going pets with residents of nursing homes. Once a month, or as often as possible, Lauren and her brother Ross take their two miniature Schnauzers to the local nursing home to visit their friends. Project PUPS is a great example of people using their resources, in this case their dogs, to bring joy to others.

PRISON MINISTRY: For more information about writing to prisoners or visiting your local prison, we encourage you to contact Prison Fellowship. They can give you information about their prisoner pen-pal service and volunteer opportunities. Write: Prison Fellowship Ministries, P.O. Box 17500, Washington, DC 2004 1-0500. Or call 1-800-995-8777 and ask for their information packet on Prison Fellowship.

SIMPLE STEPS TO START A VOLUNTEER CLUB (BY KEITH SHERWOOD):

1. Start with smaller projects and as you gain experience and people, you can expand their size.

2. Set guidelines to keep things running smoothly. We decided on some simple ones: Monthly meetings, electing officers, and using par­liamentary procedure (a format for meetings. . .check your local library for more information.)

3. Do some research at your city’s government building which should have information about non-profit and volunteer-oriented organiza­tions that need your help. Soup kitchens and homeless shelters, along with many Christian-operated programs like Crisis Pregnancy Centers, are a few examples.

4. If you have a big project, don’t be afraid to raise money through fundraisers. We’ve used bake sales and car washes in our club. Be cre­ative and, as always, have some adults on hand to help and oversee.