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History Week at the Greater Lisbon Christian Academy

Mary Kay Smith

Uncle Phil Schlener sells produce in the corner store.

Uncle Phil Schlener sells produce in the corner store.

You might recognize the sound of the bell calling students to classes, but I doubt you have seen a school like The Greater Lisbon Christian Academy (GLCA). The school is set on a winding, narrow road right at the top of Lisbon, overlooking the city and the Tagus River stretched out far below. The building is soft pink with a red tile roof. There are marble cobblestone paths, a wrought iron door, tiled walls, mosaic floor, and a columned patio. It is a beautiful setting!

My family and I were there on a unique kind of missions trip. The missionary kids at GLCA had been studying United States history through the year, and the school asked us to come and provide a week of activities to go along with their textbook learning. Our host, Elena Schlener, had also asked another American school to join the ABWE school for a couple of days as an outreach to them, and they were thrilled to be included.

We worked hard. Our task was to plan a week’s worth of hands-on activities related to United States history. The school had neither the ideas, manpower, nor budget to do this, and that is where we—and our supporters—came in. They gave, helped plan, and prayed for our trip. We took just about everything from teaching, craft, and activity supplies to pens and crayons and reams of paper for copying. We also couldn’t have done this without the help of all the GLCA teachers, missionaries, and volunteers who gave extra time to help.

Our first day of class was Colonial Day. The kids did crafts and “apprentice activities” from the period, and they had a town meeting to debate the merits of being loyalists or patriots. We ended with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, compliments of our home school group who paid for food bought at the United States Embassy.

Students warm their hands on Colonial Day.

Students warm their hands on Colonial Day.

Day two was on the Civil War. Do you know how to use a code wheel or send a message through wig wag? We not only taught those things, but also first aid, marching drills, mapping, and popular games of the period.

On the third day, we covered various regions of the United States in different time periods. Kids had activities related to navigation and trail-blazing, the gold rush, cow herding, assembly lines, rocketry, and more. They also made Native American crafts, learned Pennsylvania Dutch art forms, and baked pretzels.

On Thursday, we played a group game about the Great Depression. What fun to watch the kids’ faces as they discovered their economic status drain away as the years went on with bank tellers refusing to hand out money, financial advisors telling them they would need to sell their houses and cars, and grocery store clerks handing out smaller and smaller plates of food. Each new radio announcement brought news of further disaster. Some kids got smart and opted for second jobs, others made signs begging to be fed. One little boy in the ghetto adopted a pet rat. At the end, we made them go to a soup kitchen for watery soup and old bread, and then they dispersed by age for economics lessons.

Short-term teacher Tammy McComb enjoys a meal with her students.

Short-term teacher Tammy McComb
enjoys a meal with her students.

On Friday, all the kids came to “The Farm” (Camp Peary, largely believed to be a secret CIA training facility) for espionage training. After a brief introduction to espionage through the years, all the Agents Smiths and other teachers—dressed in black and sunglasses—took the kids through fingerprinting and interrogation to see how well they learned their new identities. The students received combat and self-defense training, honed their observation skills, and practiced making drops and passes.

We had a great week serving the Lord and these kids in this way. This was an unusual mission trip for us, because it didn’t involve evangelism or church-leader training. Instead, we were asked to take the education experience of our “normal” lives and turn it into a benefit for missionary kids. It was like the rod in Moses’ hand: nothing special or unusual, but important because God gave it importance and usefulness.

Mary Kay Smith is involved in the Home Educators Association of Virginia. She and her husband Brad and their three children have made several trips to mission fields, with Portugal being the most recent destination.