how education can cause cultural changes
Answers
Culture is defined by Merriam-Webster as: “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc. of a particular society, group, place or time.” Using this definition, it would make sense that education affects culture. How and what one is taught greatly influences what a person believes or will believe, customs which are or will be considered dear to their heart, and how they express or will choose to express these beliefs and customs. This creates behavioral patterns which will be communicated throughout their lifetime in work, in love, and all aspects of living.
In America, it is easy to see how education has affected culture. When education became public in our country, the Bible was at the core of the curriculum. McGuffey Readers and other early educational literature took the teachings and principles from the Book of Books—the Bible. Taking the time to complete a cultural study would take much longer than one article, but the change in our American educational culture since the removal of prayer and the Bible has been drastically negative.
In 1962, the Supreme Court removed prayer from public school. In 1963, they removed God’s Word, the Bible. In 1980, they removed the Ten Commandments. Removing these foundational stones began crumbling the structure of our country. Today, we are working together to rebuild this foundation. We must not quit! One bright light in the middle of this darkness is our Christian schools. We must keep this light shining to train our children and impact our culture.
Eighteen years before the Supreme Court was removing these imperative things from our schools in America, an Ohio farm couple was hearing the calling of God to take the Gospel of Jesus to another country which would result in a unique type of Christian education. Don Hawk had been to a service at his church where missionaries shared the great need for the Gospel in the country of Honduras. As he was working in the cornfield the following day, he could not get this country out of his mind. Finally, he stopped right there in the middle of the field and told the Lord that he was willing to obey Him, “come what may.”
Selling their farm, the Hawks took their children and moved to Honduras as a family. Their desire was to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Honduran people. This alone would bring light into the darkness of sin and would begin changing hearts and lives—and result in cultural change.
While the Hawks’ main reason for going was to share the Gospel, they were quickly aware that there was much more poverty in Honduras than in the United States. They saw a great need for young men to be taught a better way to provide for their families. Their God-given vision was a boarding school for boys. By teaching the boys farming and a good work ethic, they were immediately introducing yet another path to cultural change.
They purchased 800 acres of land, with only one acre cleared. Putting their hand to the plow, they never looked back, but began the boys farm school called, El Sembrador, which means “the sower.”
The boys attended school half the day and worked the farm half the day. In exchange for working on the farm, boys received room, board, and their education. They learned about the love of Jesus, and since it was a boarding school, they had the opportunity to watch a Christian family in action.
So, what happened? Jesus began using this interactive Christian education to do a work in the hearts and minds of those boys. As they grew up and went out into the Honduran culture, things began to change. For sixty-two years now, El Sembrador has been educating in Honduras with the Gospel. It has expanded to a 2,000-acre farm, with over 7,000 boys having gone through the program. Don and Twana Hawk have gone on to their eternal reward, but their children carry on the work with World Gospel Mission. El Sembrador is now led by qualified Hondurans. Their son, David, is now the Country Director for WGM in Honduras.
The following dialogue with David Hawk shares his story of how our God is unlimited, all-powerful, and culture changing, and education is a powerful tool He uses to do the changing.