Carolyn Klingbeil has been teaching kids about God and what He’s doing around the world since she was a teenager.  She’s never been a missionary or been on a short-term mission trip. But make no mistake; Carolyn has a heart for missions and she has a mission field!

When Carolyn’s husband passed away in 1966, leaving her a young widow with four children, she knew she wanted to make sure that her children would be inspired by their father’s heart for missions. “I knew I couldn’t take four young children into the mission field alone,” said Carolyn. “So, I hosted many, many missionaries in my home and it made an impression on my children.”

A Moody Bible Institute graduate in Children’s Education, Carolyn taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School many years in the Chicago area. “I couldn’t invite every child to my home to meet a missionary, but I could teach them about missionaries,” said Carolyn. When she moved to North Carolina in 1993 to be closer to family, Colonial gained an experienced teacher with a passion for teaching kids about missions.

She taught the first Sunday she was in Cary! “Third grade is my favorite age,” said Carolyn. She introduces third graders to missionaries throughout the year, making sure they learn about great missionaries in history, as well as Colonial’s currently serving missionaries.

Carolyn also joined the missions committee and asked what was being done to give Colonial’s children a vision for missions. That question lead to the forming of the Children’s Missions Committee (CMC) which Carolyn has been leading since 1995.

The goal of the CMC is to increase children’s awareness of Colonial’s missionary efforts and to introduce them to Colonial’s missionaries. One of the most creative ways that vision has been fulfilled—the annual Great Adventure. Each year the Great Adventure focuses on a different part of the world or a specific people group. Kids get to experience the food, home life, and culture of the year’s focus area. Most importantly, they learn how God is using missionaries sent by Colonial to reach the area highlighted.

The adventure that Carolyn remembers most? The Native American Great Adventure.  
Missionaries serving Native Americans told Carolyn that the organized, center-oriented format used for other adventures just wouldn’t work; it needed to be less structured. That was hard for Carolyn who likes to be very organized, but she realized, “I needed to let them do it their way.” The result. “The kids had a great time and learned so much!”

Looking for new ways to introduce kids to Colonial’s missionaries, the CMC recently created a missionary display case in the hallway of the Children’s Center. Every month a different country or people group, being served by Colonial, is featured. CMC member, Stephanie Conklin, arranges the displays which feature missionary pictures; items from the featured country like clothing and household items; and children’s toys. Slovakia is the featured country for October. (Note: Be sure to point out the display to your kids as they walk to Sunday School.)

“We don’t make the picture big enough for kids…we have to show them what God is doing,” said Carolyn. “You may never get to the mission field, but God will use you—maybe to reach around the world.”