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Giving Opportunities
Sonlight invites your family to help change the world.
In the past, Sonlight families have helped:
- Teach women in India to read.
- Translate Bibles in Mozambique.
- Support children's education in Asia.
- and more!
Sonlight stands committed to fantastic home education resources. But we also cherish the opportunity to help you raise children with a heart for the world. Our homeschool curriculum and company values have always reflected our focus on international missions work. We started in 1990 with the goal of helping missionaries stay on the field "one more year." As we've been able to serve more and more families both in North America and abroad, we're thrilled to help bring missions work to you.
See below for some of our past educational fundraisers.
Rice Bag Project
In 2008, Sonlight partnered with Mission India to create the first Sonlight community giving opportunity. The program began with an eight-week course that introduced students to the people of India. Students learned about a simple giving technique that many poor Indian Christians practice. Though they don't have money to give to others, they sacrificially set aside a handful of their family's rice each day in a simple rice bag. When the bag is full, they give it to a family who needs it even more than they do. Inspired by this simple but profound practice, Sonlight families collected loose change in real rice bags from India.
This first Rice Bag Project was a huge success as homeschool students gathered over $115,000 in loose change. With a matching gift from Sonlight's founders, John and Sarita, the total exceeded $230,000; enough to help 7,682 Indian women learn to read through Mission India's programs. These women can now better provide for their families, find their way on the bus system and avoid being cheated in the marketplace.
The OneVerse Project
The Seed Company teamed up with Sonlight in 2009 to offer a OneVerse project. For only $30, Sonlight families could fund the translation of one verse into a language that has never had the Bible before. Again, the results were astounding: With a matching gift, over a quarter of a million dollars came in; enough to translate the entire New Testament for the Meeto people of Mozambique, as well as a quarter of another New Testament project!
My Passport to India
In 2010, Sonlight again partnered with Mission India, but this time for a new program: My Passport to India. Each dollar raised paid for one student to attend a two week Child's Bible Club which provided tutoring and an opportunity to learn about Jesus. With a matching gift, 317,104 children were able to attend Bible Clubs all over India.
Phoenix Phaxx' Pocket Guide to the Great Commission
Sonlight and Far East Broadcasting Company teamed up for a global adventure in 2012. Families "traveled" to Russia, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Korea with tour guide Phoenix Phaxx. Together, we raised over $300,000 to buy radios for families who have not yet had a chance to hear of Jesus.
Lost in India
We returned to India in 2013 with Mission India's Lost in India program. We traveled with our host, Chris, as he tried to meet up with his friend Justin, but got lost in the process. Along the way, we uncovered many facts and insights into India and its people.
Through this adventure, over 360,000 children were able to attend a Bible Club and get tutoring as well as hear about Jesus.
Off-Road Encounters
In 2014, we partnered with Frontiers in a quest called Off-Road Encounters: Beyond Adventure in the Muslim World. This cross-cultural encounter shattered the stereotypes, revealed commonalities, and reinforced the biblical view of the world you have been building throughout your Sonlight studies.
With the matching gift from Sonlight, students made it possible for 329,000 Muslims to have the opportunity to meet Jesus!
WorldViews
The 2017 partnership with Pioneers raised $47,000 to provide both practical and spiritual help to people around the world, including water, medicine, food, Bibles, and evangelistic materials to refugees, social outcasts, and people who have never heard the good news of Jesus. Sonlighters joined in this free, educational fundraising opportunity called WorldViews (www.world-views.com). The digital curriculum and video series taught about the five primary religious views held by the nearly 7,000 people groups around the world who still don’t have a strong church planting or evangelical movement in their midst (the THUMB groups: Tribals, Hindus, the Unchurched, Muslims and Buddhists).
Experience India
India has the largest population of children who have never heard of Jesus on earth. In 2018, in partnership with Mission India, we raised $170,381 for 7,099 boys and girls to attend year-long Children's Bible Clubs. We experienced India with a four week, virtual reality (VR) adventure online and saw how these Children's Bible Clubs are making great strides in reaching not only children attending the Bible Clubs, but also their families and communities.
Read for Missions
At Sonlight, we love books and missions. We love missionary biographies and generosity. And we love to see children learning and growing in their love for the world. Combining all of our favorite things, we were excited to raise money for missions by reading in 2020. Through Read for Missions, Sonlight families raised money for missions, simply by reading great books and recruiting sponsors. Sonlight matched the donations, and together we raised more than $210,000 to support 4 different missions organizations.
Current Giving Opportunity
Our plans are not yet finalized, but we hope you will join us for the next giving opportunity.
Why bother with giving projects?
Sarita shares her heart behind it all: