What an exciting day – Kids on Mission (KOM) has outgrown our original audience and calling, and we are taking the next step in trusting God’s good plan by starting off the new year with a new name: Language on Mission.
In my 1.5 years serving as the director of KOM, there have been many changes: migrating to a new website, automating our scheduling, expanding the types of classes we offer…
But one thing has been constant: our reason for doing what we’re doing, our calling, our mission.
As a team, we have given our time and talents to loving families and telling them about God’s love for them through language education, playing our part in the ultimate mission to make disciples of all nations.
Although we are changing our name, the most important thing about us is staying exactly the same! We’re simply leaning into the plans God has for us by broadening our name. We’re excited to see where He leads next.
A New Milestone
Kids on Mission began in the summer of 2020 when the whole world switched to online learning due to Covid-19. Dr. Nathan Johnson, founder and headmaster of Charleston Bilingual Academy (CBA), felt that this sudden demand for online classes could broaden CBA’s reach to those not currently enrolled at the school. The school’s mission to “inspire world changers through Christ-centered, intercultural, language-immersion education” could expand to children around the world through the gift of technology!
Thus, Kids on Mission (KOM) was born — an online expansion of Charleston Bilingual Academy, offering the same Christ-centered, interactive Spanish & Mandarin immersion classes in a virtual format. At that time, most KOM students were directly connected with CBA — mostly former students.
But as virtual learning gradually transitioned back to in-person learning, the number of students enrolled in KOM classes also declined. It was time to start looking beyond the CBA family.
To my awe (and relief), God opened doors to partner with homeschool co-ops and missions organizations, and in the fall of 2022, we literally had four times the number of students that were enrolled the year prior.
This number included adult students for the first time! We began with just one section of adult Spanish classes to test the waters and see if there was interest. To my amazement (again), so much interest poured in that we had to open three sections of the class, with even more people wanting to participate after the classes were full.
In summary, in 2.5 short years God has grown KOM from primarily serving CBA students to reaching children and adults all over the country (and the world)!
New Name, Same Mission, Expanded Scope
When we realized we were outgrowing our name, the choices for a new name were fairly limitless. But at the end of the day, we recognized that what continues to set us apart is our mission. I have yet to find another online language learning organization that openly structures their classes around teaching students about Jesus (and believe me, I’ve done a lot of Googling!).
Merriam-Webster defines mission as “a specific task with which a person or a group is charged,” with the synonyms of “calling” and “vocation.”
Our mission is the same as it has always been: to inspire world changers through Christ-centered, intercultural, language immersion education.
However, the scope is expanding from only offering classes for kids to offering classes for kids and adults. And who knows, in the future maybe God will allow us to do even more!
The name “Language on Mission” broadens the types of classes we can offer and increases clarity by giving people an immediate idea of what we do.
Our heart and what we do remains the same: equip kids and adults with a second language in order to love and serve others in Jesus’ name.
If you’ve been a student with us previously, the only change you’ll experience is a different name on the website. Our loving teachers, convenient scheduling, and repository of class resources remain the same.
So we will continue to lay down our time and talents, to serve to the best of our ability in the corner of the Kingdom that God has entrusted to us, walking His path step by step. We’re excited to see where He leads with our new name. And we’re hopeful that we’ll hear stories soon of how people are walking out their callings, using their language skills on mission for Jesus.