As Matthew and Lisa Owens arrived at their sponsored child’s village in Zimbabwe, they were overcome with a sense of honor when they saw that the entire community had come out to greet them. The sight was only one of many moments that took their breath away as they visited four of their five sponsored children during a year-long, 19-country trip around the globe.<\/p>\n
Matthew and Lisa, both teachers, had grown up traveling overseas. They wanted their children to experience the world too. So when their kids were 13, 11, and 8, the couple took a leave of absence from their jobs and spent a year traveling. They created assignments for the children along the way — the world became their classroom.<\/p>\n
To be able to connect with an actual person brings it to a heart level.—Lisa Owens<\/cite><\/blockquote>\nBut for Matthew and Lisa, the point wasn’t only learning about other cultures. They have a passion for World Vision and its work, each having started sponsoring children in college. After they were married and started a family, they chose a sponsored child of the same gender and exact birthday as Jonah, Mia, and Olivia.<\/p>\n
“To be able to connect with an actual person brings it to a heart level,” Lisa says. “When our children’s birthdays roll around, we’re also praying for this other child. When their photos are coming to us, we’re constantly looking at it from the lens of our own child’s life as well. It’s such a tiny step, but it’s a step, and we’re grateful that World Vision has helped us do that.”<\/p>\n
Visiting their sponsored children in Bolivia<\/a>, India<\/a>, Eswatini (Swaziland)<\/a>, and Zimbabwe<\/a> changed the way Matthew and Lisa approach their relationship with the kids.<\/p>\n
“Getting a glimpse into their community added so much more content to our prayers,” Matthew says. “It really invigorated our engagement.”<\/p>\n
The family felt a new sense of unity with other cultures as they realized how activities such as art and soccer were the same on opposite sides of the world. Those shared experiences go beyond activities and school lessons. “We have the same heavenly Father,” Matthew says. That perspective fuels how they see their sponsored children.<\/p>\n
“Rather than look at a picture and say, ‘Oh, here’s a poor kid from the other side of the world. My job is to give them money.’ Instead, it’s seeing the wholeness of this child,” Lisa says. “They’re loved. They’re loved by their family, their community, and they’re loved and provided for by God.”<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":26118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"country":[133],"filter":[172],"leader":[],"class_list":["post-26110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sponsorship-news-stories","country-united-states","filter-change-makers","tags-sponsorship","tags-magazine"],"yoast_head":"\n
When the world becomes a classroom | World Vision<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the world becomes a classroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Vision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/worldvision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"568\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristy J. O'Hara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@worldvisionusa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@worldvisionusa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristy J. O'Hara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kristy J. O'Hara\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5970a17251ec2ede98be69d7697a6de5\"},\"headline\":\"When the world becomes a classroom\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom\"},\"wordCount\":441,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wvusstatic.com\\\/www\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Child Sponsorship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom\",\"name\":\"When the world becomes a classroom | World Vision\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wvusstatic.com\\\/www\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wvusstatic.com\\\/www\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wvusstatic.com\\\/www\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The Owens family before their trip. Clockwise from left: Jonah, Matthew, Lisa, Mia, Olivia. (\u00a92014 Genesis Photo Agency\\\/photo by Greg Schneider)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/sponsorship-news-stories\\\/world-becomes-classroom#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When the world becomes a classroom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Vision\",\"description\":\"Building a better world for children\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Vision\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/world_vision_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/world_vision_logo.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":396,\"caption\":\"World Vision\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/worldvision\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/worldvisionusa\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/worldvisionusa\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/WorldVisionUSA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@worldvisionusa\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5970a17251ec2ede98be69d7697a6de5\",\"name\":\"Kristy J. O'Hara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kristy J. O'Hara\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldvision.org\\\/author\\\/koharaworldvision-org\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When the world becomes a classroom | World Vision","description":"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When the world becomes a classroom","og_description":"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom","og_site_name":"World Vision","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/worldvision","article_published_time":"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":568,"url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kristy J. O'Hara","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@worldvisionusa","twitter_site":"@worldvisionusa","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kristy J. O'Hara","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom"},"author":{"name":"Kristy J. O'Hara","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5970a17251ec2ede98be69d7697a6de5"},"headline":"When the world becomes a classroom","datePublished":"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom"},"wordCount":441,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg","articleSection":["Child Sponsorship"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom","url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom","name":"When the world becomes a classroom | World Vision","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-01T23:18:52+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-23T22:18:38+00:00","description":"In 2014, the Owens family from California circled the globe to visit their sponsored children and teach their kids about other cultures.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg","width":800,"height":568,"caption":"The Owens family before their trip. Clockwise from left: Jonah, Matthew, Lisa, Mia, Olivia. (\u00a92014 Genesis Photo Agency\/photo by Greg Schneider)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/sponsorship-news-stories\/world-becomes-classroom#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When the world becomes a classroom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/","name":"World Vision","description":"Building a better world for children","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#organization","name":"World Vision","url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/world_vision_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/world_vision_logo.png","width":1920,"height":396,"caption":"World Vision"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/worldvision","https:\/\/x.com\/worldvisionusa","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/worldvisionusa","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/WorldVisionUSA","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@worldvisionusa"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5970a17251ec2ede98be69d7697a6de5","name":"Kristy J. O'Hara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f6782935e506556eecf906438ce87bfe662f15a6a13069f0e8629f03e9aed5?s=96&d=wp_user_avatar&r=g","caption":"Kristy J. O'Hara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/author\/koharaworldvision-org"}]}},"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":188,"label":"Child Sponsorship"}],"country":[{"value":133,"label":"United States"}],"filter":[{"value":172,"label":"Change Makers"}],"tags":[{"value":350,"label":"Child Sponsorship"},{"value":688,"label":"World Vision Magazine"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2017\/09\/D400-1340-03-2x800.jpg",800,568,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kristy J. O'Hara","author_link":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/author\/koharaworldvision-org"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":188,"name":"Child Sponsorship","slug":"sponsorship-news-stories","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":188,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Find the latest news articles and stories from World Vision about child sponsorship, and story archives of older articles.","parent":0,"count":176,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":188,"category_count":176,"category_description":"Find the latest news articles and stories from World Vision about child sponsorship, and story archives of older articles.","cat_name":"Child Sponsorship","category_nicename":"sponsorship-news-stories","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26110"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54643,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26110\/revisions\/54643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/26118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26110"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/country?post=26110"},{"taxonomy":"filter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/filter?post=26110"},{"taxonomy":"leader","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/leader?post=26110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}