History

 A History of the Curriculum Development

In the 1970’s Loren Cunningham and other Youth With A Mission leaders felt that God was encouraging them to see a Biblical curriculum developed for all ages as a key to impacting nations. In 1977 an international group of educators met in Kona, Hawaii to seek God for His direction. Out of this and other curriculum meetings the concept that God is the curriculum was understood as the foundation for producing Biblical Christian Curriculum. When we study science we study God’s creation which leads us to discover the creator (creation declares the glory of God). When we study history we are learning about the interaction or lack of interaction of man with God and the consequences. The study of God, became the foundation of curriculum development. Multiple seminars were run and model schools developed in many countries. From this season an Early Childhood Curriculum was collated and published in English in 1996. Since then translations have been completed in German, Mandarin and Korean. A primary/elementary curriculum, however, was not published at this time.

In 2007 a small group came together in Kona Hawaii to seek God on how to publish a primary curriculum.  In following years Bible curriculum was written as a foundation for a complete curriculum where God is the focus of all subjects and all life, reflecting what God had spoken in the 1970s. It was not about academic knowledge of God, but rather a way for students to encounter God in all aspects of their day and experience His presence in all aspects of life.  

In 2012 a team met for 10 days in Melbourne, Australia to pray and work more on the Biblical curriculum. They saw God bring them to unity on a framework of 63 themes that are biblical descriptions of God – his roles and titles (nouns), nature & character (adjectives), works & ways (verbs).  The website was named “enteringgodspresence.com" because God reminded this team so strongly of his desire for children to learn in his presence, to encounter him in the classroom and home, to increase in love for him, not just learn about him.

Thank you to David J Hamilton for the foundational writing he did for the Teacher Meditations and to the many lovers of God who have written lessons to enable the children of the nations to know Him more.