Christian Education Without Borders: A Night with Italy’s Homeschoolers

Chalcedon has a broader reach than is often assumed. Since Rushdoony and the Chalcedon Foundation were based in the U.S., and much of the debate surrounding Christian Reconstruction was focused in the States, one might overlook the fact that Chalcedon continues to serve believers in South America, Australia, Africa, and Europe who hunger and thirst for the Word of God and to be used to serve the Kingdom of God effectively.

In January of this year, Giorgio Modolo, a Christian Reconstructionist in Italy, contacted me about participating in a Zoom meeting for believers in his country to discuss Christian education, specifically homeschooling. I agreed immediately as there is no other topic I’d rather talk about, and Christian education is in my wheelhouse. I was anxious to serve our Lord for those seeking more in Italy.

Through my email exchanges with Giorgio, I received a greater understanding of the situation in Italy and how they experienced similar struggles as we did here in the U.S., but their circumstances are very different.

For example, America has the option of Christian day schools along with homeschooling, but that is not an option in Italy. In fact, unlike the U.S., most of those who homeschool in Italy are not Christians—they are simply disgusted with the poor performance of the state system and want something better for their children.

Giorgio put me in touch with Gioele, who would serve as my translator. Although many there are bi-lingual, they wanted to make sure the attendees truly understood the seriousness of God’s calling on parents to steward their children’s education in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. As of 2025, it should be clear that Christian education is a command, not a suggestion.

I sent Gioele my talk in English, and he translated it into Italian, putting red dots after certain sentences or phrases to indicate where I should stop and allow him to translate. We met together online a week prior to arrange the event as best we could. After that, the three of us prayed that the Lord would be gracious as we knew how unstable Wi-Fi can be.

Saturday, March 29th at 1 pm Pacific Time is when the meeting began, with the Italians participating eight hours later in the evening for them. They would also experience a loss of an hour that weekend due to their time change, but twenty-one Zoom accounts were in attendance with many showing up as couples. I estimated about thirty people participated, and that would be a good sized crowd in person where I live!

Our plan and preparation worked wonderfully. I adhered to my red dots and Gioele translated. The only glitch was that I loved hearing the Italian spoken, and had to remember when it was time for me to resume.

After giving a brief history of my Italian roots—and my experiences with homeschooling—I dove into the framework for establishing a homeschool on biblical grounds: a homeschooling mindset, discussing a biblical worldview, and emphasizing that no experience was necessary other than the desire to obey God and rear faithful children. During the presentation, the only videos that were on were mine, Gioele, and Giorgio. Giorgio, from my point of view, was a great “cheerleader” as he continued to clap his hands in agreement, give me thumbs up, and flash a very satisfied smile as though what was being said was what he had hoped for.

After the formal part of my talk, there was a time for questions and answers, which were well-thought out and demonstrated a true desire for application. Some on the call were already active in homeschooling their children, while others were just beginning the journey. Since the Q&A was unscripted, I often forgot to give Gioele time to translate. He was patient with me and afterwards admitted that he was quite exhausted, but from my perspective his work was flawless.

By the time I said “goodnight” to them, I still had hours to go before it got dark here, so I had opportunity to consider that so many abroad share the desire to advance the Kingdom of God.

We agreed to meet again, and that they would partition the talk into parts to place on YouTube for those who couldn’t attend the meeting. I also received a number of Facebook friend requests the following day from some of the attendees. They all were gracious, and I’m grateful to have new friends, with some requesting that I mentor some of the Italian homeschooling mothers.

We can talk about the detrimental aspect of modern technology and its deficits, but I, for one, am thankful that I was able to minister without jet lag! In fact, I left the meeting invigorated and look forward to more interactions.