“What if the inscription on the monuments erected over the dead be rendered illegible by time, and the monuments themselves be in fragments; yet is there a glory encircling those ruins, and arising from the earth on which those adventurers trod, which decay cannot reach, and which the lapse of centuries can only make more imposing. We are to do them reverence, and in the silent homage of the heart to utter thanksgiving and praise to our Heavenly Parent for the great benefits which, under His good providence, their hardy and successful adventures have conferred upon us and upon the world.” —President John Tyler on the role of monuments and the duty to remember, 1857, at the 250th Jubilee of Jamestown

This year, one monument will be erected for America’s 400th birthday. And the state has nothing to do with it. (For the first time in our nation’s history, officials have decided not to erect official markers of gratitude on the occasion of a centennial celebration.) The monument is the Jamestown Children’s Memorial, and it is the first American monument dedicated by children, based expressly on Holy Scripture and the Fifth Commandment, and dedicated to honoring the Lord for His work through our Jamestown founding fathers. Underneath the monument will be a time capsule to be opened on the 500th anniversary of America’s birth. The capsule contains the names of the children who made the monument possible. It also contains words of encouragement and exhortations from Holy Scripture for the children of the twenty-second century.

The Jamestown Children’s Memorial will be paid for by the one-dollar donations of the grateful children of America, with help from the generous donations of other donors who are making this special testimony of thanksgiving a reality.

Thanks be to the Lord — we are pleased to report that God has kindly raised up a generous donor who is making a matching grant for $20,000 available for the Jamestown Children’s Memorial, and for the purpose of helping Vision Forum Ministries raise the resources necessary for our efforts at historic preservation of the providential record of God through Jamestown in 2007. The offer provides that if we are able to raise $20,000 for the Jamestown Children’s Memorial in a timely manner, that our donor will match those gifts with an additional $20,000. If you would like to help make this matching gift a reality, please feel free to visit our Web site for information on online donations.