Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Who Will Teach the Children?

The Harvest is Plentiful......but the workers are few.
Did you know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was shared with 4,469 children in Saskatchewan this past summer? Did you know that 2,328 of these children said that they did not attend church or Sunday School?

Did you know that 271 of these children invited Jesus Christ into their heart when this Gospel was shared with them this past summer? Did you know that there were 24 youth travelling across the province teaching 292 5-Day Clubs during the summer months? Did you know that these 5 Day Clubs were held in 149 communities, including 18 native reserves across SK?WOW! It has been such a privilege to work alongside Child Evangelism of Saskatchewan in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to young children. If over 50% of these thousands of children are not attending church or Sunday School, who will tell them the love of our wonderful saviour, Jesus Christ? The kids are so excited to attend these clubs...bringing their friends along to an hour of songs, games and stories and prizes. I've personally had the God-given opportunity to work together with exceptional individuals on the native reserves in the northern parts of SK. These kids have been hungry for the Lord, hungry for people to love them and accept them. The clubs held on these reserves have often been the best attended in clubs held over the summer. They have such an excitement to learn about the love of Jesus and to bring their siblings and parents along to this fun-filled hour. If these youth workers will not go, who will? Will you?? Who will teach the children? Children are most precious to God.....they need to hear about His Love. Who will teach them? Thank you God that these extra ordinary youth workers give up their summers to go out on the dusty roads, travel many miles, driving from town to town, telling the Good News of Jesus Christ. Praise You God!

In my devotions the other day, I read the passage from Matthew 18 and I picked up on a couple of things that I hadn't picked up on before.

Matthew 18:1-7, 10-14
"the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalfa]">[a] is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting... Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.c]">[c] If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish."

Jesus loves children. He doesn't want anyone to lead a child the wrong way and especially away from having faith in Him. Children are so trusting and when we break a child's trust, it breaks our Father's heart. Children are always a gift from God and we're not to look down on them. What struck me the most was where Jesus says that a child's angel is always in the presence of our heavenly Father. We have angels helping God and watching over us all the time. God cares about the bad things that happen to us down here on earth. Even though bad things do happen, He can work through everything and bring good out of it. We just need to trust that He oversees it all and trust that He has purpose through it.

So again, who will teach the children about God? Will you? Who will teach them that God cares about every single detail that happens to them? Who will teach them that God knows them by name and that he knows every single detail down to the number of hairs that are on their head? Who will tell them that when they hurt, Jesus hurts with them and is there for them to hold them and comfort them? Who will tell the children that when we trust in Jesus we can have eternal life and spend eternity in heaven with Jesus after we die? Will you? The children are the future, the next generation. Life without belief in Jesus Christ is a hopeless life with no meaning. We need to tell the children. That's why organizations like Child Evangelism exist. Check out their website at www.cefsask.org

Thank you God again for these young people who go out and tell the children of the Good News of your Son Jesus.