Do I Care?

I was driving home from a conference one weekend, with my mind whirling with many thoughts. The weekend had just been filled with time with a friend and my daughter at a spa, but also a conference for Child Evangelism. It's amazing what is happening around the province through the ministry of the 5 Day Clubs. Every summer, the message of the Gospel is being brought to thousands of children across the province through these weekly clubs. Children in small towns, in cities, in rural areas and on reserves, are being told about Jesus Christ.  Hundreds of kids each summer, accept that Jesus died for their sins, believe that He rose from the grave and is now in Heaven preparing an eternal home for them. These kids know and believe that Jesus is going to come back someday, that He IS the true Messiah!  Children accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ so innocently and purely. I think we have a lot to learn from them.

As I was driving, God showed me a picture of myself standing alone on the side of the road with hundreds of vehicles driving past me on the highway. I was the only one that knew that the highway ended a mile or two down the road, and that every vehicle would go over a cliff into everlasting darkness...their lives on this road would be ended.
DID I CARE ENOUGH? Did I care enough for each soul in these vehicles to stop every single one going past me on the road to ask them if they knew Jesus. Cause if they knew Jesus, they could turn around on this road and not continue on it, that their life wouldn't have to end on this road. DID I CARE ENOUGH to stop everyone and ask if they knew Jesus. Would they believe me that the road came to a horrible end? Would they want to know who Jesus is? Would I care enough to tell them?  This was a heart-stopping picture in my mind that God gave me.  It didn't leave me as I continued driving home.


I've been reading through this book called Radical by David Platt and a couple of weeks later, this is parts of what I read:

"Each follower of Jesus Christ is intended to take up the mantle of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth, regardless of what our calling is....Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. We owe Christ to the world--to the least to the greatest, to the rich to the poor, to the best to the worst. But somehow we have taken ourselves out from under that weight of a lost and dying world and say "I'm sorry, I'm just not called to do that."  We sit back and make excuses for not sharing the gospel with the rest of the world. We want to 'assign' this obligation of being a believer to a few missionaries around the world but YET we want to claim ALL the privileges of being a believer. So we choose to send out a few missionaries to take the gospel to the ends of the earth while the rest of us just sit back because "we're not called to that." In Romans 1:14-15, Paul says he is indebted to everyone, all Jews and Gentiles, indebted to every lost person on the face of the planet, and because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world. We see all over Scripture that God has a heart for the world. Do we have God's heart? Do we just have a heart for the world around us or do we have a heart for the world globally?  So if there's about 7,000,000,000 (billion) people in this world and approximately one-third of the people in the world are Christians, and if the gospel is really true (which I know it is) then about 5 billion people are separated from God in the sin and, assuming nothing changes, they will spend eternity in hell. 5 Billion People. And most of them live outside Canada and the United States. 5 BILLION PEOPLE!"  Let that sink in a bit people. Do we care that 5 Billion People are on their way to hell?


Do I care?  Do......I.....Care? Does that grieve my heart? Do I have the heart of God for these 5 billion people? Do I care enough to pray? Do I care enough to stop every vehicle in my vision and ask if they know Jesus? Do I care enough to support missions and do mission work myself? Do I care enough to, that any way that God shows me, take the Gospel to the ends of the earth? to the ends of MY earth? Do I have a heart for all the lost people in the world?

This has really been on my heart very strongly, and it won't leave me. David Platt is not telling us in his book that we have to sell everything we have and move ourselves out to a third world country. Every Christian can't do that. But what ARE we doing to take up the mantle and share the gospel of Jesus Christ? He is the ONLY way to Heaven, the Bible tells us that.

Last week, David Wilkerson passed away when he was killed in a car accident. His life was GONE, just like that, in a split second, a snap of the finger. He has left a legacy of being a true follower of Jesus Christ, an excellent passionate minister of the Gospel, he began Teen Challenge, he wrote the book the Cross and the Switchblade, and he has many powerful sermons on youtube. He knew where he was going. This week we were told that Osama bin Laden is now dead. Do we care about his soul even though he was a very evil man and had many people killed. Do we care about the legacy that he left? If he hated Jesus Christ so much, and never turned to him, then he is now spending eternity in hell.  Do we care about that? Do we rejoice over his death?  A couple weeks ago in the city, I drove by a plane that had crashed right beside a main road just a few feet from a gas station. Did the people in that plane know Jesus? I came upon an accident yesterday where two vehicles were overturned in the ditch and bodies were laying in the water that was in the ditch. My heart was in agony at that site! Are they dead and did they know Jesus? That is the ultimate question people...DO YOU KNOW JESUS?  DO WE CARE IF OTHERS KNOW JESUS? What fear is keeping us from asking people this question?

David Wilkerson has a very powerful video on youtube called "A Call to Anguish" that I put on here in the post below. I will use that video to close these thoughts. I saw this video for the first time last week after he had died. Please watch it! David is in such anguish in this video, wow, anguish over the church and over the lost souls of this world. Do I have that anguish of Christ? DO I CARE? OH GOD, change my heart, give me a heart of anguish for people of this world, give me a heart that grieves over what grieves yours God. Change my heart oh God!

CEF - Child Evangelism of Saskatchewan

Here's a little video of what Child Evangelism does - teaching clubs throughout Saskatchewan all summer long. A couple of these pics I took my place when we hosted the club in our yard....and in our home at the lake when it was raining outside.

If you want more information about Child Evangelism and the work they do, or the clubs that they teach throughout the summer, go to their website www.cefsask.org or check out some of my other entries here on my blog labeled under Child Evangelism.

They also have a great blog www.cefsask.org/blog2008 where the workers throughout summer have written entries throughout their travels through the summer teaching about Jesus to over 4,400 kids all over Saskatchewan.

I just came from a conference in Moose Jaw this past weekend where I met up with many great CEF co-ordinators all over Saskatchewan. Some good memories came back to me from when I was a child.....................

I grew up attending 5 Day Clubs during the summer months. I also was very faithful in doing the Mailbox Club lessons as well - I just loved them. We didn't have TV growing up, so doing these lessons and reading the books and lessons were a great passtime for me. My mom also reminded me of the two winters that we had a after school club in our home every Friday (this must have been what is now called Club DJ) and our living room was filled with 24/25 kids each week. There was a young girl that mom referred to as the "little Adrian girl" who came every single Friday, never missed a week. She loved coming to this club and one afternoon she received Jesus as her Savior. That was so exciting!! I was about 13 or 14 and I was a little old for this club so I was the special helper each week - it was a definite highlight of my past and a great memory....at times it seems I have more bad memories than good memories but I sure love it when God brings back these good memories and the bad memories become less and less.

Anyway, today, I thought that I'd really like to see if I can find a connection to this "little Adrian girl". So, I phoned an old neighbor and got a phone number - totally unexpected. I spoke to the father of this girl for about 40 minutes on the phone. We had a wonderful conversation! Then, he gave me his daughter Angela's number - who was this "little Adrian girl" and I gave her a call. Well, we talked for another 40 minutes. She's 7 years younger than I am and had a period of rebellion in her life as well. Here it ended up that she also knew me from a wedding that I was the photographer at a couple summers ago....we sat at the same table and her husband runs a Christian radio station in one of the SK communities - I had even given them one of my flyers for the calendars that I make and sell. What an incredibly small world!! God is so interesting and it is so wonderful how He continually entertwines the lives of those around us. It's always so amazing to me how He works!! but I shouldn't be amazed!

CEF is a great place for young adults to share their hearts with children and teach them about Jesus. I organize the 5 Day Clubs in the Shell Lake area and on the reserves around the area up there. It has been such a blessing to have the workers stay at our home there sometimes and to also go with them and see firsthand the impact theses stories have on the kids that come to these clubs each summer. God is doing a mighty work!! Praise the Lord for these organizations and for the many faithful workers that commit themselves each summer to teaching these young kids about Jesus. God bless them greatly!!

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 behalf^a]">[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.

Child Evangelism - 5 Day Club - The Mailbox Club

The past 2 summers, I've been involved with CEF - Child Evangelism Fellowship of SK. It's an organization that's been around for many years and it's nationwide - it expands into the rest of Canada and into the US and I believe it goes internationally as well. In SK, the headquarters are down in Regina. You can check out more info on their website www.cefonline.com - this site is nationwide. You can also check out the Regina site - www.clubdj.ca to find out more information on the different types of clubs they offer throughout the year and different outreach programs they have. It's a very good site.
So, for the summer, what CEF does is after 2 weeks of training, CEF sends out Christian youth missionary workers throughout the communities in their regions across the country during the summer months. They offer a 5 Day club all over -it's an exciting fun-filled hour club that has stories, songs and games. The kids learn about Jesus, other missionaries, they memorize Bible verses, bring friends and are given the opportunity to do Bible lessons at home throughout the week. They earn points for each activity they do and at the end of the week they receive a prize based on the points they've earned. The Bible lessons they do can become an ongoing thing for the kids. They can receive them in the mail or they can complete them on the internet.
I remember attending this club in my hometown when I was a kid - it was something to fill part of the summer with and it was fun to go to with my friends. I remember completing these Bible lessons through the mail for years and years. I loved getting my own mail and receiving gifts and prizes for achieving certain levels. Now my own kids have completed some of the lessons and they've attended the clubs. I love hosting the club at our 2nd home at the lake each summer.
I've been involved with organizing clubs in the Midwestern part of SK (Big River, Shellbrook, Shell Lake, Spiritwood, Blaine Lake areas) for the past couple of years and it's been so exciting seeing these kids eagerly coming to these clubs, watching these kids learning about Jesus and accepting Him as their personal Savior. Last year was the first time we'd gone out on one of the Native Reserves. This year, a few more reserves have opened up their doors to allow these Chrisitan youth mission workers to come and share the 5 Day Club on their reserves. It's been so exciting! Last year, on one of the reserves that we went on, 34 kids came to the club, 31 of them didn't go to church and 5 of the kids had accepted Christ. Very cool! Another town in the area, 26 kids came, 19 didn't go to church and 6 kids accepted Christ. In another town, 9 kids came to the club, 4 kids didn't attend church and 6 kids accepted Christ. Whooohoooo! Man, I can just hear the angels rejoicing up in Heaven because of all of these kids coming to know Jesus.
In 2005, 3,367 kids had attended these clubs all over SK. 225 kids accepted Christ as their Savior. 14,043 Bible lessons had been received. 96 cities and towns had clubs. 236 5 Day Clubs were held. Isn't that exciting and just way too cool?? I love it! I know God is very pleased with this work that is being done for Him and to help build His Kingdom. Kids are the most precious to Him and they are so easily influenced. It is so important to teach kids about God and Heaven - that is the most important job of parents.
These clubs also prepare these young youth workers for going out into the mission field to other communities and then on to other countries and presenting the Gospel - the message of Jesus Christ and God's Love. That's what life is about - spreading God's Word and advancing His Kingdom - sharing the Love of God and bringing the people He loves so much to a close personal relationship with Him. Thank you God for these wonderful opportunities we have to serve You in this way.