Blessed are the Children
Children Ready to Hear and Accept — In the children who were brought in contact with Him, Jesus saw the men and women who should be heirs of His grace and subjects of His kingdom, and some of whom would become martyrs for His sake. He knew that these children would listen to Him and accept Him as their Redeemer far more readily than would grownup people, many of whom were the worldly-wise and hardhearted. In teaching, He came down to their level. He, the majesty of heaven, answered their questions and simplified His important lessons to meet their childish understanding. He planted in their minds the seeds of truth, which in after years would spring up and bear fruit unto eternal life.
When Jesus told the disciples not to forbid the children to come to Him, He was speaking to His followers in all ages –to officers of the church, ministers, helpers, and all Christians. Jesus is drawing the children, and He bids us, “Suffer them to come”; as if He would say, “They will come, if you do not hinder them.”
Evangelism pp. 579,580
What a joy it is to work for the children!
Over the years in the mission field, we have realized the importance of reaching out to the children. Well, this year so far, we’ve had three evangelistic meetings for children in three different villages. And guess who plans and does all the work with these children? … Yes those young people who were reached with God’s message when they were little children.
The outpost buzzes with excitement, and all hands come on deck in preparation for these meetings. The craft making is one of the activities that children enjoy the most. Below, the young people are preparing crafts for the La Zona evangelistic meeting.
This year they decided to have the planets as a decoration theme, and each child was
a “star”. The first day there was in attendance 85 children, and as the week went by, it increased to 110. It was a busy week for everyone.
Wilson picked up the children from south La Zona; I picked up my Cerro del Toro group, and Danelia, one of our new church members, picked up the group from Santa Rita.
We thank the Lord for inspiring the workers from Young Disciple Ministries to put together such an excellent and thorough evangelistic program for children; covering all the Bible truths in such a fun and interesting way that children will never forget those memory verses, songs and stories.
The Honduran school system has more holidays than you can shake a stick at. So, we took the opportunity of all of those free days to run the children’s evangelistic meetings.
In the past we’ve had several children’s meetings in La Zona, but this year, we decided that we needed to reach out to the smaller and less fortunate villages of Los Serritos and San Manuel, where our church members have been going twice a month to evangelize in different homes giving bible studies.
Los Serritos is not too far from La Zona, but the trip to the village of San Manuel is a real sacrifice. It’s about an hour away by car, high up in the mountains. The volunteers stayed there for the week, sleeping in a small hut, cooking by firewood as they ministered to the children and their parents. But, the volunteers were thankful for this experience, and they had no complaints. The joy of working for those children overshadowed all the sacrifice.
“The Saviour regards with infinite tenderness the souls whom He has purchased with His blood. They are the claim of His love. He looks upon them with unutterable longing. His heart is drawn out, not only to the best-trained and most attractive children, but to those who by inheritance and through neglect have objectionable traits of character.” M. M. p 42
It is amazing to see what love and compassion, in combination with God’s Word, can do in a child’s life.
This before and after picture of Maritza tells it all… This little girl absorbed all the love, attention and teaching that was offered that week, and literally was transformed!
When you work for children, the words of Jesus become more meaningful. “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Our prayer, as we plan these evangelistic meetings and as our volunteer young people use the talents and skills that God has given them, is to be able to reach other children for the kingdom of heaven.
Time is short in this world, and it is important that children be reached with the truth of God’s Word. Their minds are fresh and impressionable, and they understand and remember all that is taught.
There is no greater joy, than visiting them in their homes and listening to them as they sing the songs and repeat the memory verses they learned during that week of evangelism.
So Friends, I want to encourage you and your churches to labor for the children. They are the next generation of laborers for Christ — and may very well be the last generation.
“The heart of the child is tender and easily impressed; and when we who are older become “as little children,” when we learn the simplicity and gentleness and tender love of the Saviour, we shall not find it difficult to touch the hearts of the little ones and teach them love’s ministry of healing.”
If you have any questions or comments, please do leave them below. God bless you!
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