Never Underestimate a Child

Genesis

It all began when God started moving in the life of a young girl in Thomasville, Georgia. When I met Emma in 2010 her mother mentioned, “Emma has a special place in her heart for China.” I looked into the face of my new eight-year-old friend and was amazed. She was beautiful, pure, humble, bright, full of hope and faith, and clearly in love with Jesus.

 Emma had been praying for China every night since she was five years old. No one in her family had been to China. There were no Chinese children in her small community. She didn’t know any families who had adopted a child from China. There was no human explanation for why Emma had been praying for China.

At last she added, “Someday I will go to China and tell them how much God loves them.” It was a holy moment. I went to bed praising God, but was certain that this encounter had nothing to do with my life and ministry. I was wrong.

Greatness

The Bible has much to say about the role of children in God’s enterprise. Perhaps the single most profound passage is in Matthew. The question about greatness in the Kingdom is timeless. Jesus’ answer is shocking.

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:1-3).

Jesus pointed to a child… not King David, Isaiah, John the Baptist or one of the Twelve. What was Jesus saying?

Here is one way to get at the meaning of the passage. What is something that a Christian child can do as well if not better than a well-educated and experienced adult Christian worker?

A Christian child can pray with faith and share their experience with God in ways that are just as effective, if not more effective, than what any adult can do.

While playing on the beach, my friend Anita’s grandson John (6) introduced himself to a little boy named Roger. After they played for a little while, Anita overheard Roger ask his mom, “Are we Christians?” Later, Anita asked John if he had asked Roger about being a Christian. He replied, “Yes, Nini. You know not everyone is a Christian!” Most Christian families can tell similar stories.

A young mother in Memphis wrote, “I am overwhelmed by how the Lord loves to use children to accomplish His purposes.  Sadly, I think the church as a whole either overlooks or underestimates the influence and impact that a child can have for Christ.”

Family and ministry leaders may unintentionally separate our children from the very things Jesus affirms about them and about Kingdom greatness. An under-appreciation of a child’s potential or unreasonable safety concerns could have influenced Anita to urge her grandson to stay away from the other boy by cautioning, “We don’t know who they are.”

10/40 plus 4/14

The “10/40 Window” refers to the regions between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude containing the world’s largest percentage of unreached and underserved people. In 2009 a different type missions strategy was launched. It is called the “4/14 Window.”  It is based on the importance of ministering to children between ages 4 and 14.

What if there was a way to minister in the 4/14 window within the 10/40 window?

Moving Discipleship

The tendency of separating discipleship from outreach can be traced back to the first century church. Consider the description of the Jerusalem church described in Acts 2:42-47 with Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8 and the church at Antioch in Acts 13:1-5. Jesus modeled and calls for a moving style of discipleship. That is, following Christ involves worship and witness.

The longer church movements exist the more likely that involvement in outreach, evangelism, service and mission is unofficially turned over to the section of the church, a group of adult zealots.

Christian young people across American are yearning to do the very things they are uniquely positioned to do in ministry: pray with faith and allow God to speak through their relationship with a friend.

Friends4One connects elementary-age children with friends in China through a global learning and outreach curriculum. These 21st century pen pals use the Internet to share Christ’s love with friends on the other side of the globe.

There are 212 million young children in China. In partnership with churches, Christian schools and homeschools, Friends4One is creating 20,000 cross cultural friendships. Pray that God will raise up thousands of children like Emma.

Never underestimate what God can do through a child.

Before founding FollowOne in 2004, James Loftin was the Director of Missions and Dean of the Chapel at the Florida Dunnam Campus of Asbury Seminary. He continues to facilitate learning experiences in China for scholars in the Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership.