Why Children???

-->

The renowned evangelist, D.L. Moody said, "If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God!” It is a known fact that people are more likely to accept Christ as their Savior when they are young. Barna research supports this, concluding that 85 percent of all those who accept Christ do so between the ages of 4 and 14.[1]

Children: A Receptive People Group

Children are the most numerous, weak, needy, disrupted, suffering, overlooked, and quite possibly the most receptive of the world’s population groups! Defining “children” as a people group is, in fact, much too broad to fit the customary description of a people group. Typically a people group is defined “along ethnic, geographic, habitat or social affinity lines”[2] however, such descriptions have a distinct adult bias. There are many diverse groups of children and youth who require not only specific spiritual needs but also physical needs differing from those directed toward adults.

Barna entreats Christians to “Consider the facts…People are much more likely to accept Christ as their Savior when they are young. Absorption of biblical information and principles typically peaks during the preteen years…Habits related to the practice of one’s faith develop when one is young and change surprisingly little over time.”[3]

“The implication of these findings is clear,” says Barna. “Anyone who wishes to have significant influence on the development of a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is still young.”[4]

Another important factor to consider is the extensive study, which proves people are more receptive when their lives are interrupted or disrupted. The poor and oppressed tend to be much more open to the Gospel due to daily interruptions and hardships of impoverished life. It is a known fact that every day some 30,000 children die around the world from malnutrition and preventable diseases!

Children are also an unwanted people group. An alarming static reveals that between 100 and 200 million children around the world live on the streets! Everyday children face enormous risks, as they remain the most vulnerable group for every kind of disease and suffering. Children and youth are undoubtedly one of, if not the most receptive “people group” presently on the face of the earth as they are ready and willing to receive the Gospel due to their daily interruptions from the enormous risks they face.

In light of all these facts and startling statistics it is a wonder why children are overlooked within church, ministry and missions. What does the church have to say and what can they do for the most numerous, poorest, interrupted, brokenhearted and perhaps the most responsive of the world’s population?

---

                [1] Barna Research Group, “Teens and Adults Have Little Chance of Accepting Christ as Their

Saviour”, November, 1999.

[2] The State of the World’s Children 1995 Published for UNICEF by Oxford University Press. 1995.

[3] George Barna, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions (Ventura, California: Regal, 2003). 41.

[4] Ibid, 47.