What a privilege and blessing it was to serve alongside of others as we ministered to hundreds of children through our recent mission trip to Honduras. After having 92 children the first day, it was apparent to the church leadership there that two separate Vacation Bible Schools were needed, one in the city at the main church and another in the countryside at a soccer field. The second day 119 children attended, and the third and final day yielded 202! Most importantly, 53 precious children responded to the Gospel over the three days of VBS! In addition, only the Lord knows how many seeds were planted that will bear fruit in their season. Thank you, Lord!
Our own Vacation Bible School here at Grace will be held July 16-20 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM each night. The theme for this year is “Sonrise National Park VBS.” I know you will be praying that God will use each part of every evening to reach boys and girls with the gospel of Christ (and hopefully some mom and dads too!).
Why is it so important to evangelize children? For one thing, statistics show that nearly half of all Americans (43%) who trust Christ as Savior do so before reaching the age of 13, and that two out of three (64%) who have been born again made that decision before the age of 18. Less than one out of four (23%) embraced Christ after their twenty-first birthday. Most people who are saved, therefore, come to Christ when they are young. The older a person gets, the more difficult it becomes for them to trust Christ.
Early conversion not only saves a soul eternally, but potentially points an entire life toward service to God and man. In all my years of ministry, I have yet to meet a Christian who is sorry they came to Christ early in life. On the other hand, I’ve encountered many who are sorry they didn’t.
The late evangelist D. L. Moody was once asked how the night’s meeting had gone. He replied, “We had two and a half conversions.” The question came, “You mean two adults and one child?” “No,” he said, “two children and one adult. The adult has only half his life left.”
Children are more receptive and are reached more easily than adults. Jay Kesler, former president of Youth for Christ International, has well said, “Any evangelism after high school isn’t evangelism. It’s really salvage.” We should always keep in mind that Christianity is always just one generation from extinction. We must reach the coming generation with the Gospel.
In Mark 10:14, which G. Campbell Morgan called “the Magna Charta of Children,” the Lord Jesus commands, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.” It is a double imperative – as strong as He can make it. “Allow them to come – do not forbid them.” Furthermore, the word Jesus chose for “children” is paidon, signifying a very little or young child, even an infant.
The late C. H. Spurgeon, known as “the Prince of Preachers,” made the statement that, “A child of five, if properly instructed, can as truly believe and be regenerated as an adult.” He also said, “A child who knowingly sins can savingly believe.” Amen! I believe in child evangelism. How about you? Consider this — when you bring the good news about Jesus to a young boy or girl and they respond, not only are they saved eternally, but you never know if that child is destined to play a key role in God’s kingdom. Thank you in advance for your partnership in evangelizing children!