Dear Editor,
No doubt some of you are familiar with the term Unreached People Group. This group makes up two-thirds of the world’s population which has the least access to the gospel. They live in what is called the 10/40 window (North Africa, Middle East, Asia).
There is, however, another window called the 4/14 window which is less known. It is so called because research shows that most conversion to Christianity occurs between 4 and 14 years of age. One-third of the world’s population is under 15 years, which makes children 14 years and under the largest people group in the world. According to Jamaican statistics, children 0-14 years make up approximately 20% of the population.
So whether we are looking at it globally or nationally, the harvest field of children is great. Being the group most responsive to the gospel, it is no surprise that statistics tells us that 85% of people who make decisions for Christ will do so between 4 and 14 years. People who become Christians before their teenage years are much more likely to remain absolutely committed to Christ throughout their whole lives than those who get converted as teens or adults.
Even the world knows the importance of going after the children to promote their cause. The Communists have their Children’s Training Camps. The Islamic Agenda has its child soldiers and mantra that is repeated regimentally in schools and homes. The Satanists are establishing their After- School Clubs. The Liberals are aggressively pushing their LGBT and transgender ideologies in schools, through curriculums, liberal teachers, text books, movies, video games, social media, toys etc. Here in Jamaica we have not escaped this worldwide avalanche of evil against our children. As the church, we must become vigilant over our education system and law-making process and be ready to stand up, speak out and take action.
Whoever gets to the children first, wins their hearts and minds for a lifetime. Therefore as the church, we must take a serious and intentional approach to evangelizing and discipling the nation’s children before undesirable forces step in ahead of us. Ministering to children in the church and community should be the most important ministry in the local church. I believe Jesus hinted at the prioritizing of children when his very first instructions to the Apostle Peter, a foundation leader of the church, was “Feed my lambs’ .
In the church world-wide and no less in Jamaica, there is a large percentage of people, including pastors and leaders who still have the mindset that children are too young to make a sincere decision to follow Christ or to understand the doctrines and principles of God’s Word. Therefore it is enough to tell them Bible stories with morals until they are old enough to understand. . D.L. Moody, a powerful evangelist in the 1800s overturned this lie of the devil when he said, “It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand religion. Would Christ have made the child the standard of faith if He had known that he was not capable of understanding His Word?”
Wow! Think about it, the faith of a child is capable of receiving and accomplishing everything that the Kingdom of God offers or requires of us. They just need to be taught at their age level.
In the parable of the four soils, the good soil most typifies the heart of the child and therefore we can truthfully say it is children, and those with similar disposition, who will produce the most fruit in the Kingdom of God- 100%, 60%, 30%. The salvation of children is under attack on many fronts because the devil knows that if we can change a generation we can change a nation, we can change the world.
So, let us:
- Pray to the Lord of the harvest for more children ministry workers and a reaping of souls.
- Encourage pastors and church leaders to prioritize child evangelism and discipleship
- Advocate for children ministries in schools, and communities,
Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
I am,
Donna Werdenie
