A while ago I wrote about how kids in our meetings are influenced by what they see going on around them, body language during sung worship, attitudes in prayer, attention paid to the preacher, listenening to a post mortem of the meeting in the car or around the dinner table. It all matters.
I admit to being fundamental about ministry to kids, I guess it's how I've ended up doing what I do, but the following is an exerpt from Nicky Cruz's book ON HOLY FIRE, which was a wake up call to me and, as I said in an email to someone earlier on this evening, 'it just means that the responsibility we have is even more awesome that we initially thought!'
I will recommend this book to anyone who might be looking for reassurance that they are not the only one who feels passionate about 'God's Holy Spirit unleashing his power in your life, your church, you neighbourhood', it's not just about ministry to kids, infact it hardly is at all.
Nicky had a vision and here it is:
God...has shown me a coming time when the Holy Spirit will move in the quietness of the night and stir up our children as never before, They'll be like the young boy Samuel in the bible who ran to Eli because he didn't know whose voice was speaking to him in the darkness....
....God is calling our children to make a difference. He knows that so many of their parents have not fully surrendered their lives, their time and their energy...to his control, so he's calling the children of our time to fill the gap. My message to the parents of ( and for me today, those who work with) these precious children is this:
Do not stop them. It is God himself calling them. It is his fire, his Holy Spirirt, prepareing the way for the greatest transformation ever to take place in the world.
If this vision is going to be fulfilled, we are going to have to invest more heavily and work more intentionally in discipling our kids. It's no good waiting until they are 'older' and can begin to reason it all out. I'm not talking about brainwashing, I'm talking about taking the discipleship to children seriously, listening to them, letting them teach us, giving them time to explore when it's good for them, base the programme around their needs rather than how well in fits into what we want to do.
If God is calling our children - raising up an army made of those who are still young - then who is going to teach them how to recognise his voice?
1 comment:
And how amazing were our children yesterday in FOJ club when they were allowed the freedom to explain their thinking. We never told any of them they were wrong, or even try to arrange their thoughts for them. They were simply left wondering and because of that.....so was I!
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