Global 4/14 Day of Prayer

April 14 is Global 4/14 Day, a time set aside to pray for children between the ages of 4 and 14.  Why is this demographic so strategic in missions?

God’s heart: Including kids in our missions focus reflects God’s heart. In Mark 10:14 Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Numbers: Currently, 2.2 billion children live on our planet. In many cultures considered unreached or resistant to the gospel, boys and girls under age 15 make up 40-50% of the population – that’s almost half of God’s harvest field.

Receptivity: Children have open hearts to receive the gospel. Research shows that many believers put their faith in Jesus between the ages of 4 and 14. We shouldn’t neglect the ripest fruit in God’s harvest field.

Bridges: When children become believers in Jesus, they are eager to share their faith with others – relatives, friends, teachers, coaches, and neighbors. Want to reach adults in an unbelieving home or village? Build a bridge by first establishing relationships with their sons and daughters.

Need: 1.2 billion children at risk face dire situations every day – poverty, disease, war, abandonment, and exploitation. These kids need the hope and transformation that only Jesus can provide.

Potential: Boys and girls who trust in Jesus become functioning members of the Church and partners in ministry. They have their whole lives to serve God as participants in the gospel. Think of the impact these young disciples can make on families, communities, and nations.

Join us in observing Global 4/14 Day. Download and use the free Prayer and Fasting Guide. Here are two more ways to pray for children on a continuous basis:

1. Check out the Red Card Prayer Page for weekly updates and requests for children around the world. These focus on areas of the world in the news.

2. The Stand4Kids Prayer Pages provide a way to pray for one child and request every day of the month. These requests represent needs of unreached kids in animistic, Hindu, atheistic, Muslim, and Buddhist cultures as well as needs of children at risk.

World Water Day Resources

World Water Day is March 22. This year’s theme is Water and Food Security. Did you know that 70% of the water used on earth goes into agriculture and food production? That juicy burger you’re eating took 634 gallons (2400 liters) of water to produce from start to finish. Check out these resources that explain how water use and food sustainability go hand-in-hand. Here are resources on water issues to use with elementary age children.

• Stand4Kids: Every Last Drop lesson addresses issues that children without access to clean water face. Includes demonstrations, photos, a Bible passage, prayer time, and optional Week for Water giving project. Ages 5-10.

• LifeWater International: WASH (Water, Sanitation Hygiene) Around the World 5-lesson download includes short stories of real children in five countries with discussion questions. Ages 3-11.

• WaterAid: Water Around the World Slide Show. Ages 5-8. Pumping It Up lesson with an experiment that demonstrates how a well pump brings up underground water. Ages 8-11.

• Blood:Water Mission: Lemon:Aid project to raise money for wells, water filters, and rain tanks for communities in Africa.

Pray for Enslaved Children

Freedom Sunday is this weekend. We have the opportunity to remember children who are enslaved and trafficked and intercede on their behalf. Do not underestimate the power of prayer for these precious boys and girls. God hears their cries, is present with them their situations, and promises to bring justice both for them and their oppressors.  Here are some Bible verses and prayer requests to get you started.

Child Laborers

Psalm 72:12 -“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.”

• Pray for God to protect child laborers from physical and emotional harm
• Pray that parents can find work so that their children are able to attend school.
• Pray for employers who oppress and exploit children to realize their worth and choose to protect and nurture them.
• Pray for despair to be replaced with hope.

Child Soldiers

Psalm 91:2b, 5 -“‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’ … You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.”

• Pray for child soldiers to be released back to their families.
• Pray for God to restore children who have experienced the painful trauma of war.
• Pray for despair to be replaced with hope.
• Pray that God will give wisdom and compassion to ministry workers who are helping children reintegrate into society.

Sexually Exploited Children

Psalm 10:17-18 – “You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.”

• Pray for safe and secure shelters to provide for needs of children living on the streets so that they are less vulnerable to traffickers.
• Pray for strong law enforcement efforts and for brothels to be discovered and shut down.
• Pray for God to convict the hearts of traffickers, pimps and the “customers” and to transform their lives.
• Pray for despair to be replaced with hope.

Books and Movies List Update

New books added to Red Card Kids:

Street Kids

• Lessons from a Street Kid by Craig Kielburger. Ages 6-9.

Take A Stand

• Free the Children: A Young Man Fights Against Child Labor and Proves that Children Can Change the World by Craig Kielburger. High school, young adult.
• It Takes A Child by Craig Kielburger. Ages 6-9.

New movies added to Red Card Kids.

Child Laborers

• Fields of Mudan, 2007. R. Mudan, a frightened young Asian girl, is forced into sex slavery by a brutal child brothel owner. She and another brothel girl courageously choose to live their lives as innocent, ordinary little girls despite their conditions and the bleak future that awaits them. Run time: 23 minutes. Mature audiences.

Take A Stand

• It Takes A Child, 1998, PG. True story of how the Free the Children movement began with a young boy who advocates against child labor. 56 min. Grades 5-12.

Freedom Sunday

February 26 is Freedom Sunday. It’s designed to build awareness about human slavery and trafficking in local churches. Here are some Biblical-based lessons and projects for children on these issues.

• Loose Change to Loosen Chains is a student-led campaign for elementary to college students to combat modern-day slavery while learning about the reality of injustice today. Order materials from the International Justice Mission. IJM uses money donated through this program to rescue victims of slavery and other forms of oppression.

• Break the Chains: The Power of Choice – Free download lesson on human trafficking for older elementary kids. Look in the Bible Study section. This is part of the Break the Chains Initiative from the Evangelical Covenant Church.

• Childhood Lost – Free download lesson on child labor for elementary children from Stand4Kids. Look in the Bible Study section under New Children’s Curriculum.

Chiildren’s Ministry Day 2012

The fifth annual Children’s Ministry Day is February 18. Developed by WMU, Children’s Ministry Day gives kids in grades 1-6 the opportunity to participate in  local community ministry. Individual projects are designed by children’s leaders in churches and Christian schools all across North America. This year’s theme is Operation Education. The theme verse is “Do your best to please God. Be a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed. Teach the message of truth correctly.” (2 Timothy 2:15, NIrV)

WMU created a downloadable Children’s Ministry Day Pack ($11.99). It contains a 16-page booklet with project suggestions, planning tips, and learning activities to enhance your project as well as colorful posters for promoting your event.  Other free resources like clip art, flyers, and a Powerpoint presentation overview are also available for download.

Ready to plan an education-related project that kids can carry out in your community? Make sure to invite others to assist you. If you can’t hold your event on February 18, pick a day that works for you. Here are 10 ideas to get those creative juices flowing:

• Help your kids host a used book drive and donate the books to a literacy ministry in your community.
• Make and send thank-you cards to principals at local schools. Better yet, have your kids deliver the cards personally. How many of them have ever seen the inside of the principal’s office–in a good way?
• Find out when the next school board meeting is. Help your kids prepare cookies or other snacks for the meeting. Ask if some of your kids can deliver the goodies and pray for the board members at the beginning of the meeting.
• Contact local school administrators and ask permission for your kids to help clean classrooms.
• Contact a local after-school program or a child-care facility and ask for a list of items they might need. Have your kids organize a drive in your church or school to help meet those needs.
• Prayer walk around neighborhood schools on the weekend.
• Help older kids prepare and read storybooks to preschoolers or kindergarteners at their school.
• Collect school supplies for needy children in your area. Have your kids write an encouraging let­ter on the first page of the notebooks.
• Have your kids make and send encouraging notes to GED students.
• Ask permission to host a teacher appreciation breakfast or lunch at a local school. You’ll probably need to enlist parent help for this one.

Invite your church leaders, teachers, and parents to be involved by praying for your kids and the people they will serve. And don’t forget to take lots of pictures!

World Food Day

October 16 is World Food Day. In our world today, 925 million people are undernourished (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO). This is 13.6% of the world population! Because their bodies are still developing, children are effected most by hunger. Every five seconds, a boy or girl dies from a hunger-related disease. Hunger has many facets and layers. Here are three.

Starvation: Starvation caused by famine, like the one currently threatening families in the Horn of Africa, is the most extreme form of hunger. Starvation often leads to death, especially in children.

Food insecurity: Not all hunger is caused by famine. For millions, lack of access to sufficient amounts of nutritious food is an ongoing, daily reality. Families eat the bare minimum to stay alive. Children go to bed each night, not knowing where their next meal will come from.

Hidden Hunger: In addition, two billion people exist on a limited diet. Because children eat the same thing every day rather than a variety of foods, they don’t get the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy growth and development. The resulting malnutrition has serious consequences. For example, children with Vitamin A deficiency have severe problems with eyesight and some become blind.

Here’s a map put out by the FAO. It shows that state of undernourishment in countries around the world. Did you know that there’s more than enough food to provide adequate nutrition to everyone on the planet? Here’s a simple simulation you can do with families in your church, school, or homeschooling group. It shows that hunger is more about an imbalance in food distribution than a shortage of food.

Tajikistan: Law Restricts Children’s Ministry

Tajikistan, a little-known Central Asian country, holds a special place in my heart. Here’s why.  1) I created the Tajik Kids curriculum, part of the Kids Around the World mission series for children. 2) My local church adopted the Tajik people and we have an ongoing relationship with national believers there. 3) I’ve served on two short-term teams to Tajikistan. Both times, I was privileged to equip and encourage children’s workers. As is usually the case, I learned more than I imparted and was challenged by the tenacity and creativity of first-generation Christians on fire for God. They realized that when God transforms the heart of a child, there is hope for societal transformation as well.

During my 2007 visit, national workers expressed concern over increasing restrictions on evangelizing children. Since then, the situation has worsened. This August, the Parental Responsibility Law went into effect. It stipulates that the only religious activities in which children under 18 may participate, apart from funerals, are those at state-approved religious education institutions. An amendment to the Criminal Code was passed that would punish organizers of “extremist religious” teaching.

Both measures seek to prevent recruiting of impressionable children by religious extremists. Whatever the intent, these rulings affect ministry to children on several levels. They affect parents, robbing them of the right to raise their children in the faith they choose. They affect boys and girls, preventing them from attending worship services, Sunday School, and church-led functions like summer camp. They impact children’s workers, forcing them to interpret what “extremist religious” teaching means to the government and discern ramifications for their ministry. While it’s too early to know how new laws will be enforced, it’s not too early to pray. Please join me in lifting up Tajik believers in the following ways:

• Pray for protection for believers who may be targets in regard to this law in coming days.
• Pray for boldness and perseverance for parents who seek to disciple their children.
• Pray for wisdom and creativity for children’s workers as they navigate what the new laws mean for their ministry.
• Pray that God will continue to grant believers favor with local government leaders as they meet the holistic needs of children in Tajikistan.
• Pray that many boys and girls in Tajikistan would come to know and follow Jesus.

Book List Updates

Just updated the children at risk suggested books on our Red Card Kids website. Recent books include:

Street Children

The Least of These: Lessons Learned from Kids On the Street by Ron Ruthruff (New Hope Publishers, 2010).

Working with the Street Children: An Approach Explored by Andrew Williams (Russell House Publishing, 2011).

Orphans

Love Has a Face: Mascara, a Machete and One Woman’s Miraculous Journey with Jesus in Sudan by Michele Perry (Chosen, 2009).

Children of War

My Father, the Maker of Trees: How I Survived the Rwandan Genocide by Eric Irivuzumgabe and Tracey D. Lawrence (Baker Books, 2010).

Children in Prayer-Part 4

Rashid excitedly follows his father and uncles to the mosque. He has joined in prayer with the men before, but this time is different. He’s finally old enough to participate fully in the fast of Ramadan, the most holy month on the Muslim calendar. As his stomach growls in protest, Rashid realizes it has been hours since his predawn meal. His stomach will just have to wait until sunset, the time he will enjoy a meal with his family. But it is worth it. Rashid remembers his father’s words: “Fasting is an expression of our faith, a form of worship, and a way to please Allah.” Entering the cool interior of the mosque with the others, Rashid imagines other Muslim boys all around the world. Like him, they are observing the fast, going to the mosque in their town, and seeking to please Allah.

Robert is getting ready for bed. Earlier at dinner, his mom and dad read a page about Indonesia from the Just for Kids: 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World booklet. His parents have also been explaining the basics about Ramadan. Robert thinks about Muslim boys and girls in Indonesia who do not understand that Jesus is God’s son. Instead of trusting in Jesus to forgive sin and bring them back into a relationship with God, they are taught to please God by doing good things– like not eating or drinking during the daytime for a whole month. Robert closes his eyes and begins to pray for children like Rashid. “God, please help kids in Indonesia to know you love them. Help them understand that Jesus died on the cross to remove  their sin.”

RAMADAN IS AUG. 1-30. JOIN BELIEVERS AROUND THE WORLD IN PRAYER FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD.

Children in Prayer-Part 3

When I was really little, I used to hang out in the garage. One item that always intrigued me was my dad’s can of Turtle Wax.  At that time, the label showed a turtle holding a can of turtle wax that had a small label of a turtle holding a can of Turtle Wax. My brain hurt from imagining how small the turtles would get if this just kept going and going.

So what does Turtle Wax have to do with children in prayer? If we introduce children to prayer warriors through stories and they take us seriously, our children will become models of prayer for others, who will become models of prayer for others. Here’s a true story of a young girl whose prayers reflect those modeled by adults around her, adults whose prayers reflect those of an earlier model, George Mueller. This is a fun story to tell and act out right before a family meal or class snack when everyone is already seated.

Children in Prayer-Part 2

Last spring, I was discouraged by a boy’s comment made during a Sunday School lesson I was teaching on Jesus’ power to heal. “God doesn’t still do things like that today” he blurted out to the group of 1st-4th graders.  This caused a flurry of other responses ending with, “Yeah, I don’t think that Jesus is as powerful today as he used to be.” I rallied with a Biblical response, but was not sure the group was buying it.

I realize it’s difficult for grade-school children to make the shift from how God worked thousands of years ago to how God works today. This got me thinking. If they really don’t see God for who he is, do children have any foundation for believing that their prayers make a difference? How can we as teachers assist? After that lesson, I made two decisions: 1) to share more of the daily miracles God works in my life with my students and 2) to find and share modern-day examples of God at work through the prayers of children. On my hunt for models of children in prayer, I found this gem: Albanian children intercede for the sick in their community during a period where it was against the law to believe in God, much less talk to him. Please share this story with those wide-eyed, wheels always turning, children in your sphere of influence.

Children in Prayer-Part 1

Ramadan, the Muslim month of prayer and fasting, is August 1-30 this year. Check out this prayer guide that can help your children pray for their peers in the Muslim world: Just for Kids: 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.  But let’s take a step back. Do your kids really believe their prayers make a difference? They can see God heal a scrape on their leg or provide a job for their dad, but seeing a Muslim child in a different country begin to follow Jesus — that’s not quite as concrete. It’s up to us as teachers and parents to provide the concrete. As you invite your children to intercede for kids around the world, encourage them with plenty of examples of how God answers when boys and girls talk to him about what’s already on his heart. During the month of July, I’ll provide you with some stories you can use with your class. Here’s the first one: Hope Smith, age 9, intercedes for Mongolia.

Books and Movies List Update

Just updated the children at risk suggested movies and books on our Red Card Kids website. Recent books include: 1. Do Something! A Handbook for Young Advocates, 2. Not In My Town Exposing and Ending Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, and 3. Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care. The movie Life, Above All is scheduled for release in the United States on July 15.

The Good News Story

Summer is here and church lawns are decorated with colorful signs announcing Vacation Bible School. I attended VBS as a child and have served as a teacher for many years. Not only is the gospel message presented in an intentional way, but children are invited to receive Jesus as their savior. I’ve heard many stories of kids, churched and unchurched alike, accepting Jesus at VBS. My church celebrates these decisions by giving children a certificate and Bible.

But what happens between the gospel presentation and the certificate? When a child expresses interest in following Jesus, he or she is often sent to speak individually with a volunteer who can answer questions, share Bible verses, and pray with that child. Many volunteers feel ill-equipped to lead a child to Christ. Here’s a tool I just found that can help. The Good News Story is a 16-page booklet for children with seven Bible stories that focus on the gospel. It’s easy for kids to read with great illustrations. There’s even a “steps-to-salvation” chart with specific Bible verses. Comes in a set of 10 booklets.

Read to Feed

Recently, I toured Heifer Project’s working farm in Arkansas. Originally, donated farm animals were kept there until they could be shipped overseas to poor families. The practice of shipping animals proved too costly so these days animals are purchased in the same area where the needy families live. The farm is now used for teaching. Thousands of children come on field trips to learn about the connection between farm animals and helping families to break free from the cycle of poverty.

I learned the 7 m’s, an easy way to remember what animals provide: meat, milk, materials, muscle, manure, money, and motivation. I also learned about a great program called Read to Feed ®. It gives kids the opportunity to combine leisure reading with helping hungry families around the world. We’ve featured it as our June/July Take a Stand opportunity.

Here are some books kids could read during the program to help them learn more about poverty and hunger-related issues:

Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBrier

Cups Held Out by Judith L. Roth

Faith the Cow by Susan Bame Hoover

Give a Goat by Jan West Schrock

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough by Katie Smith Milway

Kids Against Hunger by Jon Mikkelsen

A Kid’s Guide to Hunger and Homelessness: How to Take Action by Cathryn Berger Kaye

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway

This Child, Every Child by David J. Smith

At the end of the Read to Feed program, I’d plan a way for your kids to CELEBRATE! Invite parents to take part as well. Here are a few ideas.

• Visit a local farm or the petting area of the zoo to experience farm animals up close and personal.

• Attend a demonstration of sheep shearing, spinning wool, milking cows, making butter, etc. Check for these kinds of programs at local historical museums.

• Have kids make animal masks and have each “animal” explain what materials they provide for people.

Global Day of Prayer

June 12 is the Global Day of Prayer. Believers worldwide are joining together to intercede for the nations. You can involve the children in your family, class, or club. Show them the Children in Prayer video that demonstrates ways that kids around the world are actively interceding for their families, communities, nations, and the peoples of the world. Download the free children’s 10-day Prayer Guide. It includes topics like poverty, disabilities, orphans, war zones, and children who have not heard the gospel. Each day is divided into four main sections:

1. Praying for children of the world – a different subject each day, based on the Lord’s Prayer, with ideas of how to pray

2. Thanking God – for His promises about the topic, for blessings we have

3. Journaling/Personal Prayer – reading a Bible verse, responding, listening to God

4. Prayer Activity – follow-up activity that helps kids personalize the day’s topic

GO! 5 Mission Adventures for Kids

Just came across this new 5-day mission curriculum from Regular Baptist Press: GO! 5 Mission Adventures for Kids. For grades 1-6, this curriculum introduces the Biblical foundation of  missions. It offers separate Bible lessons for primary (grades 1-2) and middler/junior (grades 3-6). I appreciate that Lesson 1 includes a salvation message and opportunity for children to respond. Each day has a country focus (although not very detailed) with a corresponding snack. Lessons run about 80 minutes and include a Bible session, memory verse, prayer time, international snack, and songs. Optional materials for longer sessions include a brief missionary biography that matches the day’s country focus as well as mission prayer journal activities.

Lesson Overviews:

Day 1: Telling the World: What a Great Commission, India country focus, William Carey

Day 2: Pray Around the World, Burma country focus, Adoniram Judson

Day 3: Missionaries in the Old Testament, China country focus, Hudson Taylor

Day 4: What it Takes to be a Missionary, Bangladesh country focus, Mary Lou Brownell

Day 5: Changed!, Brazil country focus, Ken and Renny Snare

This set comes with a director’s guide, resource CD (student activity materials, 12 songs in mp3 format, art and logos), a world map, and posters. Download samples of the director’s guide and Lesson 1 content here.

THUMB Coloring Book

Here’s a great prayer tool to engage your kids in interceding for children around the world who have limited or no access to the gospel.  This coloring book has 25 beautiful line drawings of children, five from each of the THUMB [tribal, Hindu, unreligious (atheist), Muslim, and Buddhist] religious blocs. Each drawing includes the name and location of the featured people group. In the middle of the book is a “Where Are the THUMB Peoples?” map activity. Simple explanations of what each religious bloc believes along with brief prayer requests help children go beyond coloring to praying. Includes ideas for using the coloring pages in a mission festival, intergenerational prayer event, Christian school classroom, and homeschool setting. This coloring book is suggested for ages 5-10, but the drawings have enough detail that older kids who like art would also enjoy it.

Here’s the good news. You can get this book for less than a Starbuck’s latte. The price has been reduced to $1.50 plus shipping and handling.

Fabric Map Prayer Activities-Part 2

Here are three more children’s prayer activities you can do using the world fabric map.

Beanbag Toss

Materials: fabric world map, beanbag

Directions: Lay the map on the floor. Have children sit or stand around the map. Choose a child to toss the beanbag onto the map. Read the name of the country where the beanbag lands. Pray for families in that country to come to know Jesus. If the beanbag lands on a body of water, pray for families in a country that borders that body of water. Hand the beanbag to another child and continue in the same way.

Light of the World

Materials: fabric world map, flashlight, music CD and CD player

Directions: Lay the map on the floor. Have children take off their shoes and sit in a circle around the map. Turn off most of the lights. Hand the flashlight to a child. When the music begins, the children pass the flashlight around the circle. When the music stops, the child with the flashlight stands and shines the light on one country on the map. Pray for God to prepare the hearts of families in that country to understand who Jesus is. Have the child sit back down in the circle, start the music, and continue in the same way.

Missionary Photo Card Prayer

Materials: fabric world map, photo prayer cards of church missionaries

Directions: Lay the map on the floor. Have children sit around the map. Show the photo on the first missionary prayer card and read the names of the people in the family. On the map, locate the country where the missionaries serve. Choose a child to lay the photo card on the map. Pray for the missionaries using some of the prayer categories suggested below. Continue in the same way with the remaining prayer cards.

learn language          many people come to know God

Fabric Map Prayer Activities-Part 1

Need a world map to use for your children’s mission activities? This colorful fabric map is light, portable, and will do the trick in most cases.  It’s 3 x 5 foot, a good size to use with groups. Whether I’m doing an activity with my church kids or packing for an overseas ministry trip, this fabric map is one of the first things I grab. Here are three prayer activities your children will enjoy that use this map.

Stickers for the World

Materials: fabric world map, blindfold, stickers (Bible, cross, or heart shapes)

Directions: Attach the map to a wall. Blindfold a child and give him a sticker. Direct the child to walk toward the map, touch it, and attach the sticker. Read the name of the country closest to the sticker. Pray for God’s word (Bible sticker) to come to the people who live in that country OR pray for the people in that country to receive Jesus (cross or heart sticker) into their hearts.

same sport or hobby                                same number of people in family

same kind of pet                                      same favorite school subject

Hurting Kids

Materials: fabric world map, bandaids (don’t remove back), bag with the following 6 items: piece of fruit, cup, notebook, picture of house or house from Monopoly game, picture of mom and dad, medicine bottle

Directions: Lay the map on the floor. Have the children take off their shoes and sit around the map. Choose children to put a bandaid on each of the following continents: Europe, South America, Africa, North America, Asia, and Australia. Tell the children that many boys and girls around the world don’t have what they need to grow up healthy and strong. Choose a child to pull one item out of the bag. Talk about what it represents (see below). Have the child pick up a bandaid from the map and replace it with the item chosen from the bag. Pray for God to provide for the need represented. For example: “God, please help the kids in Asia to have the medicine and doctors they need to stay healthy.”

fruit=hunger                                        home picture=homeless

notebook=no access to education        mom and dad picture=orphans

cup=without clean water                      medicine=without healthcare

My Awesome God Bible storybook

I just received a new Bible storybook that is great for preschoolers and beginning readers.  My Awesome God includes 200 Bible stories with an equal representation from both the Old and New Testament. I appreciate that this storybook goes beyond the most popular Bible accounts, giving a well-rounded picture of God’s word. For example, it includes three entries from the Psalms and does a good job of covering the themes of Paul’s letters to the early churches.

This storybook emphasizes God as the main character of scripture. There’s an index in the back that summarizes many of God’s attributes, cross-referencing them with Bible stories. Each entry includes an application question for parents (or teachers) to discuss with children. Colorful, cartoon-like illustrations are loaded with details. Kid will love the expressions on the characters’ faces and will probably say, “Don’t turn the page yet.” See samples or purchase from DiscipleLand.

Helping Kids Process and Respond to Disasters

Earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in Japan, floods in New Zealand … how can we talk to our children about disasters and their impact? World Vision’s communications and media staff offer eight suggestions. To these ideas, I would add the following:

9. Encourage children to take their fears and concerns to a loving heavenly father. Share Bible verses with your children that speak of God’s invitation to come to Him whenever we feel afraid. Here are a few to get you started:  Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 27:1; Psalm 56:3-4; Isaiah 41:10, 13; Lamentations 3:57, and Matthew 10:29-31.

10. Assist children to memorize Psalm 56:3 – “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

11. Pray for children affected by the disaster, including their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Help children personalize their prayers. For example, pray for boys and girls who are the same age they are. Pray for families who have the same number of children as their family. Here’s a prayer for suffering children from Tony Kummer’s Ministry-to-Children website.

Ever-watching Father:
we pray for the suffering children whom we do not see.

We know that your eyes see their tears,
that your heart knows their sorrow,
that your hands can reach them now.

We remember that Jesus was once a child,
that poverty stole his bread,
that tyrants sought his life,
that his mother tasted tears.

We ask you to send friends for the lonely,
food for the hungry,
medicine for the sick,
saviors for the enslaved,
rescue for the perishing.

Give us the wisdom to do our part,
share our possessions,
leave our comforts,
lend them our voice,
send them our food,
love them with more than prayers.

We call on you in the name of your child Jesus.
Amen.

Children and the Cape Town Commitment: Part 2

The Cape Town Commitment came out of the Lausanne meetings last October. The document includes two sections — a confession of faith and a call to action. Here’s the call to action concerning children from Part 2, Section 5.

We commit ourselves to:

A)    Take children seriously, through fresh biblical and theological enquiry that reflects on God’s love and purpose for them and through them, and by rediscovering the profound significance for theology and mission of Jesus’ provocative action in placing ‘a child in the midst’. Mark 9:33-37

B)    Seek to train people and provide resources to meet the needs of children worldwide, wherever possible working with their families and communities, in the conviction that holistic ministry to and through each next generation of children and young people is a vital component of world mission.

C)    Expose, resist, and take action against all abuse of children, including violence, exploitation, slavery, trafficking, prostitution, gender and ethnic discrimination, commercial targeting, and willful neglect.

© 2011 The Lausanne Movement

Children and the Cape Town Commitment: Part 1

Last October, 4,000 leaders from more than 200 countries attended The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa. Through discussions and prayer, participants sought God’s direction to discern where the Church should invest its efforts and energies to most effectively respond to Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Recently, the Cape Town Commitment: A Confession of Faith and a Call to Action was released. Here’s Part 2, Section 5 concerning children.

5. Children

All children are at risk. There are about two billion children in our world, and half of them are at risk from poverty. Millions are at risk from prosperity. Children of the wealthy and secure have everything to live with, but nothing to live for.

Children and young people are the Church of today, not merely of tomorrow. Young people have great potential as active agents in God’s mission. They represent an enormous under-used pool of influencers with sensitivity to the voice of God and a willingness to respond to him. We rejoice in the excellent ministries that serve among and with children, and long for such work to be multiplied since the need is so great. As we see in the Bible, God can and does use children and young people – their prayers, their insights, their words, their initiatives – in changing hearts. They represent ‘new energy’ to transform the world. Let us listen and not stifle their childlike spirituality with our adult rationalistic approaches.

© 2011 The Lausanne Movement