There’s no doubt about it. Kids can be a lot of work, especially unchurched kids. We’re tempted to wonder about the returns when they have to go back into a rotten, ungodly home life.
We watch them receive Jesus in a vacation Bible school or a kids’ crusade, then they go on to lead horrible lives. We wonder did it do them any good at all? Did we make any impact for all the trouble we went through to get them to church?
God’s Thumbprint
I’m convinced that something happens when a child voluntarily says, “Jesus, come into my heart.” I believe it forever gives God permission to interfere in the lives of those kids.
Forever after it allows God to put his thumbprint on them and proclaim, “You’re mine fair and square! You gave me your heart when you were a little kid! And now, I want you for my own!”
I have a friend that grew up in the home of an alcoholic. The home was full of all kinds of turmoil. She says as a child, they never knew when a gun shot would go off in the middle of the night. When invited to someone’s house for a party or a meal, she would gorge herself, because she never knew when she’d get to eat again.
But one day, when she was seven years old, a little church down the street held a daily vacation Bible school for kids. She got up one morning and said to herself, “I’m going to find God today.”
An Encounter With Jesus
She put on one of her mother’s dresses, and a pair of her mom’s shoes, cleaned up the best she could, and marched down the street to that little church. That day she received Jesus into her heart as her Lord and Savior. But she went right back into a godless environment.
You would have never known by watching her life that she’d had an encounter with Jesus.
The girl became a chain smoker from an early age, did the typical drugs and alcohol routine, and was sleeping with her boyfriend by the age of 13. She was known as being a vicious fighter, so much so, that even some of the guys in her high school were afraid of her.
She went through one rocky marriage, and then slid right into another that also had its struggles. But somewhere along the line, after two husbands, two kids, and three businesses, God’s thumbprint began to show up.
He began making His rightful claims on her life. The Lord began setting her up through a chain of events that led her back to the God she had met in her childhood. This time, her life turned upside down, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and instantly began sharing the news of the changes in her life.
She started winning friends and neighbors to the Lord right and left, and today this woman is one of the most powerful ministers of the gospel that I know, and pastors a strong evangelistic church. I believe, and she does too, that it all started with an encounter with Jesus as a young child.
The harvest is indeed coming. It may not be exactly what we’re expecting. But even if it does look different than we thought it would, I trust we will embrace it in whatever size package it comes in and give them the answer to their hungry, searching hearts.
Let’s continue to “pray to the one in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for his harvest fields” of children.
Maybe you’ll be one of them!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Becky Fischer, apostolic minister, writer, public speaker, graphic artist, and more, is the founder and director of Kids in Ministry International (KIMI). KIMI is a multifaceted ministry that trains children to walk in the supernatural power of God. It also equips leaders and parents to prepare children the same way. Becky has been in children's ministry for over 30 years, ten years as a children's pastor, and twenty years as the director of KIMI. Along with her international teams, she has trained thousands of children, teens, parents, and children's workers through conferences, Bible schools, mission trips, churches, and resource materials in over 50 nations. Becky herself has ministered in 29 of those nations.
Becky is the author of the book "Redefining Children's Ministry" in the 21st Century, "Jesus Camp My Story," and four children's books. She has also authored/co-authored seventeen unique and dynamic children's church curriculums, many of which have been translated into more than fifteen different languages. Becky was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary film Jesus Camp in 2006.
Ms. Fischer has ministered in 29 nations and 26 US states. She was also in business management for 23 years before going into full-time ministry.