The Straightline
A Child Shall Lead Them
by Eric Watt
For the past year I have been hounded by re-surfacing data about the world and those who have never heard. To be honest, I have read or heard these reports on the "status of Christianity" so many times that I had almost become numb to the large numbers, percentage increases, decreases and the looming trends on the horizon.
But this time something is different. If tomorrow’s leaders are in the harvest; and if the harvest is becoming (already is) mostly young, then, could it be that God is saying something?
Could it be that ministries to children should no longer be merely an extended hand of mercy or compassion, but should also include the idea that "a child shall lead them"?
In the last months I have retreated to a closet of sorts -- stopped sending out emails, pumping out information or even jumping into the foray of ideas. I asked God to radically change me.
It became a change of seasons, a do or die moment for me. A time when I have diligently worked to say goodbye to the “business as usual” missions endeavor and look squarely at a new possibility: Children in the 4-14 Window are the greatest potential leaders to reach their generation. They may hold the key to helping to fulfill the Great Commission.
Statistics and the status of youth began to take on a whole new meaning for me, and I am still learning. I know that in the 10/40 Window some experts suggest that they now make up a majority of the population, in developed nations they are a huge discretionary spending power and in developing nations they are the poorest of the lot.
But, they are here. More than a billion. They are not projects for a distant dream, they are ready to lead, ready to share, ready to re-fire a church that desperately needs new and fresh life.
The StraightLine? Go to the children, train them to be leaders, NOW! Not in 10 years, not with more refined education, but NOW. Develop mentoring strategies, evangelistic opportunities a nurturing environment for them to lead. The future is theirs, let them lead it now.
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