This morning, God brought to my mind two very special little boys. Gage and his little brother Aiden are 9 and 7 years old.
Here is their story...
For the past three years I have watched Gage and Aiden grow older and learn more things about God and the Bible. From summer to summer the changes in them were awesome to see. This particular summer, there were other changes occurring in their lives. After each club at the end of my allotted hour time slot, I always give an invitation or an opening for the kids to talk to me about receiving Christ as their Savior. Of the 16 children that were there, many of them under the age of 5, a few of them had talked to me after club finished. This particular day, I was getting ready to leave, and as I was heading to the door Aiden tugged on my hand and asked to talk to me. Thrilled beyond words, I took him to the corner of the room and began going through the counseling cards (visual cards with questions that we use to engage the children). As we finished the cards, he told me that he wanted to ask Jesus to be his Savior. I was able to pray with him, and when we finished, he looked at me and said "Jesus is always going to be with me, right?" I showed him the verse Hebrews 13:5 where Jesus says "I will never leave thee." The smile on his face was huge.
As Aiden and I were finishing up talking, his brother Gage (9), came over and asked to talk to me too. After Aiden left, I began to talk to Gage. I asked him what he wanted to talk about, and huge tears started to well up in his eyes. He whispered, "my mom is getting re-married, and I don't have a real dad anymore." After talking with him some more, I found out that his parents had gotten divorced, and his mom was getting re-married. He felt like his real dad didn't care about them anymore, he was worried about school, and having a new step-dad. As we were talking, I asked him if he had been listening to the lessons and songs I had taught them all week long. He said yes, and then I asked him if he heard the part during the lessons about asking Jesus to be his Savior. His reply was, "yes, I've been wanting to do that for a long time." I began to take him through the same counseling cards that his brother had just gone through. 15 minutes later, Gage prayed and asked Jesus to be his Savior. Afterward I asked him where Jesus was, and he looked at me with a huge smile and said "In my heart." I asked him how long he was going to stay there, and he said "forever." As we were talking, again about his family situation, he kept bringing up the fact that his dad wasn't going to be there anymore. I was able to talk to him about how God is like our Heavenly father, and even if we don't have a "real" father here on earth, God will always be there to listen to us and take care of us. He asked me if he'd be able to talk to him any time, I showed him Jeremiah 33:3 and explained what that verse meant. He asked if I would pray with him again, and I sat there and listened to this precious 9 year old boy talk to the Heavenly Father that would always be there for him. After he finished he looked at me and said "thank you for telling me about Jesus."
I have always been humbled by the fact that God allows me to minister to these children summer after summer. It is moments like these that remind me why we as Christians need to be ministering to the little ones. Everyone always talks about the 10-40 window, well my passion is the 4-14 window. 90% of Christians, if asked, will say that they received Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. Once a child reaches the age of 15 their minds are set, and beliefs have been established (in most cases). During the most vulnerable years of a persons' life is when they need to hear the Gospel. I am so ready for the challenges awaiting me this coming summer, and the precious little ones that God will bring in to my life once again.
"Even so, it is not the will of the Father, who is in Heaven, that even one of these little ones should perish."
~Matthew 18:14~
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