Blessings, not Burdens

At the end of two days of children’s ministry training in Kiryandongo, Uganda, a pastor hesitantly raised his hand and stood up before a hundred of his peers.

“I want to confess,” he began. “For years, I have not had the right understanding of children’s ministry. In fact, I’ve been annoyed by children. And that, I’ve realized to be a sin.”

This pastor was not the only one among his peers to have underestimated the importance of bringing children to Christ. Even though Jesus Himself admonished the disciples to allow the
little children to approach Him, the culture in Uganda views children as burdens rather than the blessings you and I know them to be.

Feed The Hungry is tearing down the idea that children don’t have a place in the church or in the Kingdom of God. Many communities in which we serve treat children as the lowest part of society. In Uganda, children are routinely mistreated and even kidnapped.

Thanks be to God, change is on the horizon.

Where children have been brutally abused, we now see God’s grace shining with abundance and bringing people to Christ… people who are now passionate about their children being
change agents in their communities.

People are learning that children can and will step up to do God’s will. For example, in Nicaragua, a teenager named Josefa is running a children’s church and inspiring a whole
generation of future spiritual leaders. Josefa has the right idea, as I recently demonstrated to a group of pastors.

I gave a handful of Play-Doh to one pastor and a brick to another. I asked them to use the materials they were given to form the outline of a dog. The pastor with the Play-Doh went right
to work.

The pastor with the brick simply stood there. Everyone laughed, but they got the point.

Children are pliable and flexible, like wet cement. We can smooth out the rough spots. However, the older they get, the harder that becomes.

Thank you for seeing the potential in these little ones and for helping to create a culture that will let them become blessings to the next generation.

~ Roger Walterhouse