Dave Edgren argues that children should be the priority in global evangelism. Kids account for 60-80% of gospel responses but receive only 15% of mission funding. Since people become more resistant to faith as they age, childhood is the critical window to reach the unreached.
Chapters
There is a solution for reaching the vast unreached places of the earth. There is a remedy that will completely turn the world upside down and revolutionize the entire workings of the church. It is Aim lower, think smaller, give up, and go have a cup of coffee. I know you're thinking, "Amazing! Why didn't I think of that?" But to fully understand the depth of this life-changing statement, you need a bit of background. Our sun is but one of billions of stars in the universe, and our world is but one of the smaller objects circling that sun. On our planet, there are over 2 million different species identified So far, half of the species on Earth are insects. There are 10,000 species of trees and 15,482 different kinds of fish. Our planet is teeming and alive, and yet despite our best efforts to search the stars, not an ounce of life has been discovered anywhere else, not even the tiniest bacteria. Nothing. But as a human, the entire message of the Bible, Jesus, salvation, and everything else that we call the gospel was written for you and for every other human being. The only problem is that not every human has had a chance to hear it yet. 6 billion humans currently inhabit the planet and live there for a worldwide average of 67 years each. Of the entire population of Earth, about one-third have ready access to the gospel because of where they live. At the same time, a further third have never even heard the name of Jesus in any way that they could respond to. That gives us an average of 67 years to get to every single one of them, which would be easy if they all lived in your street, spoke your language, and went to the same baseball matches. To make matters more difficult, we actually have considerably less than 67 years to reach people. An extraordinary fact about humans is that the older they get, the more set in their ways they become. This means that if one believes and follows Jesus as a young human, they will likely do so until they die, and of course afterwards as well. On the other hand, if a human does not hear about Jesus as a child, they will most likely never follow him. Right now, only 15% of global mission giving goes towards children, even though 60 to 80% of all responses to the gospel are made by children. If you formed every person on the earth into a very, very long line, 1 in every 3 would be a child under the age of 15. We will be more effective as we explore why Jesus said, "The kingdom belongs to such as these." Our first challenge in the Great Commission is to aim at a lower age. We must aim lower. It is said in the gospels The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Already across the world, many are seeing that there is a role that children and young people play as workers in the harvest. Leadership does not start at 30 years of age. It starts as a child and a teenager. Children may not know everything as an adult does, but by using their knowledge of the gospel and the enthusiasm of youth, they are able to pray, to share, and to serve in their way. As the human population rapidly grows worldwide, there is an increasing number of children and a decreasing proportion of adults. The only way to keep up with the worldwide boom of children is to equip other children to reach them. It is said, "You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children." Think smaller. When you look at the church throughout the whole world, you'll see some parts that are well-equipped, well-resourced, and relatively wealthy, and yet have little or no growth. Conversely, you'll see other parts that are growing quickly with great energy but have few means and no wealth. Together, as we seek to effectively evangelize, nurture, and equip children, we need to be willing to share resources more freely and give up the pride of building empires and organizations and to put kingdom building at the forefront. Whatever it is that we need to give up for the sake of the kingdom, let's give up. It is said that the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and that Christ is the head. No one part can do the job alone. No one part has all the answers, the resources, the creativity, or the mandate to do it all. We are a body. When one part suffers, we all suffer. To accomplish the Great Commission means having a cup of coffee with someone from the church down the road. Talk to them. Partner with them. Become prayer partners with a struggling church across the globe. We are part of the same body. We are on the same team. Go have a cup of coffee. A large part of the Great Commission will be accomplished when we aim lower, think smaller, give up, and go have a cup of coffee.
