I have always believed in the power of children. But this month in Kenya has shown me new ways of harnessing that power.
One morning, 3 of my teammates and I listened to a sermon called “Empowering and Releasing the Next Generation” by Jennifer Toledo. It was all about the power of children and how “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” She spoke of utilizing children to do evangelism, healing, and prophecy. Children are humble, dependent, and trusting. Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless they have faith like a child.
We decided to put this knowledge into practice. On Saturday mornings there is a group of children that we work with here. The first week, we played games, sang songs, and had a Bible story. Then we offered them a simple proposal. “You know you hear from God, right?” Of course, they all nodded enthusiastically. We then gave them each a piece of paper and something to write with, and had them listen for the voice of the Lord. And a group of 14 children ages 3-13 who minutes ago had been playing duck-duck-goose knelt on the grass in silence to listen to God and write what they heard. In a quiet and simple way, it was one of the better moments of my life. My heart felt so alive and free. I had been questioning my calling in returning to Kenya and my general calling in life, and God told me This is it. While most of their prophecies were undecipherable scribbles, I truly believe those children heard from their heavenly Father. The littlest one, a girl not more than 3 said, “God told me He loves me.”
I came to Kenya in 2007, and was heartbroken by the children living in poverty here. I swore to not forget. And I have not forgotten this place for a single day since then. I returned in 2009, and here I am again in 2011. But I feel in all of this that sometimes I have done so little. I was overwhelmed by the need here; I did not know where to begin. Despite hearing the advice “just start somewhere” I was unsure of how to help. I wanted to do so much; they had so little.
I recently read the book Take Your Best Shot by Austin Gutwein. It chronicles the story of a 9-year old boy who watched a World Vision sponsor child promo, has his heart broken, and decided to do something about it. Since then, he has started a movement, traveled to Africa twice, and raised over a million dollars to build a school and medical clinic to help AIDS victims in Zambia. Now a teenager, Austin gets the kingdom. I get caught up in not being able to save the world; he started by making a difference in one person’s life: starting small, trusting God, and going from there. I stumble in my own fears and insecurities; He says to write down all your worries and simply give them to God. I think my dreams are unrealistic; he reminded me to dream big.
My dream is to raise up a generation of children who radically worship God.
