Reaching children
Do you have a burden for the souls of children … the ones that don’t go to your church, youth club or Sunday school? An unusual opportunity exists to reach them with the Bible message. But the window may be closing fast.
Many youngsters have little idea about what the Bible says and know nothing about Jesus apart from the Christmas story. Yet God has put eternity in their hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11); he has given them a conscience and an enquiring mind.
Of course, every church is right to try to contact these children through outreach work. And the children of believers often provide a valuable bridge in bringing friends under the sound of the gospel.
But there are other opportunities to sow the seed, as Christians in Southampton have found. Ten years ago, believers at Spring Road Evangelical Church produced two Bible-based teaching manuals for primary schools (ages 4-12), with stories from the Old and New Testament. Available at low cost and free for photocopy, these manuals provided teachers with faithful and reliable notes, puzzle pages and activity sheets.
Details were mailed out – and the response was astonishing. By 2005 around 2300 manuals had been sold to UK schools! This means that so far 400,000-plus children have accessed these Bible stories.
However, a change has taken place since then. Few orders have been received, perhaps because of increasing ‘political correctness’ and a hardening in the spiritual climate. Whatever the reason, printed manuals are sitting in our stock room – and schools still need them (even if they don’t realise it).
With this in mind, can I ask you – do your local primary schools have reliable, Bible-based teaching material? Why not consider buying a manual yourself and donating it to a school?
For more details, call Mayflower Christian Bookshop (023 8044 9398 or mcbs@springroad.org.uk).
Mark Stocker
