It's a Kid's World

The kids who will decide the future of our nations will do so without a spiritual reference point because fewer attend church. Janet Rieger looks at a church initiative with plans to reverse the trend.

During the launch of the Year of the Child—an initiative of the churches of Australia—at Government House, New South Wales, Pastor Earl Roberts, the national chairman, told his listeners of adults and children: “This is all about our future. While children are only 25 per cent of our population, they represent 100 per cent of our future.”

After his retirement in 2001, Pastor Roberts, a theology lecturer in the Baptist Church, spent two days in prayer and meditation. He said he asked God to show him what He wanted him to do next. At the end of the two days he was convinced that God wanted him to work for the children of Australia. After discussing it with some other Christians, Roberts decided to organise the Year of the Child for 2003. From his reading and wider investigation, he confirmed that very few children in Australia actually ever go to church or are even exposed to a Christian world view.

Roberts and his friends began to share their plans for the Year of the Child with Christian groups throughout the country. By the end of 2002, Year of the Child committees functioned in all the states. “‘Year of the Child’ is a cooperative effort by Christian denominations and organisations around Australia to reach out to children and their families with the gospel,” says Reverend Noel Newton, a co-director of Year of the Child.

what is the Year of the Child?
The vision of Year of the Child organisers is, “To give every child in Australia knowledge and awareness of the gospel, and for children and their families to experience a personal relationship with God.”

Denominations, individual churches, other Christian organisations and individuals are praying and working together to first, increase awareness of the spiritual, moral and ethical condition of Australia’s children; and, second, implement strategies that will provide opportunities for children to know Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him in the years ahead. It’s these two aspects that comprise the Year of the Child concept.

But its most crucial strategy is prayer. Christians throughout Australia are praying for children on a daily basis. Some pray for children by name and are finding their prayers answered.

Another strategy is KidsGames, a sports-focused, value-based, global initiative for children. Already proving successful in countries such as Thailand and Egypt, it’s a program that brings together churches of different denominations, schools and community groups on an ongoing basis.

David Wilson, an Australian KidsGames facilitator, lists some of the benefits as “learning to work in a team, dealing with those who are different from them; and discovering that compassion needs to be a part of their actions, and applying faith in daily situations.”

A major strategy in achieving the objectives of Year of the Child is to provide a Gospel Gift Bag to every primary school-aged child in Australia. The gift bag contains a video about the life of Jesus, especially made for children; Chasm, an interactive CD-ROM presenting the gospel story; and puzzles and booklets. Church families are donating the equivalent of a family meal to purchase gift bags for unchurched children.

There have been many seminars and training programs for children’s leaders held in all states.

a festival and celebration
A Year of the Child Festival will be held in Brisbane, November 14-16. The festival will celebrate the involvement of Christian children in helping their peers to learn about Jesus’ love.

But the Year of the Child is not a 12-month, year-only initiative. Raising awareness of the needs of children in 2003 is resulting in attitude changes toward ministry to children that will be ongoing. Children are hearing the gospel and making positive life choices for now and for the future.

view to a future
The vision is spreading to other countries too. In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands are becoming involved. Children there are sharing their understanding of the gospel with other children. Some are preaching to adults as well. The Salvation Army has declared 2004 a worldwide Year of the Child. And so the Year of the Child becomes two years, a decade, then a lifetime.

Kid Facts

Children make up a quarter of the world’s population
Some 140 million babies are born annually
12 million die each year of malnutrition and related illnesses
250 million are child labourers—prostitutes, miners, stone chippers, agricultural labourers, rag pickers—according to World Vision
Australia’s rate of teen suicide is second highest in the developed world.
Australia’s rate of unwanted teenage pregnancies is the second highest in the Western world
In 1937 the Australia population was 9 million and 1 million children attended church. In 2000 and a population of almost 20 million, only 200,000 children regularly attend
Fewer than 3 per cent of the 4 million children in Australia are connected with a local church
90 per cent of Southern Baptist missionaries in the USA made their decision to follow Christ by 11 years of age; the average age of decision-making was eight years.
4-14 year olds more likely to make a meaningful decision for Jesus than any other age group
If a child doesn’t accept Jesus Christ before the age of 12, the likelihood of their ever doing so is slim, according to Barna Research.

The PM’s View:

“We can’t afford to be complacent about the wellbeing of our children. The churches’ initiative to declare 2003 the Year of the Child is to be warmly congratulated in this regard. Working in collaboration to ensure children are on the agenda is an important and highly worthwhile endeavour and one I fully support.”—John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia

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