Nurturing What God is Stirring in Your Kids

[Ann Dunagan]

As I came in the living room, my young son was sitting there with his Bible, and crying hard. I'm like, “Josh, what is going on?” And he said, “Mom, I just realized that there are people who don't know Jesus . . .

The following testimony is an excerpt from my recent radio broadcast/interview, Mission-Minded Families on Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss:

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When God does something inside the hearts of our children, it is so precious.

When our son Josh was about eight years old, during Christmastime in early December, he sat down in the living room with his little Bible and he was having his quiet time with the Lord. My husband Jon was in some remote place in Africa preaching the Gospel and Josh was praying for his dad, and praying for the lost, and praying that people would come to know Jesus.

As I came in the living room, I heard Josh was crying and I said, “Josh, what's going on?”

He was crying hard.

He said, “Mom, I just realized that there are people who don't know Jesus. If they don’t know
Jesus, they can't go to heaven. If they can't go to heaven, they're going to go to hell, and they're going to be stuck there forever.”

It was that phrase, “stuck there . . . stuck there forever.”

Then Josh said, “Mom, I've never led anybody to Jesus. What have I done? I pray, and we do little things, but I’ve never led anybody to Jesus.”

I remember I sat down on the couch next to Josh and said, "Let's just pray that God will give you an opportunity this week to pray with someone to receive Jesus Christ."

So he wrote this precious little letter to God, all misspelled—as a homeschooling mom, it was quite pathetic—but the content of it was awesome. He said, “God I love you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins and that you rose from the dead, Lord. When I grow up, I will do anything you want me to do Lord, even if you want me to go and preach into dangerous places, Lord. -- Joshua”

So I, as a mom, wanted to nurture what God was doing in my little boy's heart.

After praying together, we talked together about how he could tell other kids about Jesus. (Some of my favorite tools to teach children to share the Gospel are the Gospel Colors, the Four Spiritual Laws and Good News for Kids by Campus Crusade for Christ, the EvangeCube, and our personal testimonies), I actually took Josh to some different parks. I took him to some places where kids would hang out. We got some little tracts that we were able to take. I talked with him about how he could pray with someone to receive Jesus. He ended up going to a park and talking to a little boy named Randy, and Josh had the opportunity to lead Randy to Jesus that week.

That was awesome.

Here is a newspaper article of what happened next:

Our son Josh has now graduated from college. He recently was with my husband preaching in Mozambique and Swaziland, just preaching the Gospel alongside of his dad, and just a few weeks ago, he got married to a lovely mission-minded girl. Their heart is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus, and to expand God's kingdom.

It's exciting!

Proverbs 22:6

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (NIV)

Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it. [Eph. 6:4; II Tim. 3:15.] (AMP)

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (KJV)

[James Nored]

Ann, I saw the pictures of the wedding. How beautiful! You must be so proud. I pray all the time that God will lead our two little girls to Christian husbands.

I saw on your website that you guys have been on all 7 continents sharing the gospel. How wonderful! I've got The Mission-Minded Child and One Million Arrows, by the way, and will be reading them soon.

[Ann Dunagan]

P.S. In this article I mentioned that our son, Josh, recently got married. The wedding (here's a glimpse) was such a glorious event, with powerful prayer-times over the bride and groom. Both sides of the family believe God has joined a kingdom-advancing combo, and we're excited about what's ahead.

[James Nored]

Mike, that is a powerful quote from your kids. You modeled a life of mission, and your kids followed. My parents took me on Let's Start Talking campaigns in the summers, and I credit this for helping lead me down the path of mission.

[Ann Dunagan]

Mike -- thanks for your feeback. Your comment is very inspiring and challenging, how your children "applied" the truth of the Gospel message that you believed, and God drew them to GO to those who needed to hear it. How awesome!!!

James, thanks for the link to The Mission-Minded Family. I'd also like to recommend The Mission-Minded Child (part 1 of the 2-part set), and ONE MILLION ARROWS, by Julie Ferwerda.

[Mike Eppinette]

I could not figure out for the life of me why my children wanted to go abroad to do mission work. Was it peer pressure? Campus Ministry pressure? etc. I found it humbling that my two oldest who have both served oversees told me that "you and Mom always taught us that the gospel needed to reach the whole world." You just never know. ME

[James Nored]

Everyone, here is a link to Ann's book, The Mission-Minded Family.

[James Nored]

Thanks, Lantz! Ann, Lantz is our youth minister at High Pointe.

As a ministry staff, we have been talking about how to incorporate service and sacrifice--key aspects of mission--into the daily lives of our church families. We want mission to be a way of life.

[Lantz Howard]

Nurturing Faith--I like it. It is being in tune with what God is doing through His children. We as ministers need to help prepare parents for these moments and help them understand nurturing their faith can happen in simple steps---like going to the park and praying with people. Thanks for sharing. Praise God.

[James Nored]

Ann, what you say about missions being easier caught than taught makes sense. Whether in our families or with our church friends, it is often easier to say, Will you join me in this? than it is to try to teach and get intellectual assent. People are drawn to people, and many will say yes to mission if asked on a personal level because they value the relationship. Of course, in families, the kids naturally follow their parents (at least to a certain age - I'm not looking forward to that changing!).

No problem at all on the posting. I'm thrilled to have three blog posts from you. What I'll do is highlight this one right now, and in a few days, another one of the posts. This will give people a chance to think about each one and respond. Thanks, Ann!

[Ann Dunagan]

Missions is easier "caught" than taught. As we live a mission-minded lifestyle -- in our devotion for the Lord, our prayer life, our financial stewardship and hospitality, and keep that heart for the world and the lost as a vital part of our everyday life, it will be caught by our children. And in time, we may find ourselves RUNNING to keep up with them!!!

By the way, I didn't mean to "hog" featured space on the front Missional Outreach Netword page by adding three new blog posts all at once. My personal wall page seemed to feature three posts, so I thought I'd add links to a few of my mission-minded family favorites.