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