There Are More Out There

This article first appeared in the January, 2015 issue of the Wheatland Parish Newsletter.

             I wrote earlier in this newsletter about our new prayer emphasis on people who feel alone.  I want to make sure we don’t forget about our other prayer emphasis, on reaching the unchurched children of our parish.

If you went to the kids’ Christmas programs in either Onida or Gettysburg, you saw the number of kids we now have in our church school programs.  There are around twenty kids now in each church.  That’s up quite a bit from where each church was at this time last year.  I want to make clear that I’m not taking credit for any of that.  I know where the credit goes.  It goes to the people of this parish, and it goes to God.

We started our prayer emphasis on reaching the unchurched children of our parish last April.  I’m not sure what people thought might happen when we started it.  In fact, I’m not even sure what I thought might happen.  We did not start it with any plan in mind, nor did we start it with any specific goal, other than the goal of reaching unchurched children.  We simply prayed and trust God.  And it certainly appears that God is answering our prayers.  

We are and should be grateful for all that God has done to help us reach those children.  But let’s not be satisfied.  Let’s not be complacent.  Let’s not think we’re doing all we need to do.  This growth in our church kids’ programs has been wonderful, but we know there are a lot more kids out there.  There are a lot more kids in our parish who are not going to church or church school anywhere.  There are a lot more kids in our parish who do not feel the presence of God in their lives, guiding them, helping them.  There are a lot more kids in our parish who do not know about the salvation that is available to them through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We need to reach those kids.  We need to do that in whatever way we can.  If that means they become part of one of our church school programs, that’s great.  But if we reach them in some other way, that’s great, too.  We said at the beginning of this prayer emphasis that it’s not about us having a big church school or a big church.  I’d love if that happened, and you probably would, too, but this is not something we’re doing for us.  This is something we’re doing for the children and for God.  However those kids get reached for God is great, as long as they do, in fact, get reached for God.

You may feel like there’s nothing you can do to help, but there is.  We could use more help in our church school programs.  If you see kids, and if you think there’s a chance they may not be going to church or Sunday school anywhere, spread the word about what we’re doing.  If you don’t see any kids, maybe you see some parents or grandparents.  If you do, and you think there’s a chance their children or grandchildren may not be going to church anywhere, spread the word about what we’re doing.  You may be able to influence more people than you realize.

But if not, you can still do the most important thing, which is to pray.  Maybe you already are.  If so, keep doing it!  And if not, please start!  Pray that God will help us reach those unchurched children.  Pray that God will touch people’s hearts, both those already inside the church and those outside the church.  Pray that God will bless our efforts.  Pray that God will keep our desire and our determination strong.  You can probably think of other ways to pray, too.  

It is only through prayer that we have done the things we’ve done so far, and it is only through prayer that we will be able to do more.  Never think “all I can do is pray” as if prayer was not really important.  Prayer is the most important thing there is.

            There are a lot more unchurched children out there.  With God’s help, we can reach them.  So let’s ask for God’s help.  There’s no telling what may happen when we rely on God.