"You can use simple activities and games to
teach a biblical point in a very powerful way. It is about taking
the concept of Christianity into the children’s environment."
Mr Weidmann’s children have been the testing
ground for many of these devotions. He tells of one that he used to
share the Gospel message with them.
"I stood at the top of the stairs with my
children standing at the bottom. I asked my kids to pretend that I
am Jesus in heaven. I said, ‘I love you and I want you with me but
you can't use the stairs or hand rail to get to me’.
"They puzzled over how they would get up to me
until one of my sons asked me to come to him. I walked down the
stairs, he asked me to turn around, he climbed on my back and asked
me to take him up the stairs.
"After I carried all four of my kids up the
stairs I said to them that just like they
could not get to me by
using the stairs and hand rail so you can't get heaven on your own
efforts. The only way to get here is through Jesus Christ.
"The gospel message became real in their terms
and their environment. These practical methods are very powerful
ways to teach the fundamentals of faith as well as address family
issues."
One time Mr Weidmann wanted to teach about
the power of the tongue. He blindfolded his children and asked them
what the most powerful weapon in the world was. They replied a bomb
or a gun.
Earlier Mr Weidmann had gone to the butcher and bought a cow’s
tongue. He had heated it up and covered it with salt. He put the
tongue in his children’s hands and told them they were holding the
most powerful weapon in the world because in James 3:8 it says that
no man can control it.
He took off their blindfold and of course, the
kids screamed and laughed at the cow’s tongue. Then his children put
the tongue in the freezer and asked their Sunday school teacher if
they could teach a lesson. The next week his kids were taking the
cow’s tongue to church and teaching others what they had learnt.
"One time we built an ark and the kids invited
all the neighbourhood kids over and taught them about Noah. The kids
became evangelists because they see these lessons as games, but
really they are object
lessons that teach a biblical point."
Mr Weidmann encourages single mums to take up
their spiritual responsibility, as the head of the household, to
pass their faith onto the children. "If you are a single mum you
have to carry that burden along with everything else you are doing.
I know one mother with five kids and working two jobs. She gave
each child a night saying that from 9.30 until 10pm you can come and
talk with me and at the end, I am going to pray for you. She was
able to make some impact just giving whatever she could."
Heritage Builders has been going for two years
in the USA with several churches involved in motivating parents and
helping them sustain family nights.
In NZ at Greenlane Christian Centre they are
encouraging parents to have family nights and will be hosting
equipping classes once a month where parents can come together to
share ideas and get support. They are also looking at special
services to encourage family
worship.
For
further information Ph. Focus on the Family NZ 09 357 0120.
Focus on the Family’s Jim Weidmann says there is a hunger and
receptivity in children to Christian values and beliefs; it is up to
parents to seize that.
Barna researchers have found:
• A child’s faith does not vary a great deal from the under
standing they have at age 13.
• Most
people who accept Jesus Christ as their
Saviour do so at a young age.
The median is age 16. In total, six out of ten people made a
decision to accept Christ before age 18.
• The
probability of accepting Christ segmented by age: Children between
the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32% probability of accepting Jesus
Christ as their Saviour.
The probability of accepting Christ drops to 4% for those who
are between the ages of 14 and 18. Those older than 18 have a 6%
probability of accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
• Approximately 80% of children in the USA,
under the age of 18, do not know Jesus
Christ as their Saviour. Mr
Weidmann says about this: “We are not
passing on our faith to the next generation.”
• About 70% of children raised in the church walk away from
faith in the first year of
university. Mr Weidmann attributes this to these young people
not knowing the
fundamentals of their faith.
