YOU AND YOUR CHILD

‘My two-year-old is serious about Jesus’

• ALISON HULL talks to children's evangelist Sheri Gidney about how real a child's faith in Jesus can be - and the best way you can relate the Gospel to youngsters
  

How do you share your faith with a five-year-old? Or even a two-year-old? And can children that age have any appreciation of what it means to make a commitment to Christ? Aren't we just wasting our time?

Not according to Sheri Gidney, who is a children's evangelist. “It is basically just about sharing the good news of Jesus with children,” Sheri explains, and it is her passion.

She heard God calling her to become an evangelist during an evening celebration at Spring Harvest 94.

“God clearly spoke to me. The preacher was speaking on ‘the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’ and with a burning in my heart I knew that message was for me. During the following song Here I am Lord (I the Lord of sea and sky), I responded.”

Later that year she joined Birmingham City Mission’s student team.

“We worked with a variety of people from all ages and backgrounds, but my passion early on was for the children in the city, and I stayed for a further two years on the staff majoring in children’s work, before training with Children Worldwide specifically in children’s ministry.”

Can small children make a serious commitment to Jesus?

“It depends what you mean by serious! Rachel, our two-year-old daughter, has a relationship with Jesus. She doesn’t understand sanctification or justification but she talks to Jesus about things that matter to her – for example: ‘Jesus Mummy poorly tummy better’.

“Sticking my neck out a bit, I think Jesus talks to her, too. Once on the way to Tesco’s in the car she suddenly started talking to Jesus about a friend of ours … we phoned the friend when we got home and at that time she needed help! Merely a coincidence? I don't think so!

“Rachel knows when she’s been naughty that it upsets Jesus too, and will often say sorry to Jesus before saying sorry to Mummy or Daddy! She has a toddler Bible and gets very upset when she sees Jesus on the cross. She thinks Jesus is special, and knows Jesus thinks she’s special too.

“Is it serious? Yes, Jesus is important to her. Is it a commitment? In her limited understanding, yes. As she gets older and understands more, she’ll need to respond to that one way or the other, but so do we, as adults, as we have a fresh and deeper understanding of Jesus.”

So if children – even young children – can respond to Jesus, how do you go about introducing them to him?

“You need to understand how children develop,” Sheri says. “And you need to know how children learn, and how they are taught in our society. Infants are taught to accept facts – they can't cope with concepts. They take you at your word. Infants can cope with the fact that Jesus died for them.

“Junior-aged children (7-11 year-olds) want to know why. You need to know how children think at different ages – and then you also have to cope with the children with special needs, whether they are slower than the rest or faster.”

How does what children encounter in school make her task more difficult?

“We live in a society where pretty much it’s OK to do what you like, as long as you don’t hurt anyone else. And other world faiths are taught, too. Children are left confused. But if a child chooses to stand up for Jesus in a situation instead of joining the crowd, they get bullied.”

And is it getting harder?

“Yes, as Christianity is getting watered down and morals get looser, whether that be from school or home, it’s harder for a child to be a Christian.”

What does she say to a child who wants to be a Christian, but who comes from a home where this will not be looked on with favour?

“After explaining the Gospel, I would send the child home to talk to their parents, with or without me, and with a booklet explaining the Gospel, too. It’s a big decision to make. Supporting children comes down to praying with them in their groups, and helping them understand they will more than likely be persecuted.”

What does she feel are the common mistakes Christian parents make in trying to pass their faith onto their children?

“They don’t show how Jesus is real to them, don’t pray over important and everyday family issues, and leave it instead to Sunday school teachers. Or else they make church and evening meetings more important than spending time with their child.”

What have been the greatest joys of doing this work?

“Helping children understand they are special to God, and that he is real and answers their own prayers. Hearing testimonies to the same effect. Hearing a child pray out loud for the first time. Seeing children who have come to faith, stick with Jesus, even when it's hard.

“And seeing children bringing their friends to faith: I’m a ‘spiritual grandma’ several times over!”

• Alison Hull is a writer and editor based in Bristol

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