The Gospel. It changes lives not only for eternity, it also changes lives in the here and now.
Roughly 6 billion people around the world are facing an eternity without God*. Who will reach out to them? How will they be reached? It may be something as simple as a Sunday School lesson or a Bible Study – and beautiful feet (Romans 10:13-15). Here are some stories.
Hephzibah is a Pastor’s wife. She and her husband liked the Life on Life curriculum and began using it with the children in their Sunday school – many of them came from single parent families. Hephzibah continued to be burdened by the thought of the many children living in the slums around their church. Because her health did not permit her to travel much or stand for long hours, she trained two young girls from her church and started a bible study in the slums as well. This quickly grew to 25 children who are orphans and come from dysfunctional single parent families.
Vineetha and others attended a training program and got excited about the Life on Life curriculum and wanted to use it in their Sunday School. Initially they had 50 children in the church. In no time, more than 150 were attending as children shared with other children in the community what they were learning. Vineetha shared, “I never realized that a curriculum could help children grow not only spiritually but also socially, emotionally and academically….we have seen lot of changes in our children. They are happier now. Our church is excited that through the use of the Life on Life curriculum, we are able to reach out to so many families from different faiths.”
Pastor Devasahayam was interested in bringing the Life on Life curriculum to his area which was about 6 hours travel from the city where Anand lives. Brother Mosha has a ministry called Living Sacrifice which ministers among the tribal people of that region. They have been looking for a curriculum to help the children of the new believers. Pastor Devasahayam’s church provided a place, volunteers, equipment and food for the training and 50 people showed up – hungry to learn how to reach children for Jesus Christ.
John Suresh is an Engineer by profession. He and his wife felt a call from the Lord to work among children so they started an organization called “Children for Kingdom of God.” This organization recruits and trains young people who want to lead Sunday Schools. After training, they are linked to churches where there are no qualified teachers to teach kids. John initially had 27 teachers on his team who conduct Sunday Schools in different churches. A chance meeting with Anand and the Life on Life curriculum led John Suresh to organize training for 110 new teachers.
Where is God calling you?
David C Cook is committed to helping the local church around the corner and around the globe. For more information about David C Cook’s Life on Life Project, visit www.lifeonlifeproject.com.
* The Global Religious Landscape, Pew Research, retrieved April 19, 2017 from http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/. Indicates approximately 30% of the world’s 6.9 billion people are Christian.
