IN ANY series of evangelistic meetings, children usually cause a certain number of problems:
1. They occupy the front seats.
2. The message of the evening is often somewhat beyond their intelligence.
3. Because they do not comprehend the lecture, they are fidgety and consequently disturb those around them.
4. The disturbance thus created distracts those who are trying to listen.
Why not use the evangelistic technique Jesus used, as He said in Matthew 19:14, "Suffer [permit or allow] little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus loved the children, and appreciated their sincerity and devotion. He frequently used children to illustrate important spiritual truths.
When Jesus says, "Forbid them not," or "Don't hinder them," He is telling us to be sure that we give them proper consideration in the home, the school, the church—and the evangelistic meetings, because at times their influence is a decisive factor in dealing with adults.
I recently had the privilege of conducting a series of evangelistic meetings in Vitoria, the capital city of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The location of the meetings was in a new suburb where about 10,000 persons live. We used the usual methods of advertising, with special emphasis on house-to-house invitations.
The members of the church were given the greater share of the work of preparation for these meetings. First of all, an entire month was set aside for confession of sin and reconsecration. Then groups went out and distributed literature, usherettes were trained, and the local choir spent much time preparing music for the series. It was impressed upon the church that the success or failure of the meetings was in their hands. Prayer bands were organized and all during the thirteen weeks of meetings— every half hour all day someone was praying at his appointed hour for the blessing of God—and the goal was set for a minimum of fifty souls.
With this strong rear guard, I, the evangelist, could approach the meetings without fear, and carry out the plan I was impressed to use, of having children break down prejudice in this locale.
An overflow crowd arrived the first night, and an announcement was made that at the next meeting a special service for children would be held. The parents were told to bring their children an hour early, and leave them in our care at the door. We were overjoyed the next evening to find the hall completely filled with children.
Short Bible stories were told, interspersed with simple songs that the children quickly learned and loved. Each child was presented with a colorful memory verse card as he reluctantly departed.
The attendance at each meeting grew, and as the children learned the songs and stories, they would repeat them at home. The parents who were not attending the services became interested, and soon it was necessary to begin a third service each evening after the adult meeting to assist those parents who had begun attending late.
Great care was exercised in planning the sequence of topics for the adult meetings so that interest was aroused in the minds of the listeners at each service, and they returned to learn more.
After thirteen weeks of meetings, with three services held each night for three nights a week, right up to the final service, the hall continued to be filled and many had to stand at the door, in the aisles, and at the windows, for lack of room.
Two baptisms have already been held and forty-one have been buried with Christ. At the altar calls held following the baptisms, ninety-nine persons signed statements indicating their desire to be baptized at the next baptism. Plans have been laid for baptisms to be conducted every three or four weeks after the close of the series, until sufficient time has been given for Bible instructors to adequately prepare the candidates, along with three hundred other persons who require follow-up visitation.
This suburb was shaken with the results of these meetings. Requests have been made to repeat certain themes. We have been asked by the civic authorities to build a church school in this area—the land would be donated by the city—because they said they desired to have the same interest shown the children in the meetings continued on the elementary education level. The chief of police and city councilmen expressed gratitude to us for the peace and order that now exists in that district since the meetings were held there. Certain disorderly members of the community as well as drunkards were told by the police that they should attend the services and change their ways— and these folks immediately recognized what meetings they should attend—because their children had been singing the songs and telling them the stories at home. By the grace of God, many of them were converted.
All the thrills that we encountered in our child evangelism, we do not have space here to recount. However, it is necessary to add that certain Protestant churches felt the need to counteract the effect of our meetings. After sending for three prominent preachers from the largest cities in the country, they found it necessary to conclude their meetings in a little over a week because of poor attendance and lack of interest. They then stationed certain elders and deacons at the entrance of our hall in order to prevent entry of their members to our services. Many of them then became interested in the program—particularly the children's program. One of these lay elders, after being given a cordial invitation to come in and sit down, continued coming and is now, with his family, a happy member of our church!
So we now find that in one small suburb where five months ago the work of Adventists was completely nonexistent, the hall that was used for the meetings has been dedicated as a church, the church is organized and active with a Sabbath school membership of more than two hundred adults, not counting the children's divisions, and prejudice has been broken down in this area. I believe that with the blessing of the Lord, our prayers have been heard, and more than one hundred souls will be baptized into His church.
We praise God and His Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us the way when He said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."