The Greatest Needs Of Our Children

The Greatest Needs Of Our Children

Matthew 18:1-5

Children’s Ministry Appreciation

Introduction: Letter From Camp

Dear Mom,

Our scoutmaster told us all to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and worried. We are OK. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yes, please call Chad’s mother and tell her he is OK. He can’t write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn’t been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn’t hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The wet wood still didn’t burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes. John is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that’s probably why he can’t get insurance on it. We think it’s a neat car. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don’t worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Terry how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn’t any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn’t let me because I can’t swim and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn’t crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn’t even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick that way with the food they ate in prison. I’m so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don’t worry about anything. We are fine.

Love,

Jimmy

P.S. How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot?

(Source unknown)

Illustration: How Are Your Children Doing?

The Fordham Institute just released its most recent "Index for Social Health for Children and Youth." This index combines infant mortality, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, suicide, drug abuse, high school dropout rates and a host of the factors into a scale of social health that ranges from 0-100.

In 1970, the index stood at 68. Today? It’s plummeted to 37, "the worst year for children in two decades."

What the Fordham Institute didn’t index, however, what we as Christians should desire first for our children: Spiritual Health. How are your children doing? (Source unknown)

Illustration: Statistic – Results Of Divorce

"Almost half of children of divorces enter adulthood as worried, under-achieving, self-deprecating, and sometimes angry young men and women," reports Judith Wallerstein, director of the Center for the Family in Transition and author of Second Chance (Ticknor & Fields, 1988). Her conclusion is drawn from interviews conducted over a 15-year period with 60 families, mostly white middle class.

Other Wallerstein findings:

--Three out of five youngsters felt rejected by at least one parent

--Half grew up in settings in which the parents were warring with each other even after the divorce. (Reported in Time, 2/6/89. Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 3.)

I. CHILDREN NEED TO BE TREATED AS CHILDREN. Galatians 4:1-2