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Short Summer Survey: Kids for the Kingdom

Practical Mob July 2019

Kids for the Kingdom: Super Short Summer Survey #2

By Shane Bennett

I spent the past week at a church camp in the bug-infested backwoods of Southern Indiana.

Pity the children who had to listen to me speak ten times! I’m happy to report God showed up in grace and kindness. The mosquitoes may presently dominate the environment (under a ruling junta of horseflies), but as in all arenas, the kingdom of God is taking over.

I listened to these kids talk about their snarled home lives. The fears that plague them. And the problems they see in the world has made me wonder what’s ahead for God’s kingdom, missions, and the Church.

How will kids like my camp buds overcome a lack of stability and abundance of “you don’t matter” messages to find a place in God’s work and world? And how will kids who’ve walked an easier road (though none gets through unscathed) see through a veil of secularism and unfettered tolerance? How will they get past entitlement and privilege to willingly walk a road of challenge and suffering?

The older I get, the smarter is seems to keep building into coming generations, both to invite them into the abundant life Jesus offers and to enlist them in the global work of God.

I see kids finding purpose and passion in avoiding meat and plastic straws. Advocating for causes bring belonging and shared hope. Perhaps it all indicates the presence of God-given desire to matter, to shape the world for good.

Call me mercenary, but I want to tap into it for the good of groups who have never met someone who loves Jesus. I want to see a growing, global band of winsome apostles living lives so shaped by the good news of the kingdom that those they meet eagerly ask, “What do you have? I want it.”

Can you see it?

Do you see it in the kids you teach today? In the ones you kick out of bed and wait up worrying for? The ones who light candles at church? The ones who come to your house for the cookies, but really for the hug they don’t get at home? The ones who rule at Fortnite but can’t seem to string two sentences together?

There is so much latent greatness in our neighborhoods and pews. May God unleash it to his great glory and the blessing of many.

A lot of us have kids. All of us know some.

Can I trouble you to answer five simple questions about mobilizing kids? Your insight would be helpful to me and perhaps many others.

How can we help kids grow global vision?

Please respond to the survey.

Thanks in advance. One participant, randomly chosen, will receive a US$25 Amazon gift certificate.

If you’d like to see the raw answers to last month’s Donor Communication Survey, send me an email. A subscriber named Tim won the US$25 Amazon gift certificate for participating.

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