https://blog.dc4k.org | ljacobs@dc4k.org

Are you flying over mission fields?

 
 

Mission Field

 

When I was a young child and had just come to know Jesus Christ as my Savior, I thought the Lord might send me to a foreign mission field. I had grandiose ideas about going to South Africa and helping all the children come to know Christ. If not Africa, then maybe the Lord would send me to another foreign mission field such as China. Of course, all this grandiose thinking might be because my mother had me read a book about Lottie Moon.

As I grew up, the Lord led me in a different direction, but my heart never left the idea that I should minister to children in the mission field. Little did I know that the Lord would lead me to create and develop DC4K. The Lord is using DivorceCare for Kids to minister to children of divorce worldwide. And guess what? We have groups in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, and Cape Town, Western Cape, and one church in Eldoret Kenya has 3-DC4K groups running right now with over 100 children attending every Saturday. A church in Nairobi has just purchased 2-DC4K kits. God is moving in profound ways using DC4K!

I say all of this to let you know that I believe in mission fields. I believe those of us in the US should be reaching out to children in other countries. I also believe we have thousands of children right here in our country who need us. These are the children of divorce and the children in single-parent families.

Theresa McKenna in her book The Hidden Mission Field says we are flying over mission fields to get to the mission fields. In other words, the mission fields right in here in our country are the children living in single-parent homes. Wherever your church is located, these kids are close by.

Larry Fowler posted an incredible article called Jesus and the Significance of One. In this article, he talks about the importance of reaching every child for Christ. He goes on to explain the one lost sheep many children’s ministers forget about. His entire article reminds me of the children of divorce

  • Who want to come to church
  • Who want to believe there is a heavenly Father who loves them and will never leave them or forsake them
  • Who want to be included and loved by a church family

Who is ministering to these children? Who is spending time planning and debating how to reach this mission field? Who is putting on their walking shoes and walking down the street to this mission field?

Theresa says, “Single-parent families represent 30 percent of our nation’s population; but for them, the church is largely irrelevant. If your church is interested in outreach, can you afford to ignore this huge mission field comprised of single parents and their children? The Great Commission is for them too.”

According to the Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data, today those numbers are even higher: 35% of children live in single-parent homes. I’ve asked it before, and I’ll keep asking it: “Are 1 in 3 children in your church classes from single-parent homes?”

The organization that sponsors this blog, Church Initiative, has equipped more than 3,900 churches with the DivorceCare for Kids program. It has also provided the DC4K Activity Book to more than 124,000 children. This is just a drop in the bucket. We should have more than 40,000 churches offering DC4K and provide more than 1,240,000 children with the life-changing DC4K Activity Book if we want to change the face of divorce in the future.

We know from kids’ personal testimonies that DC4K is life-changing. You might say it is a family game-changer. It introduces children to Jesus Christ the Savior. This may be the first time many of these kids have ever been exposed to the loving mercy and grace of Christ. It brings harmony to these families. It brings understanding and deepens the relationship between child and parent.  

If church leaders and volunteers want to impact the divorce rate of the future, then we have to equip the child of divorce today. We must stop flying over the mission fields to get to the mission fields.

What is happening in your community with the children of divorce and single-parent families?

 

This article is updated and adapted from an article originally published on the Kids & Divorce blog on March 12, 2014.

DC4K blogs posts are great to use for training children’s leaders and volunteers and they are free.  Subscribe to the DC4K blog here.

Want to learn more about how to start a DivorceCare for Kids group for the hurting children in your community? Click here.

Did you know DC4K blog articles are on Pinterest? Divorce & Kids, Children’s Pastors, Single Parents, etc. It’s all there. Check it out here

Follow Linda on Twitter, dc4klinda

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “Are you flying over mission fields?

  1. Thank you, Linda. I too grew up believing God called me to serve in “missions.” I’ve been overseas, searching for my place in missions there. It was there I understood what I could best offer those with feet already on the ground in missions work–my prayers and financial support. I also understood that back at home, here, where my feet were on the ground, I could offer so much more–my whole self, right where God had placed me, to the little ones wounded by divorce. They are waiting for God to send someone to help heal their little hearts so they can go on into adulthood with confidence that God has a plan for their lives beyond the heartaches of their parents’ failures.

  2. Hi Linda. Your mission field is in South Africa! I facilitate a Single and Parenting course in Johannesburg, South Africa. Divorcecare, DCFK and Single and Parenting have touched and changed countless lives with the message that in God there is hope and a future. Thank you for your faithfulness.

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