For Lack of Knowledge the Children Perish

By Pastor Duane Murray

Recently I was allowed to go teach English at a school where hundreds of children are lacking the relationships they need.  Elementary age children throughout East Asia are sent to school to live at this school during the week and then they go home on the weekend.  We heard it is simply another way that the government tries to minimize the family.  They want the people to see the government and not the family as their provider.  It broke our hearts to see children this age living away from their mothers and fathers.  

While in East Asia we also ran health checks in a different village.   In this village, over half of the 30+ children we checked were malnourished.  Most of these were girls.  It wasn’t for lack of access to nutritious foods.  The parents just didn’t know what a balanced diet included and how it affected the children. 

Community Transformation Training in villages like this is a strategy that overseas workers are using to demonstrate value and build trust so that they can earn the right to share the Gospel. On the follow-up visit to the village, the local believers will go house to house checking the childrens’ health stats and the parents’ implementation of what they were taught.   During these visits the team will share that they are followers of Christ and offer to pray with the family.  Opportunities to share the gospel often result from these follow-ups.  The next steps involve training a team to teach the rest of the community.  Elements of the gospel are also included as the community training is taking place.  

The Lord is using this strategy to reach the people of East Asia, but there are still thousands of people in this area who have never had an opportunity to hear the Good News.   Pray for endurance for those working in this area, but also pray for the next generation of children.  Pray for the Lord to raise up believers and leaders so they will no longer perish. 

(TSC is in partnership with East Asia, and will send 5 teams in 2011. Be praying for our teams and the work they contribute to this effort!)