by Mario Vega
As we examined our previous experience working with children in the houses, we made another important discovery: children were naturally showing up in the adult cells and that there were even more children than adults attending.
Logic made us think that for each adult cell there was another children’s meeting going on in some corner of that house. But as we did a census, we were surprised to find that only half of the adults’ cells had a separate meeting to minister to children.
That led us to understand that while the average attendance in each cell was nine adults, the average children’s meetings was nineteen. This phenomenon could be explained only by the God-given sensitivity that children possess. Without making a specific effort, the children had been enthusiastically attending the meetings on their own initiative.
It is important to clarify that at the beginning of our cell work, we did not count children’s attendance or either include it in our statistics. Therefore, leaders focused on adults and didn’t pay much attention to children.
So we wondered: if children wanted to come to the Lord without making any specific effort, what would happen if we made an effort to reach them? We also wondered: why not count and include them in the statistics? Aren’t they human beings in need of salvation?
This is how we launched children’s cells, trying to rescue the new generation for Christ.
Mario
Translation in Spanish:
Dejad que los niños se acerquen al Señor.
Al examinar nuestra experiencia previa en el trabajo con niños en las casas tuvimos otro descubrimiento importante. Suceda que la asistencia de adultos y la de niños era casi igual en las células de adultos y en las reuniones en un lugar de la casa para entretener a los niños mientras sus padres estaban en la reunión de célula.
La lógica supona que por cada célula de adultos haba una reunión en algún rincón de la casa para los niños. Pero, al hacer un censo nos encontramos con la sorpresa que solamente la mitad de las células de adultos tenan una reunión aparte para entretener a los niños.
Eso nos llevó a comprender que mientras la asistencia promedio a las células era de 9 adultos, en las reuniones de niños el promedio de asistencia era de 19. Ese fenómeno sólo poda explicarse por la naturaleza infantil que es más sensible a las cosas de Dios. Sin hacer un esfuerzo especfico los niños haban estado asistiendo entusiastamente a las reuniones por iniciativa propia.
Es importante aclarar que al principio de nuestro trabajo celular no contábamos la asistencia de los niños ni la incluamos en nuestras estadsticas. Consecuentemente, los lderes se concentraban en los adultos y no ponan mayor atención a los niños.
Entonces nos preguntamos: Sin hacer un esfuerzo los niños quieren venir al Señor ¿qué sucedera si hacemos un esfuerzo por alcanzarlos? También nos preguntamos ¿Por qué no contarlos e incluirlos en las estadsticas? ¿Acaso no son seres humanos necesitados de salvación?
As nos lanzamos a la tarea, nueva para nosotros, de trabajar con células infantiles y lograr rescatar la nueva generación para Cristo.
We arrived in Rajastan to lead a workshop on cell multiplication. The nationals shew up first day with half a dozen children. The little ones went in pairs round the gathering, blessing every participant. Turned out, those “kids” have prayer-walked much of their city, seeing some evil sites collapse before their eyes. That got me wondering:
At what age and level of maturity (think children) can one:
Be born again?
Be filled with the Spirit?
Obey Jesus?
Evangelize a friend?
Manifest a spiritual gift?
Pray with power?
Bind ‘the strong man’?
Join a cell?
Lead a cell?
Launch a cell?
Tell, sing, act out a bible story?
Commit to purity?