FACT: Homelessness affects 200,000 children every day in the United States. Following Paul’s instruction to the Galatians, I spoke to the children at a local church about the needs of the homeless and challenged them to seize every opportunity to do good to others. I tried to help them understand that doing good comes in many forms including, physical, emotional or spiritual. It was my prayer that they would look beyond themselves, grasp hold of one of those areas and look for the needs of people around them.
After the service I felt a gentle tug to my shirt. As I looked down I saw a young girl looking up at me with big blue eyes. I crouched down to hear her speak as she said, “I want to give them one of my Bibles. Can I bring one of my Bibles from home to give to the kids that don’t have one?” She had grasped hold of the need to tell the homeless children about the love and hope that only comes from Jesus. Providing them with a Bible was her way to share that love. Often times it takes the eyes of a child to help us see how simple it is to share Jesus with others. What we sometimes overlook is often times what others need the most, that unused Bible laying around the house. I pray that I will always be able to see through the innocent eyes of a child to see the needs of others and be willing to reach out to meet that need. 
I know that I won’t be able to reach the 200,000 homeless children or the 24 million children in the United States that need to hear about Jesus. But, I can help to develop a ministry team committed to reaching children in their neighborhoods, one at a time, until the millions have heard about Jesus and His amazing love. By training people in individual churches I am committed to Jesus’s approach of multiplication so that we can reach the multitudes and see children radically saved and serving Jesus.
This summer, in preparation for two different home missions trips, I’ll be coordinating two teams, one from Hampton, VA and one from Harrisonburg, VA. They will be heading to Oak Hill WV and Keyser, WV respectively, to minister to the children in those communities. I will be training them in the use of Kids Quest USA, a focused strategy to empower local church ministries to reach kids in America by partnering with another church for outreach.¬† The greatest value of training teams is its ability to mobilize the local church for evangelism.
Please keep these teams, the partnering churches and myself in your prayers as we reach and change kids lives for etermity.