Northern California Christian Leader's Summit: Where are the Children?

Where are the Children?

Henry Ward Beecher, Pastor and social activist
"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven"
English proverb
"The soul is healed by being with children."
John W. Whitehead, Founder, Rutherford Institute
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
Wess Stafford, President, Compassion International
"Every child you encounter is a divine appointment."


As was said many times on Saturday, children are our future and that Jesus said that their faith is the faith we should seek. Yet as passionate as we are about our own flesh and blood, is the general church population as concerned about another's child as they should be in light of God's love for them and the truths we know? Can we trust Him by faith and by deeds that He will aid us with a fresh and Spirit empowered start?

• What message do we as Christian leaders need to communicate to our congregations in order to begin a change process that will take a child from pre-birth all the way to their destinies as Christian Leaders who will continue to seek the Kingdom?
• Can we re-institute that change process in the lives of our children that prior generations were so generous in giving to us?
• Can we be genuine in asking God for both His forgiveness and cry out to him in personal and corporate repentance for not maintaining and re-imagining that process?

Please answer or expand on these questions in your comments and especially the following questions that we were determined to, but did not have a chance to pose during the summit:

1. Compassion International showed us a "Pre-birth to Christian Leaders" model of discipleship and care for children that they have created. What might such a model look like in our community and in our churches?
2. How do I achieve comfort as a pastor or Christian leader with Counselors that I am referring young people to in view of the common worldly viewpoints of even "Christian" psychologists?
3. How do pastors deal with the foster care system and protect children and families in the process?
4. What resources are available to pastors and church leaders for counseling youth and children in the Bay Area and Northern California?

Thank you in advance for God's work in you that will express itself as the Light of the World in children's lives (Matthew 5:16).