There’s a Famine in the Land

The blazing sun shone through the windows of the home we were renting in Morelia, Mexico. Someone knocked on the front door, and I went to answer it. Four dirty, shoeless boys with ragged clothes stared at me with big brown eyes.

The tallest boy stepped forward. “Do you have food?”

I nodded. “Come in. I’ll get you some.” I led them to the living room and pointed to the couch. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

I hurried to the kitchen and grabbed bananas, milk, and paper cups, then I placed them on the coffee table beside the boys before making their sandwiches. They gobbled the food and said they had to leave, but I invited them to visit again.

The following week, we drove to Texas to renew our visas. If our visas expired, we could be put in jail. While in Texas, we visited a few churches that supported our ministry, and we told some people about the shoeless boys. One pastor suggested we look at their “missionary closet” to see if they had something we could take back with us.

After we returned to Morelia, the same boys visited again. When we gave them food, shoes, and clothing, their smiles lit the room and warmed our hearts. As we shared the gospel, they listened. I hope one day we’ll see them in heaven.

Millions of children around the world are starving. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street” (Lamentations 2:19).

Not only are children starving for physical food, but they’re also starving for spiritual food. The prophet Amos warned of a famine that would come in the last days. He wasn’t speaking about the need for something to eat or drink. Instead, he was warning of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

In the Bible, God instructs His people to teach children His commands. When we neglect this duty, the children suffer. After Joshua and his generation died, the next generation didn’t know the Lord, and we see the results in the book of Judges.

“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim” (Judges 2:10-11).

This world is a spiritual battlefield. Children need to know God, or they’ll fall for Satan’s lies. The Bible instructs us to teach God’s Word to children because it’s so important!

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up”      (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

“Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth…We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done…that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalms 78:1, 4-7).

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

There’s a famine today for hearing the Word of God. As more and more children grow up without God, the world drifts farther away from Biblical principles. Lost children often become lost adults. They’ll be the teachers, doctors, judges, and politicians of the future.

Are we sharing God’s truth with children in our cities, in our country, and around the world, or are we so involved with our own hobbies and interests that we’re neglecting this important responsibility? We must teach the Bible to children not only in our homes and in our churches, but also in our schools and in our neighborhoods. Will you pray for the children and ask the Lord how you can help reach them?

All scripture is from the KJV.

 

“Please take God’s Word to the hearts of the children.

How can they believe if they still haven’t heard?

The most fruitful fields have long been neglected.

You’ll find them waiting all over the world.”

 

Child Evangelism Fellowship is a Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living. To reach children with Child Evangelism Fellowship, visit https://www.cefonline.com/