Picture this scene…
It is a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon and in this usually sleepy rural village our attention is attracted by squeals, screams and some very unusual noises. Upon closer investigation, we find a group of about fifty people of all ages barking, mooing and making a variety of animal noises. The players crawl around on the dirt, blindfolded, and search for the rest of their team, loudly encouraged by the cheers of those supporting. What am I observing? This is not the result of an out-of-control celebration; instead, it is the excitement of families working together. They are: considering what it means to “belong”; experiencing how hard it is to hear one voice in the crowd of noises; and exploring together who Jesus is and what it means for their family to live life trusting him. This event is a Family Sports and Games program, one creative idea that is being used effectively around the world to share the gospel with children and their families.
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Since 1995, Logosdor has been focused on communicating Jesus using cutting-edge creativity to connect with children around the world through partnerships with many organizations. The story above illustrates how, through global partnerships, creative children’s sports and games activities have been developed to effectively reach the whole family with the gospel.
Logosdor is a team of people dedicated to seeing the children of the world reached with the good news of Jesus Christ. It is for this purpose that the team endeavors to use every creative means possible to present the gospel message in a way that all children will understand. This has involved (1) producing an international Bible curriculum for children, (2) creating and directing four evangelistic musical stage productions for children, (3) performing puppetry, (4) producing children’s magazines, computer games and videos and (5) helping a sports and games outreach program used in over 137 countries involving between two and three million children.
Logosdor's involvement in the Lausanne 2004 Forum for World Evangelization once again convicted us of both the enormity and urgency of the task of reaching the world’s 2.3 billion children with the good news of Jesus. Children represent arguably the biggest unreached people group in the world. As Lausanne Occasional Paper #47 reads, “With 2.1 billion children already on the planet, there can be an overwhelming sense that the best evangelistic efforts will always be outstripped by the numbers. But this is not our work; it is God’s work and we will only succeed when we participate with God in his plans. God’s solutions in the Bible were creative, profound, entirely appropriate and completely unexpected.”
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Maximum Impact
No one church or organization has the resources or opportunity to reach all the children of the world. As Logosdor considered developing strategies and resources for reaching some of the least resourced and most unevangelized parts of the world, it became apparent that it is only as we work in global partnership that we have the greatest opportunity to reach every child.
In working toward this global partnership, Logosdor’s latest involvement is with a resource partnership called Max7 that is seeking to make children’s and young people’s ministry materials, leadership development resources and family discipleship resources available for free via the internet. Max7 is about empowering and equipping children and young people to live as followers of Jesus seven days a week. It is about sharing the gospel with children and discipling them as they grow, allowing them to explore their God-given gifts and providing opportunities for them to serve and to join in the task of sharing the gospel with others. It is also a means of drawing on the global creativity that exists abundantly in the Body of Christ.
One of the first resources available through the Max7 partnership is a video entitled “Aim Lower” that communicates the challenge of reaching the 2.3 billion children of the world. The video has four messages:
- Aim lower as we encourage churches and missions to consider children and young people.
- Think smaller as we share models of young people in ministry and leadership.
- Give up as we provide a way that churches, leaders and missions can share resources.
- Go have a cup of coffee, focusing on relationships within churches, organizations and people and operating as a partnership and serving the work of evangelism and discipleship.
Working with children, introducing them to Jesus and helping them to grow and discover Jesus as their Lord and Savior is a wonderful privilege. Helping children discover they have gifts that can be used to introduce others to Jesus is a vital task. Max7 provides resources for leaders to reach and disciple children and young people across the globe.
By continuing to partner with other organizations across the world, we believe that it is possible within the next ten years to have tens of millions of children hear the gospel. These children may then be discipled, equipped and empowered for ministry as they live life as followers of Jesus.
We are amazed by the opportunity God has given us to be just one of the partners working together to reach the children of the world. If you would like to partner in this huge but compelling task, log onto www.max7.org.
