Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford

I just finished reading this book by Wess Stafford. Wow, I'm still trying to take it all in. What I can say is that I think it should be required reading for anyone who is or wants to be a pastor, church planter, youth worker, missionary, teacher, Sunday school teacher, parent, etc.

I think that if I were to state a thesis it would be that children are not just the church of tomorrow, but in truth, the church of TODAY. Many people know the statistics very well, that the majority of those saved today were saved as children. I think that the final number came down to only about 23% of Christians get saved after the age of 21, but when you look at those in ministry, the majority are ministering to the adults. Is there a problem with this? No, not really, but there is a problem when such a low concentration of ministers are concerned with the salvation of Children. It's unfortunate when we hear about the salvation experience of a child and say, "well, it's only a child."

Dr. Stafford gives testimony of his own experiences of growing up in Africa. I think it was when I read these chapters that the importance of children's ministries in America and around the world finally hit me. Fortunately for me, I grew up with a healthy childhood around many people who loved me and encouraged me with just a few treasured words of kindness, but I realized that there are many children who are never encouraged to realize their importance in the world. Dr. Stafford points out that many children could change their community's poverty stricken destination, if they were only encouraged and understood that they were important to someone, namely Jesus.

I would say that I couldn't put this book down, but that would be a lie. There were times when I had to put the book down just to handle some of the grief discussed in the book. This book has already made a difference in my own life. It has changed the way I see children, and taught me the importance of every ounce of an impact I can have on kids I know and don't know.

I cannot stress enough the importance of reading this book. I beg you to find it and read it. It can be found here for just $8.50 or an audio version is available for $11.50. Prepare for it to rock your world.