RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

A new study by Current Biology says kids from religious households are less generous than kids from non-religious households.

The study involved 1,170 kids ages 5 to 12 from 6 different countries and explored the degree to which religion is linked to children's generosity to strangers.

The research included kids playing a game that involved giving out stickers to anonymous participants in their peer group.  Kids raised in religious households were less generous in terms of giving to others.

This study can be countered by previous studies which indicate that people with a religious affiliation are more likely to give to charity than those who don't identify with any religion.  These studies include charitable giving to churches and other faith-based charities - which is where the biggest share of charitable giving goes.

The conclusion: churched kids are more generous when you include giving to churches and faith-based organizations.  Perhaps the churched kids would have given away more stickers in the game mentioned above if they had been told the donation was going to a church.

Here are some takeaways from this for us as children's ministry leaders...

• We need to do a better job at teaching kids the importance of being generous with individual people.  It's important to teach kids about the "big picture" they are giving to, but we must balance this with helping them seeing people's individual needs as well.  Looks like we need to spend more time emphasizing Matthew 25.

Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?  Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality?  Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

• We must help kids extend their generosity outside of Sunday morning.  Generosity is not just something we do on Sunday morning when the offering plate passes by...it's a way of life.  We must teach kids that random acts of generosity are great opportunities to show Jesus' love.  Generosity opens people's hearts to listen to what you have to say.  If you want someone who is hungry to listen to the Gospel...feed them first.

• The fact that churched kids give primarily to churches shows that we are helping them see the value of giving to the local church.  As Christians, we not only give a cup of cold water...we give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name.  There is a difference and it's great we're helping kids understand this.

Here's more help to teach kids about generosity...
Christmas Offering Strategy
Teaching Kids It's Better to Give Than Receive 
Teaching Kids to Be Generous

Your turn.  The floor is yours.   What can we do to help kids be more generous? 

A recent report from Pew Research shows what the religious landscape will look like for the next 35 years if current trends continue.

There are some rapid changes taking place that should be noted.

• Christians will remain the largest group.

• Islam is the fastest growing.

• By 2050,  the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world.

• Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion – though increasing in countries such as the United States and France – will make up a declining share of the world’s total population.

• The global Buddhist population will be about the same size it was in 2010, while the Hindu and Jewish populations will be larger than they are today.

• In Europe, Muslims will make up 10% of the overall population.

• India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia.

• In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050.

• Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. Muslims will be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion.

• Four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.

The bottom line...there are billions of kids and families who don't know Jesus.  Jesus loves each of them and has called us to take His message of forgiveness to them.

My heart has been broken since hearing about the atrocities against children that are being carried out by Muslim extremists in Iraq.

Reports are revealing that Christians are being targeted and murdered...including children.  Christian families are being told to convert to Islam or be killed. 

At a park in Mosul, the heads of children who were murdered were placed on sticks and displayed in a public park.

There are pictures at this link of the atrocities against the children of Iraq.  Warning.  The pictures are extremely graphic.  Please view with discretion.  

Please join me in praying....

1. For protection for the Christian kids and families in Iraq.
2. That this will be stopped and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
3. That Muslims will turn from the false, evil religion called Islam and find the truth through Christ.