Childlike Heart

The picture above is taken recently at a church camp in Kuantan. It shows Rev. Richard Ong, the Senior Pastor of Grace Charismatic Center(GCC) Kuantan, playing games with the young people from GCC. The picture strike my thinking. Rev. Richard is in his early 50's but he connects well with the young generation in the church.....A Childlike Heart.

My passion in Christian ministry is to reach out to young people...both the teenagers and children. Over the last 12 years, this has been my focus area and I really enjoy serving God in reaching out to this age group and helping them in their Christian walk.

Jesus himself set a great example in reaching out to children. Jesus says, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.” Luke 18:16. In the Gospel accounts, Jesus acknowledged the great value of children. In a culture that tended to ignore and otherwise devalue children, Jesus made it clear that he viewed children as people with great value in God’s sight. Jesus reached out to children, welcoming them into his presence and blessing them (Matthew 19:14-15). On several occasions Jesus went out of his way to heal children (Luke 8:49-56). He was willing to be "bothered" in order to minister to children.

I still remember an advice given to me by Aunty Joyce How from GCC Kuantan many years ago. She said, "To work with young people and children, one need to have a childlike heart but don't be childish". It is a wise advice and I still keep it very close to my heart.

I believe young people are a gift from God. They are heaven's smile entrusted to earth. We need to invest in their lives and build them up to be man and woman of God who will one day take the baton from us and run the race for Jesus.

Be Blessed.