Why Do We Believe in Reaching Children?
Please take a few seconds to answer three questions:
- By what age do the vast majority of people who eventually accept Christ do so?
Answer: C. According to studies by George Barna (www.barna.org), the vast majority of people who accept Christ at some point in their lives do so before reaching age 13. We have confirmed this time and again by asking audiences and small groups to indicate when they accepted Christ. I’ve seen studies saying the number is anywhere from just over 50% ranging up to 90%. I think the real answer based on our experience is somewhere around 70%. It really doesn’t matter – this is a staggering revelation that surprises most Christians, as very few are aware of it.
- If an invitation to accept Christ is presented, what is the chance that a child under age 13 will respond affirmatively?
Answer: C. Another astounding truth. Per Barna’s research, there is a 32% chance that a kid under age 13 will accept Christ if asked in a typical church or ministry setting. There’s only a 6% chance that adults will respond affirmatively. What a huge difference! We’ve seen this hundreds and hundreds of times at our shows.
This is why for any evangelistic event, a 10% response rate of people coming forward at the invitation is considered to be outstanding. We have been blessed to have a track record of averaging about 10% of the overall audience making a decision when asked. For our target audience, we estimate that on average, 25% of the kids in the audience between ages 4 -12 came forward.
- By what age does a person learn most of the values that influence their choices, lifestyle and worldview throughout their adult lives?
ANSWER: C. According to Focus on the Family, conclusive studies show that most of a child’s lifetime values are established by age 13. By then, they’ve established their opinions of religion, ethics, abortion, right vs. wrong, etc.
Regardless of whether they knew about the above statistics or not, 98% of the thousands of adults that I’ve talked to through the years totally agree that it is important to reach kids and instill Biblical and moral values in their lives while their minds are still open and uncluttered by the world. They also agree that the best way to reach adults is through their kids.
Thank you for your time. I welcome any thoughts and comments that you may have.
God bless you and your families,
Dave
