A million children for Jesus!
I have something to tell you about today that just makes my heart sing! We’ve been busy with it for a while, seen the most amazing results, and we’re ready to ramp this up right now...
A young continent needs Jesus
Did you know that over 60% of the entire population of Africa is under the age of 25? And more than half of those are under the age of 16! When we say, “Africa shall be saved”, we have to be intentional and committed to reaching the children and youth of Africa.
I’m so happy to tell you that this has become an enormous focus for CfaN. Yes, children come with their parents to our evangelistic campaigns, and only the Lord knows how many millions have received Jesus into their hearts as a result…
But in line with the “Decade of Double Harvest”, many new and exciting strategies have taken form – and reaching the children of Africa with the clear, unequivocal Gospel message is a key element that is growing exponentially.
Children make real salvation decisions
The truth of the Gospel is so simple, it can be grasped by a 5-year-old, with life-altering consequences. I am one of those people who gave my heart to Jesus as a child, as was Reinhard Bonnke. Our CfaN African Campaign Director, John Darku, first met Jesus because a missionary took the time to come to his school.
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”
Just imagine the world-shaking effects of an entire generation sold out for God! And besides, this is something Jesus took pains to tell us several times, in His own words…
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)
But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)
These are strong words! Jesus was extremely clear about our responsibility and accountability for the children. The spirit of a child is fully formed. From before we were in the womb, He knew us, and all the days of our lives. God doesn’t see “baby spirits” – only the spirit He Himself made and placed in each one of us. (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13).
What’s Next?
In the last decades, CfaN has always had a very strong follow-up system, working hand-in-hand with local churches. Each person who decides to follow Jesus receives a booklet called “Now that you are saved”, which helps them to understand their decision, and to take their first steps in discipleship. It’s a crucial, very well-tested system that gives new believers the best possible start to their new life in Christ, and filters them immediately into a local church.
And now we have a new tool in that follow-up box! In the last year and a half, our Bootcamp and CfaN team members have conducted an astonishing number of children’s campaigns. We realized quickly that we needed a special booklet just for kids… The same, powerful Gospel message, but in language that young children can understand, read and reread, building the same first steps in faith that adults do.
A personal love-letter from Jesus
I took this challenge seriously, with much time and prayer, to write our new kids’ follow-up booklet, called “What’s Next?” Formulated as a coloring-in book – an interactive, personal experience for each child – it nevertheless doesn’t hold back on the crystal-clear salvation message. It’s a personal love-letter from Jesus, and a gift that means the world to these children. Many of them have never personally owned their own book before. Can you imagine how that feels? How special and loved they feel when they receive something that’s for them personally? This is not a throw-away! This is a treasure that they share with other children and take home to their families.
It works!
While our CfaN Bootcamp teams were out in the field in 2021, we ran our first “What’s Next?” pilot project, printing half a million copies in Tanzania, in Swahili, to give to every single child who made a decision for Jesus. As the evangelists went from town to town, preaching as many as 9 times in a single day, they were handing out these beautiful booklets to every child who said “Yes!” to Jesus.
How long do you think it would take to give out half a million booklets? Imagine the effort, the work, the logistics, in getting that done! Incredibly, it took just three months, as teams of preachers, sent out two-by-two, went to schools, marketplaces and every venue they could get to. These colorful, easy-to-read booklets were received with such joy – and then taken home to families – and in those areas, those families are often Muslim. It’s an incredible opportunity to reach people who don’t know that Jesus is the Savior their hearts long for.
We need your help to reach a million children
Right now, we already have the What’s Next? booklet in English, Xhosa, Zulu, Congolese French, German, Afrikaans, Haitian Creole and Kirundi. We are moving as fast as we can to translate it into the local language of every place that we are planning evangelistic campaigns in the next year. While the official business language of most countries in Africa is either French or English, the fact is that children only start learning those languages in school. So, if we want them to truly understand the Gospel message, we need to produce these booklets in the local dialects.
Add to that the costs of sending evangelists to preach, the local printing and storage of huge numbers of books, and then getting them where they are needed (often in places that are seriously hard to reach), and you can see why we are reaching out to you to help us.
What will it take?
Thanks to printing locally, and using every resource we have efficiently, it takes only 11 cents per booklet. That cost includes translation, printing, storage, and most importantly, the sending of evangelists to go out and preach the Good News. That means we can make an eternal difference in these children’s lives together, for generations to come…
100 booklets - €11
1,000 booklets - €110
10,000 booklets - €1100
… and we can reach one million African children with only €111,000!
We’re doing this!
As I write this to you, we already have more translations underway, and we’ve printed a further 500,000 in Swahili. We’re moving fast to ensure that our teams of evangelists have the tools they need to help these young people build a firm foundation in their new walk with God. In fact, our admin teams are having a hard time keeping up with the demand, as so many Bootcamp graduates are fanning out into many African countries.
This is what it looks like
I want you to see what we’re putting in the hands of Africa’s youngest generation. I want you to pray over it, to visualize in your spirit what this godly tool can and will do. I pray that you will be inspired and excited in the same way that we are, as you see what God can do with an entire generation who have a deep, real, lasting meeting with Jesus. From their earliest days!
What can you do?
Will you pray? Will you cover our evangelists and everyone involved in this vital project with intercession? Will you pray for the children – and their families – for whom this might be their first or only exposure to Jesus?
It takes so little to make such an enormous difference. And we have no doubt that we can do this together. As the CfaN Europe office, we have committed to meeting the costs for reaching one million children by the end of 2021. God has already raised up the evangelists to go. He’s already given us all the tools we need to get this done, and all we need is to make it happen.
Let’s do it!
This is our first goal for this task – enough booklets to reach a million children. I think you know by now that we will not stop there. But let’s do this together. Let’s make sure that every single child who hears the Good News in a CfaN campaign has this precious gift in their hands.
Together with you in the harvest,
Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
and all the CfaN evangelists in the field
100 booklets - €11
1,000 booklets - €110
10,000 booklets - €1100
So far in 2021…
Over 500,000 decisions for Jesus in children’s campaigns
