Into My Heart

I help teach in the AWANA club at my little country church. [For those of you who aren’t familiar with the program, it’s a club to help children memorize Bible verses.] Each Wednesday evening I have the privilege of listening to kids from the ages of six to twelve recite the verses they have learned in the previous week. The different personalities and abilities are fascinating (and sometimes challenging!), and it’s such a joy to see these precious kids hiding God’s Word in their hearts.

Some of the children are from Christian homes, and their parents help them learn verses. These kids generally have at least some understanding of the meaning of what they are learning. But many of the children are not so blessed. Probably half (if not more) of these kids are not exposed to Christianity anywhere besides AWANAs. Many are from broken homes – most have never heard the plan of salvation explained. It’s hard for me to comprehend the utter lack of a foundation of truth in their hearts. And it’s hard to explain the meaning of the verses they are learning when there’s no context for them to put it in.

One girl defined sin for me: “It’s doing things like hanging up the phone on people.” A boy told me his dad was a great example of a sinner since “he bought a new 4-wheeler when my mom didn’t want him to.” Imagine, then, trying to explain concepts like justification and atonement!

Several of us leaders were becoming frustrated, and we decided to show the children’s version of The Jesus Film (highly recommended!). We wanted them to have a clear understanding of Jesus’ life and death, and especially to understand the meaning of Easter. Again, to my amazement, some of these children had never heard the story of Jesus’ death on the cross!

We showed the film in two parts. The first night all the kids were completely absorbed in the film. The sanctuary was perfectly silent. The children watched in wonder as Jesus fed the five thousand, raised Jarius’ daughter, and calmed the sea.

They came back this week ready to see more of the story about this wonderful Man. But soon it became apparent that this part would be quite different. The children cringed as Jesus was whipped, mocked, and forced to carry His cross. Some hid their eyes as nails were driven into His hands and the cross was raised. And when Jesus gasped, “Into thy hands I commit my spirit,” six year old Ryan cried and asked, “Did He die?”

At the end of the film, two of the child-actors made an appeal for viewers to trust Jesus as their Savior. As they prayed the sinner’s prayer, Ryan prayed along. He came to me a few minutes later, eyes sparkling – “I have Jesus in my heart now!”

Ryan has a tough road ahead of him. His parents are divorced – his mom is in jail – and he lives with his grandparents, who aren’t Christians as far as I know. He doesn’t go to church or Sunday school. He’s only six years old, so he can’t read the Bible on his own. But there’s AWANAs. And every Wednesday we’ll be there, trying to help and encourage him. Knowing Ryan’s story makes it worth every hectic minute.

- by Jeannie Castleberry
March 7, 2008