If in 1968 you purchased and item for $8,000,000.00, with the cumulative rate of inflation at 608.8%, the same item today (December 2017) would cost $56,705,517.24. What is the value of a child’s soul? With God time is eternal. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I would argue that in God’s heart the value of one child’s salvation is priceless, today and forever.

In 1968 Joan Ganz Cooney spearheaded a group of foundations, educators, TV producers, writers, and sociologists, among others to combat a serious problem. Their goal was to educate underprivileged preschoolers, helping to bring hope into their lives. They spent eight million dollars and eighteen months of seminars, formative evaluation, and pilot testing to develop the PBS series, Sesame Street. It has been very successful in many ways and has endured for nearly 50 years.

Today there are a few children’s ministries doing a wonderful job of helping to raise up children for the Kingdom of God. Some churches have a very good program of children’s church. Other churches are providing a valuable child care service while the parents attend adult church. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, parents bare the primary responsibility for the spiritual growth and development of their children. But they need help; tools and guidance, to carry out their responsibility.

Is it worth 56.7 million dollars or more today to combat the serious problem of losing children to the kingdom of darkness? Let me put it another way. How much do you think it is worth to God to tell His children, especially the little ones, how much He loves them, now, in this world?  Individuals contributing $10, $100, even $1000 is very helpful and greatly appreciated when developing children’s ministry material. But it took the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Federal government to fund Children’s Television Workshop, the producers of Sesame Street.

Is it possible there are corporations, foundations, or even government institutions that would support the work of children’s ministry? Are there people, businesses, and organizations that consider the salvation of children as paramount as the child’s ability to read, write and get along in the classroom? I believe there are, I believe God has raised up leaders and entrepreneurs to carry out the critical work of equipping parents, and raising up children for His Kingdom.

In a recent statement, Lou Engle said: “God’s ways are so different from our own. He may be using you to prepare the next Joshua or Elisha. The training and prayers you give today may mold the next William Seymour, Billy Graham, or T.L. Osborne. The young man or woman you disciple this year may be the next John Wesley or Henrietta Mears.”

…  We cannot afford to lose the next generation. …  The apostles and prophets who will bring in the greatest harvest in the history of mankind may be unrecognizable today as they ride their tricycles down our driveways. Surely these are worthy of the most costly investments we can make!”

The Children’s Ministry Workshop is committed to this goal.

Author: Timothy Swartz