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THe UK has recently been ranked bottom of the pile for the way we look after our children. The survey was conducted in 21 countries of the developed world and is a worrying sign for those of us raising our children here in London.
The international survey on children's wellbeing measured six dimensions of childcare: material wellbeing, health and safety, education, family & peer relationships, behaviour & risks and subjective wellbeing. Other than the measure for health and safety, the UK came near bottom or bottom in each scale.
The report also found that material wealth did not naturally lead to a better life for children. More money was not the solution. The United States came 20th in the scale, just ahead of the UK.
The situation seems hopeless, considering all that our government has tried to do for combating child poverty and focusing on education. But in the midst of these difficulties, and in response to the report, I have profound sense of hope.Where there is such darkness in the land, there is also an opportunity for the light of the Church to shine all the more brightly.
One thing clear in the report is the importance of family. Family, not money, is the basic building block of society. This smacks in the face of British individualism and materialism, where each person is perceived as having the freedom to make their own choices irrespective to the effect it may have on those around. However, the biblical basis for community life is not individuals in isolation, but families in relationship with each other.
If society is a building, the basic brick is the family, not the individual.When you pull a family apart, you are not simply tearing away a brick that can be replaced. You are tearing apart the bricks themselves.
Our nation needs to go back to the family values as defined in the New Testament.We, as Christians, have a specific responsibility to strengthen our own families. Children at KT should be the happiest children on the earth as they have found meaning and purpose to their lives.
The cell structure of our church is vital in strengthening the individual members of the family and teaching about their role. However, individual members of the family also need to take responsibility. Men in particular have a responsibility for their children, as they are the head of the household. Men must arise and actively play their role as fathers, modelling manhood both to the next generation and to the world that has sought to destroy their identity.
The children in the church have ample opportunity to meet with Jesus. I find it so rewarding to see children at the encounters, meeting with Jesus. As they do, they leave with a profound sense of peace. So significant are the encounters with Jesus that even teachers have commented on the difference they see in the lives of children after them.
Not only do our children have the opportunity to find peace, but also to gain a sense of destiny and purpose for their lives. God has called children not just to know him, but also to make him known. It is such a delight and thrill to live for Jesus each day. In God's presence, children find fullness of joy and life in all its fullness. Children who have truly met with Christ are more secure and more able to express themselves to their friends who are swayed by the ways of the world.
Children - and indeed adults - are all looking to be loved. This is something that we, the church, can offer. The children's cell leaders are trained and equipped to build relationships with the children under their care, and with their whole families. So although the focus of our work within the church is on the spiritual life of children, we must engage with their whole life.
However, we cannot settle simply with raising our own children to be the best they can be.We must also reach out to those who are less advantaged than ourselves. This is why we are launching a ministry specifically for single-parent families. Offering DIY, babysitting, help with shopping or seeking to meet any need, we want to help these families to cope with the pressures they face in our society.
Our ministry to children in the womb also seeks to give children the right foundation and to support parents in those early days of parenting.
The monthly children's net meetings and weekly children's cell groups, as well as the school of leaders all seek to equip our children to be salt and light, to bring a message of hope to a generation that has been overlooked and downtrodden by our society. It is my prayer that their genuine faith will spark a revival among a generation that has lost its way; that this generation will rebuild the desolation of former generations.
Let our adults stand in the gap for the children of our society. Let our children arise and shout, "Prepare the way for the Lord!"
