A little boy named Seyni sits with other disciples beneath a tree chanting text from the Koran. In the distance, a white man approaches. He asks the marabout (Koranic teacher) for permission to read something from God’s book. The marabout politely agrees, and words from the Bible captivate Seyni. Soon after that, he begins his walk with Christ. Eventually he becomes an evangelist, and today he is a godly pastor in a nation that is 97% Muslim. Many of the men and women now leading churches and nations across Africa were shaped, like Seyni, by mission schools and discipleship relationships with pioneer missionaries. For more about Seyni, see Celebrating SIM's 80 Years in Niger--Maradi.

It is unlikely that an outsider would meet such a reception now. The world has shifted dramatically. But SIM’s priority on children has not. In fact, SIM’s recent mission-wide review called “Seize the Day” turns up the volume on the need to reach children and youth.

Some of the challenges facing youth today are similar the world over: peer pressure, drug abuse, a search for truth and purpose, lack of role models. But in some countries, young people also face rampant AIDS, extreme urban poverty, the attraction of Islam, and destabilizing people group movements across borders. Listen! The air in today’s world throbs with suffering and need.

• By 2010, 25 million children will have lost one or both parents to AIDS. (UNICEF, 2000)
• 250,000 children are infected with HIV/AIDS every month. (UNICEF, 2000)
• 30,000 children die daily of preventable diseases. (www.worldhungeryear.org)
• 300,000 young people under 18 are exploited as child soldiers. (UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, 2003)
• 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, human trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities. (ACTION)
• The percentage of youth under the age of 15 approaches 50 percent in some SIM countries.
• Eight out of ten believers chose Christ before the age of 14.

Listen again! Do you hear a curious sound wafting through the discouraging chant of statistics? It is the noise of real children encountering real grace through SIM workers and partners who love Jesus. Like millions of raindrops roiling the surface of a lake, a torrent of grace is bringing the sound of giggles and hums, shy whispers and squeals; clapping, singing, shouting, laughing, praying, praising, calling—it is a pandemonium, a pandemonium of grace!

“Who can care for my little girl?” asked a desperate father in Nigeria. At nineteen months, Grace suffered general muscle weakness and was unable to crawl or stand. Her mother had died of AIDS a week after her birth, and her father had been forced to quit his job because he is HIV positive. Now unable to provide for his daughter, and with his in-laws unwilling to care for her, he came to the SIM physical therapist with his need. Soon the therapist found a ministry that was willing to care for little Grace; and, in the process, Grace’s father was able to apply for a job as a security guard at one of their facilities. For more about Baby Grace and her father, see Caring for Baby Grace.

Grace and her father illustrate SIM’s desire to harmonize immediate care for children with concern for the family, church, and community surrounding each child. For example, children who have survived the war in Liberia need more than feeding programs; communities must be restored in ways that work against further violence. Pregnant women in India need more than pre-natal care; learning to read will empower both them and their children for years to come.

SIM’s strategy is also tuned to building capacity for children’s ministries in our related churches and partners. Worldview plays a critical role in how children are valued in cultures. SIM workers seek to identify with communities wherever they are and work from within to innovatively draw children to the center of attention.

Just as that SIM missionary approached the chanting boys beneath the tree decades ago, we still, as a mission, walk towards children. Perhaps the sound we hear is the great symphony led by our Master Musician, who graciously restores street children to dignity, guides teens towards hope, and gives sweet peace to those precious little ones who must walk through death and into the arms of Jesus today.

Matthew 18:5 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.” -Jesus

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