The church that I attend and at which Ryan is a pastor had the Children of the World Choir in for this morning’s service. They are known as the musical ambassadors for World Help. Made up of children from all around the world singing songs of praise, they are nothing short of amazing. The choir also helps to raise awareness for AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

While I was listening to them and their program, I noticed three main things:

1. Jesus is the same in every language. The basic message is the same. The presentation changes.
Many of the songs sang by the choir were sung in many foreign languages. One thing common among all of them was the name “Jesus”. In nearly every language, it was the same. In every case, they were all singing the exact same words. The only difference? The presentation (language). When you are presenting your message to kids, remember this. Your presentation of Jesus shouldn’t change, your basic message shouldn’t change. What you should change is your presentation. Keep up with the times.

2. God is never, never, ever, ever, ever too busy to listen to a child.
The Lord could care less about age, sex, location, or race. He is never too busy for us, especially children. God loves hearing the honest, humble cries of a child. I have been so convicted about this for the last few weeks. Just take time to talk to and listen to the kids in your ministry. I’ve been amazed what I’ve learned about them by slowing down and listening.

3. The American church is too complacent about the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
While I won’t deny that America has its fair share of problems, I believe it is the call of the church to reach out to the world at large. In a promo video today, World Help quoted a Barna Research study that stated that only 3% of Evangelical Christians would help a Christian organization help AIDS orphans. World Help is not only trying to help children with AIDS, but also educate those without AIDS to promote abstinence and eliminate AIDS in the future. The church needs to reach out, stand up, and do what we are called by Scripture to do! This goes beyond AIDS, but AIDS is a great place to start.

So, those are my thoughts. If you’ve ever seen the Children of the World, let us know what you thought in the comments. If you’ve never seen them, check out their CD or schedule them to come to your church! But that’s the way I see it.