When I was in high school we had a youth rally at our church with a guest speaker. He gave his testimony of when he became a Christian. There was a large crowd of kids there to hear him share his testimony and I’m sure the free pizza didn’t hurt. I remember listening to him tell all about how he had been on drugs and been part of a motorcycle gang and all the wild things he had done. He shared how he got in lots of trouble with the law and even spent a few years in prison. He went on and on for a long time about all the bad things he did before becoming a Christian. Then, with just a little time left, he shared that he was at rock bottom and God put someone in his path that shared the good news about Jesus with him and he prayed for forgiveness of his sins and he was saved.

After all that he shared that night, I remember thinking about when I accepted Jesus as my savior. My conversion experience seemed so boring compared to his. My testimony had no elaborate stories about how I was such a horrible sinner before I met Jesus. I was just an average kid that grew up in a Christian home and heard about Jesus pretty much my whole life. When I was a little older, I realized that I was a sinner and needed Jesus to forgive me of my sins. After I accepted Jesus as my savior, I went to church all the time. I was involved in all the activities that our little church had to offer.

In fact, every year around Christmas break the youth group in our church went on a choir mission trip. We presented a Christmas musical with an evangelistic message to the prisons in Arkansas, Louisiana and East Texas. While we were singing in one of those prisons, I felt God calling me into some kind of ministry. I wasn’t really sure what God wanted me to do but I was certain of His calling on my life. As I became very close to our youth minister at our church and he helped me grow in my faith and my walk with Jesus.  He also helped me to realize that my testimony of my conversion experience was just as miraculous and amazing as the testimony I had heard many years ago. We were both sinners that needed forgiveness and God’s amazing grace is the same for us all.

I continued to pursue God’s calling and He led me to serve in children’s ministry where I get to work with children and families. I am blessed to have the opportunity to work not just as a job, but to fulfill a calling that God has place on my life. Now I have the privilege at our church of talking with the children before they are baptized about their decision to follow Jesus. I get to hear children and parents share with me when they accepted Jesus as they share their testimony. Each story is unique and amazing. It is one of my favorite things that I get to do as the Children’s Minister here at our church.

David

P.S.  We desire for every child to fully understand what it means to follow Jesus. We equip parents with resources to talk with their children about following Jesus. We offer a class for children after they have made that decision and every child is counseled with before they are baptized.