Little Ones Can Know, Love, and Serve Jesus

We often hear that children under the age of 6 do not have the spiritual capability to really know and have a “real” understanding of God’s love. This refers to children who are in classes in church and preschool where they are not fully exposed or really encouraged to develop spiritually. For 20 years, I had the privilege to serve as a preschool teacher and a preschool director and for 15 years, I served as the Arizona District camp meeting leader for nursery through kindergarten ministry. Through these experiences, I witnessed firsthand preschool  children growing up with a desire to know, love, and serve the Lord. Not only did they personally come to love Jesus but they were instrumental in inspiring other children and adults to choose Jesus.

Meet a few preschool children who led families and others to Jesus.

Meet Maddie.

Maddie’s mother came to tour the preschool. She was pleased with what she saw. Then she said, “What time is Bible class? I would like to enroll my daughter. I am an atheist, and I am not married to her dad. Is that okay with you? Also, I would like to bring her to school after Bible class or pick her up before Bible class.” 

My immediate answer to her first question was, “Bible is integrated throughout the day. I really cannot say it occurs at any specific time.” To the second question, I responded, “All children and families are welcome.”

She thought about this for a few minutes, and then she responded, “I will enroll her and see how it goes.”

Maddie was enrolled for three years. Maddie loved Jesus! She learned numbers and letters and sang with gusto, Jesus Loves Me! During this time, her mom saw love for Jesus in the actions of the children and through the love of the teachers. She came to church and accepted Jesus as her Savior. Maddie and her mom’s lives were changed forever!

Meet Athena.

Athena’s family was from Vietnam, and they were very devoted followers of another religion. Athena attended preschool from age 2 through kindergarten. At the end of pre-kindergarten, her parents planned to have her attend public school kindergarten. Athena told her parents her school had kindergarten, and she wanted to go to her school’s kindergarten. They re-enrolled Athena for kindergarten. During Christmas break, the family flew to Vietnam. Her parents shared how their daughter sang Christmas songs to her family there, songs about Jesus. During that year, Athena proclaimed her love for Jesus in her heart.

Meet camp meeting preschoolers.

Many young children came to camp meeting with their parents and grandparents. Some people [ST1] might have thought the sessions for preschoolers were to babysit the children, so they could enjoy child-free time during the services or take advantage of the 1-2 hours of free time. We taught the preschoolers about Jesus, and many of the children asked Jesus into their hearts. Every year, they came with anticipation to sing and listen to stories about God’s love. In later years, some of them became teen helpers. Others are now pastors, children’s pastors, strong lay leaders, and parents who are bringing up their children to know, love, and serve the Lord.

Meet Peter.

Peter grew up in church and attended his church’s preschool. His parents shared that at the tender age of three, Peter asked Jesus to come into his heart.

“At the end of another trying day, daddy had a talk with our son. He explained how it is not okay to be disobedient and how it is important to listen and obey your parents. Peter told his daddy he wanted to pray for Jesus to help him[ST2] .”

The parent was surprised when his little son wanted to pray and ask Jesus to forgive him. Yes, Peter was incredibly young, and this was all from a three-year-old’s understanding. The next morning, Peter said he did not want to drink milk because it would get Jesus wet. He would not eat a cookie because it might hit Jesus on the head and give him a headache.

We laugh at  the young child’s response. But this child at age 4 told his mom that when he grew up Jesus wanted him to be a missionary. At 21 years of age, he told his parents God had called him to be a missionary. The parents were not surprised! Peter did become a missionary and led many groups to build churches in Southeast Asia. Wonder where this started? A young boy learned about the love of Jesus in a Christian preschool.

Many young children have come to know, love, and serve Jesus because a caring church reached out to young children through a preschool ministry. When a church has a preschool with caring teachers who are called not only to tell children about God’s love but also apply the teachings of Jesus to a young child’s life, we will witness children who grow up wanting to know, love, and serve the Lord all their lives.

Jan Wilton lives in Lancaster, Texas. She has taught in many educational settings—public school, Christian school, preschool, and homeschool. Her most recent position has been as an instructional tutor for Grades 4-6 in a charter school. You may contact Jan at revjan2008@gmail.com.

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