As we celebrate children this month, I think it is appropriate to ask: “What missionary lessons can we learn from a child?” Jesus used children as an object lesson of what we need to be like if we hope to experience salvation: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
Commenting on this verse, Ellen White says, “The simplicity, the self-forgetfulness, and the confiding love of a little child are the attributes that Heaven values.”1 We can learn a lot from a child in terms of what our character should be like, but I would also posit that we can learn valuable missionary lessons as well.
What do I mean? Well, what is the primary task of a missionary? For any missionary to be truly effective, they must win the trust of the people they minister to so they can introduce them to Jesus; this involves winning hearts. “Your success will not depend so much upon your knowledge and accomplishments, as upon your ability to find your way to the heart.”2 Who is better at melting a heart than a simple, humble, trusting, little child? Have you ever seen a child’s eyes light up when you walk into the room, or seen them get super excited when you told them you had a surprise for them or that you were going to do something special with them? How did that make you feel? Children have the uncanny ability to touch our hearts deeply, capturing them in a way few people ever could.
You might be saying, “That is all well and good, but I am not a child. I don’t have that kind of power.” That may be true, but God has called each of us to “become like little children.” He has called us to go into the uttermost parts of this world to win hearts and make disciples. For this to happen, we need to choose to humble ourselves, to let go of our pride, pretense and our carnal, sinful hearts, and to receive the transforming grace of the Spirit, the only One who can truly work a spiritual rebirth in our lives. When that happens, we will love people with pure, sincere, wholesome love. We will delight in their presence, and we will take an unselfish interest in who they are. When this happens, we will become true missionaries, just like little children!
If you wish to become a missionary with a childlike faith and approach to winning hearts and making disciples, contact us today at 800-937-4236 or recruiter@afmonline.org.
1The Desire of Ages p. 437
2Gospel Workers, Ellen White, p. 193
