Seeing children as God sees them is quite the challenge for us all, but an even greater challenge in those parts of the world where the influence of Christianity has been very limited.
Even in Jesus’ day, children were not viewed as having value. Jesus was quick to challenge such norms, and those following Jesus should also be quick to challenge cultural norms that demean children and treat them as anything less than having great value before God.
In 1998, Friends of Hope was formed to bring the love of Christ to children in developing nations, especially India. The organization has residential centers for the care of orphan and semi-orphan children in several places throughout India.
Pastor Amy Little of Trinity Lutheran Church in Monroeville, Ohio, Pastor Marcus Carlson of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Auburn, Ind., and Pastor Tom and Rhonda Curry of Living Faith Lutheran Church in Wabash, Ind., traveled to Nepal to spend four days with the directors and administrators of all the Friends of Hope homes in India at the Call to Love Conference. The goal was to highlight the love of God for children.
Pastor Little and Pastor Carlson provided 17 hours of training to 20 participants. The conference was held in a modern hotel in Biratnagar, Nepal, along the India-Nepal border.
Topics covered at the Call to Love Conference were the inner work of God in the human heart; the call to see children through the eyes of God; emotional needs of children; emotional development of children; loving the least among us; identifying the child in need of extra love and attention; discipline vs. abuse; discipline options; spiritual development of children and the power of parental love.
Friends of Hope sponsored the conference in partnership with Awakening Lives to World Missions.
Author: Pastor Tom Curry serves as pastor of Living Faith Lutheran Church in Wabash, Ind., and the Midwest Regional Director of Awakening Lives to World Missions. He is one of the founders of Friends of Hope.