A children's ministry in Canada recently shared with me the exciting details of a salvation message weekend. As first year Promiseland curriculum users, their excitement began to build as the volunteers and staff saw the weekend approach. Then the senior pastor of their church decided to have a salvation message the same weekend in big church, which further increased the anticipation for what God might do. And they weren't disappointed.

The weekend after presenting the salvation message, the senior pastor announced to the congregation that twelve people confirmed with him their decision to follow Jesus. Then the children's ministry director told the congregation about the fifteen kids (out of 120) who placed their faith in Jesus for the first time. The church building nearly shook with praise as this body of believers realized the breadth of God's work in their midst.

What makes this story memorable to me is not the fact that the children's ministry beat the big church because that would imply a competition—when, in fact, everyone won. What sticks out is that the plans for kids resulted in plans for adults. In other words, the children's ministry impacted the rest of the church in a clearly discernable and very eternal way. No matter if a church is large or small, if the children's ministry gets real focused and real good at changing lives it will get noticed.

The critical question to constantly wrestle with is whether or not your ministry is changing young lives. And how do you know? Although salvation decisions are clear indications of change, additional points of reference also exist. All approaches, though, share one common element—you must deliberately look. Maybe the first question, then, becomes Are you looking?

Resist feeling discouraged if your ministry has yet to receive the recognition or respect that our friends from Canada now enjoy. Their ministry spent years building to the point they are at today. Along the way, they kept a vision for life change ahead of them as they worked hard in ministry each week.

So if you have yet to see the results of your endless hard work, thank you for all you do and please keep going. If you do see life change and that causes you to want to see more, thank you for your passion and please keep going. And if you need to hear in person that what you do matters and that you are not crazy for trying to make an eternal impact on kids, consider Jesus words in Matthew 10:32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven."

Whenever lives change for Jesus, everyone wins.

Copyright © 2005 Promiseland.

Read more from 'Encouraging Words'

Words Kids Need to Hear To Help Them Be Who God Made Them to Be by David Staal If you could choose just seven statements to share with children, what would they be? Each chapter in this compelling book focuses on a single statement elementary-age kids need to hear from parents, children's workers, and other close adults. These seven statements are simple to share, yet guaranteed to profoundly impact children. They are: I believe in you. You can count on me. I treasure you. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Because. No. I love you. will educate, equip, and motivate parents and children's ministry teams to carefully choose words that building up kids' hearts, to say them frequently, and to do so in creative ways. What children hear from trusted adults significantly influences their self-image, their current relationships, and future relationships—including that all-important relationship with God.