And our kids are just these beacons of light in this dark world. And I see this light just emanating and just glowing in the cities that they're all stood out and serving together. That's possible because of what Jesus has given us. He has given us the hope, the only hope there is, he has given us himself.

And that's the only answer in this dark world, to share his love and his answer, the gospel. All right, hello and welcome to the Axe 2 Network official, unofficial podcast. I think I got that name wrong, but that's okay. We are launching lifelong kingdom workers from every college town.

I'm Stephen and today I'm here with Jim and Julie. Jim and Julie, thank you guys so much. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yeah, thanks for making time. I'm super excited to talk about our topic today. We want to talk about how A2K, Axe 2 Kids, our kids ministry, became evangelistic.

It's something that started in the DMV, where you guys are at, but has spread now to some of our other A2Ks. It's really exciting. But before we jump into it, why don't you guys introduce yourselves? Why don't we do this? Just your name, what you do for work, because you guys are co-vocational, what you do for ministry, and then just some of your peers around our network.

Cool. I guess I'll go. My name is Jim, and what do I do for a living? I'm a software developer, and I work at an education firm. Nice. What do I do? My peers? My peers are mostly on the West Coast, like John Coe, Tim Fitz, Joe Song, Sing Su.

All right. And why don't you give me a little bit of your ministry resume? Where have you done tours of duty? Oh, tours of duty. You're in A2K now, right? Yeah. How long? Geez. A2K in Fairfax has been about five years. Five years? Wow. I was going to say three.

Three? Three. Five years? Give or take. And what are some of the ministries you've been in before that? Yeah, we did Joyland and Youth. Okay. ECM. I did College. Okay. International. VSM. Wow, you've been all over the map. Yeah, yeah. Actually, we did all of them. Wow. Which one is your favorite?

Oh, gosh. It's hard to say. My gut says youth. Youth. Oh, okay. I still have a heart for youth, yeah. Cool. Very cool. All right, Julie. How about you? I'm Julie. And let's see. Some of my peers are Emily Kim, Bibliopolis. Yeah. Yeah. Cynthia Ping. We kind of merged some classes, but like Cynthia, Mary Chen, Helen Din.

Wow. You guys have very fun groups. We need to, like, get your peer groups, like, together on it. I think that would be fun. Yeah. I think that would be fun. Yeah. So, Julie, what do you do for work? Oh, right. I work for, I do tech support for a high-tech company.

Okay. Cool. Yeah. And then, just, yeah, what ministries have you been part of before? Yeah. Similar to Jim. Yep. Youth. We were out in SF Chapel for a while. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was going to be there. That's where we kind of first met-ish. At SF Chapel? Yeah. When Jim's my roommate.

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Let's see. And then, yeah, VSM, Joyland, youth out here in our high. Yeah. I think a lot of people don't know that we did start something called SF Chapel. It was kind of like a, was it like a young adult ministry? Yeah. Out in SF? Yeah.

Like kind of talking to young professionals? Kind of like a X2 Next without being X2 Next, I guess. Oh, okay. We were reaching out to our coworkers. Wow. Very cool. Very cool. So, when you met Jim, what was your first impression? Surely you know. You know. You must know.

Look, so there were stories about him. So, I kind of had that heads up. I think a lot of my impression actually came from his younger sister, Annie, who was my roommate. And she thought very highly of her older brother. Oh, wow. She would go around saying things like, my brother's the best.

And, you know, he's so good at this and that. And, yeah, she just really sold it to me. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Did you know that Annie said all those things about you? She said that starting freshman year, as I recall. Yeah. It's a little, oh, dude, I got to hide.

Yeah. All right. All right. Well, okay. Heart Shift. We're going to, we're going to, we should get down to the actual, but I think people will enjoy that. So, Heart Shift. We've been experiencing some really cool stuff with Acts 2 Kids, which is, I keep wanting to say JCC, but Acts 2 Kids.

So, why don't we just start first with like, how did you guys get involved with Acts 2 Kids? Do you, do you even like kids? Like, what's kind of the story behind that? You joined, back then, Joyland first. Yeah. I think Joyland was my first ministry. And I think it was just, I came as a young adult, actually.

Oh, okay. I didn't know that. And I think it was just one of the ones that they were offering to have people volunteer for at the time. And so, I just, I think I just, as a new Christian, I just wanted to serve somehow at the church. So, I just said yes, and I tried it out.

And actually, some of my first students were like Lydia Choi. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. Wait, is that right? Lydia Choi. No, no, no. It wasn't Lydia Choi. For sure. That was in youth. I'm sorry. That was in youth. Okay. It was in youth. It was Anna. Yeah, Anna Kang was in my kindergarten class.

It's Ken Lee, who's now out in Cambodia. Oh, wow. And Kelly Powell, who's at UVA right now. Yeah. They were like in my first kindergarten, first grade class. Did you ever expect Ken Lee to be in Cambodia? I'm sorry, Ken Lee, if you're watching this. Yeah. No, we're so grateful.

But no, yeah, we, you just don't know. I mean, you're just doing your, you're kind of week to week, you know? Yeah. Do you like kids? Did that, was that a good experience? I don't think I particularly liked kids. I mean, I didn't dislike them, but I think it was just more of like, this is where I can serve.

Yeah. Okay. Wow. That's cool. How about you, Jim? Like, I mean, how did you first get involved? Well, I was on and off just like helping out in Joyland as a, like a practice, like a young adult kind of lead. A number of my guys were like Joyland teachers and I, I kind of stepped in to help them out or serve.

And like, I guess, years ago, like when, um, Chi Su and Ray Wong's class were, oh, yeah. I served those cooks for, on Sundays for Joyland. Those morning breakfast times, right? Yeah. The morning of the Joyland story. So we did that with them. And, um, yeah, I liked, yeah, same with Julie.

I was, I didn't particularly like kids. Um, yeah, cause you know, they can get crazy and annoying, but at the same time, I found myself like kind of liking, uh, that stuff just because the kids were, the kids themselves were, um, very funny to me and then like, they can just do, they say the weirdest things.

And, and a lot of times I acted like a kid too. So I can get that. I, I get that like rambunctious. Wow. And fun. Yeah. So, so who she comes up with, with the crazy ideas. Is it Jim or is it Julie? Really? Both of us. Well, we're both, I don't know if you've done that.

What's that test? I did. That the working genius test. So would you, yeah, yeah. Yeah. We're both eyes. Yeah. Okay. Um, which I guess we didn't know. I'm an IT. So typically how we work is that I might have an idea and she tops it with a crazier idea and I try to turn it down, but it's too late.

She has to plan it. I'm like, we're not planning. We're just imagining. So, yeah. And like, okay, let's do this. And like, okay, let's do it. And then, so I'm a T I, you know, IT. So I take it out. Um, so, so I feel like you guys definitely leveled up, um, like the creativity and the fun and the imagination of our, um, actually kids.

And you guys continue to push that, which I'm really thankful for because my son is a direct recipient of those things. But, um, I think, uh, what you, what has now happened is kind of a leveling up of evangelism among our Fairfax kids. And, um, maybe you could speak into that a little bit.

Like, what was the impetus for that? Um, how did, what were the first few things that happened where now you're getting our kids to share the gospel with their friends? Like, I think that's so awesome. Maybe you can just, yeah. How did that start? You want to talk about, it kind of started with the kids themselves.

Oh, yeah. So we noticed that our kids, like during our small group discussions or whatnot, they bring up like, oh, I shared, um, the gospel or like, I talked about God today on the school bus. And these are little kids. I think they were maybe like first grade at the time.

And we're like, wow, that's really neat. Yeah. I asked my friend, like, she told me she believed in God. And I asked her, well, which God do you believe in? I mean, they're asking questions like that. And then we thought that was kind of cute and funny, but you know.

Kind of a good question. And she said, and my friend said, she, she believes in the, the, the God that died on the cross to save us for our sins. And I said, oh, okay. You know, just making sure. And her first grade, you know, bus friend, you know, and then, yeah, we'd hear different stories about, yeah, from parents, even where their child took up, took the Jesus storybook to school and shared it with her classmate and read it with him.

And he wanted to hear, you know, she shared the gospel with him that day and even asked him, do you want to become a Christian? And, you know, her friend at class said yes. And, you know, we don't know how much he understood or genuine that is, or he's just saying that to, you know, please her or whatnot.

But they were, you know, we hear stories like this again and again. And I think from that, we were trying to think of what would meet their needs. I mean, these are kids being like this and what can we do to kind of help them grow in that and support them in that?

And wouldn't it be neat if we could share the gospel with these non-Christians? Yeah. Definitely, I think it was a response to how the kids were interacting with their local, like, school friends or neighbors. And I think, though, the culture here is a little different than, I think it would have been really hard to do, like, in California.

Just because it's like, what are you talking about? It's like, just, even politically, it's a lot more moderate here. And I think that allows, have a diversity of kind of ideas and conversations. Yeah. Yeah. And so that was, we're thankful for, like, and then we see all sorts of, you know, they're all up and down, like, this kind of, you know, in terms of the diversity of thinking and beliefs.

One thing that we also notice is that as we, so we make it a point, like, for example, during Welcome Week, like. During the College Welcome Week? College Welcome Week. For the first, you know, let's say, three weeks. Yeah. Every Sunday, we give a 10-minute recap of what happened that week.

Oh. In terms of outreach to the kids and say, hey, your parents are here and this is what they did. Look at that picture. Who's that? Wow. Who's dad is that? Yeah. And so, what is he, you know what, why is he dressed up like a dinosaur? What is he doing?

What is that, what are those guys cooking? So, we wanted to plug them into the kind of, kind of the common understanding of what is our church about? What are we doing? What are our, that allows naturally to share the idea of what are our lives about? Because we don't want them, we don't want them to be clueless about why we're even here on a church line.

What's the whole point of being uprooted and coming here? And as we share those stories, and that's when the imagination kind of takes off too. As we share the stories of the impact that their parents are having on these campuses, they too feel, and we challenge them. You are part of this work.

Wow. You're not just kind of like a, you're not troubled. You're not just a little, kind of just a chore that people have to do. Like, you're precious in God's eyes. People are precious, and we're, you know, this is why we're here. This is why we sacrifice. And as they see their parents, like, passing off flyers, so how else would they know that, right?

Because they share their stories with them. I think they start to catch on, this is a valuable kind of treasure in our group, in the context of our social dynamics. Wow. Outreach and ministry, welcoming is important. Let's pray for it. Yeah. And so that started them to see themselves wanting to be like their parents.

That was the first step. That is so cool. Because, yeah, I was about to ask you, like, why do you think they started doing these things? And I guess what I'm hearing from you guys is because you intentionally, like, shared those stories, you sort of almost, like, trying to shape what's normal for them.

Even just trying to explain what is it that we're doing, you know, in a way that, you know, they would be able to grasp. So I remember when I came out of the church plant, like, I just tried to tell my son, like, three years old, like, we came to tell people about Jesus.

Because Jesus is the only way to go to heaven, you know. And he's just trying to connect those dots in a very simple way for him. And, yeah, like, they soak that in. They absorb that. And, you know, I think the church plant context is a special context, too, because you just kind of have to bring them with you everywhere.

And they end up, like, absorbing a lot, you know. And sometimes even better at ministry and reaching the college students than you are because they're so cute. Yeah. There's this one story that kind of, I guess, shows that there was this one, I think, oh, gosh, she was maybe second grade at the time.

On her bus ride home, she'd invite fifth graders to her house because her parents are doing youth ministry. And she knows, oh, on Fridays, we're going to have a youth Bible study. Wow. That's crazy. She'd be like, hey, you want to come to the Bible study at my house?

Because there's going to be one. I mean, you know, so. Wow. That's so great for a second grader to say that to a fifth grader. That's cool. Might have been a sixth grader, too. Because here, elementary schools go up to sixth. Wow. Oh, okay. They're on the same bus as kindergartners.

Yeah. No, it probably was a sixth grader. Yeah. And then, you know, our middle school program, however, starts at sixth grade, not seventh. Yeah, yeah. So it's a one-year crossover, which is interesting, you know. Yeah, yeah. Wow. That's so cool. Wow. So, I mean, in addition to just explaining it clearly, you know, their parents modeling it for them, just becoming sort of the norm.

And then, yeah, you know, the environment, like you mentioned, the context down there, being a little more moderate, all those things kind of creating this. Is there anything else do you think that has sort of helped this, like this shift of these kids sharing the gospel with their friends?

Shit. Hmm. I don't even know if shift is the right word, but just, yeah. It is. I think a big context is we decided, hey, we're going to open, like, Joyland up, and we're going to start a Friday program, and you can invite your friends. And then I think the first time we announced it, there was, like, not just, like, quiet rumble.

They were, like, excitement. They were giddy. They were, like, snapping their feet, and they were, like, giving each other high fives, and, like, yes, we can invite our friends here. Wow. They're so excited. And then to be able to kind of provide a context for them to invite their friends.

Hmm. And then they're proud of, they're proud of our program. Hmm. Like, excited, like, to say, hey, this is my church. And then we started actually having Sunday service in the same, at the same elementary school that most of the kids went to. Oh, okay. Easy sell. It was like, hey, just come here Friday night.

Oh, no. Just come here Sunday. Yeah. A Sunday, and then we'll be here. Wow. Some kids took that offer. And I think even being able to say, invite your friends to, like, Fall Fest or Easter Fest, BBS, that was something that they didn't have the opportunity, I feel like, before.

Hmm. And, yeah. I think those big events really help, like, Fall Fest or Easter Fest, like, something that we put on at the school. And then all these families could come. So, it was a shift. It was not, like, in-house. And we're like, go to the streets and find kids.

And they actually did. Sometimes they did. They went to the- Like, they would invite kids on the playground as they're waiting to come in. Yeah. Walking down the street, they're like, hey. They did. Yeah. The one kid did. Literally walking down the street, he got invited and came. Yeah.

Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. So, go ahead. Oh, yeah. I was going to say, I think also because when the parents invite them together, like, hey, we met you at this, you know, sports practice together. And so, you know, do you want to come here? Or, yeah, parents kind of helping the kids to reach out to their friends as well and having them come.

And then some of the events are family, like, your whole family could come to Fall Fest or Easter Fest. And it wasn't like a bait and switch. We, like, clearly, you have to say, hey, we're going to have a gospel message, too. And so, like, it's on the flyer and everything.

And we're like, it's a very, it's a church flyer, obviously. Yeah. But they still come. And they've heard, it's like one story was like, they started coming. And he got really excited. He wanted to learn more. And so, instead of just those Fall and Easter Fest, he wanted to go, I want to learn about Jesus during vacation.

So, VBS was something he signed up for. Wow. Yeah. That's crazy. Wow. I guess I'm hearing a lot of a couple of things. I mean, you know, I think holding it at the school that a lot of kids go to is very strategic. But the fact that the program is something that our kids are proud of, and that, like, when you announced this, there was almost this, like, this dam that burst.

You know, like, they've been wanting a place to invite. They've been wanting their friends to come experience what they experience, right? And I feel like a lot of times, kids, youth, experience of church is not like that, right? And so, what's the, what's, like, one huge thing you can do to actually increase evangelistic fervor in, like, a kids group or middle school?

It's make your program great. You know, make your program, like, high quality. And then people will naturally want to share something that's good. You know, so that's a, I think that's a huge lesson. Yeah. I love that. So, these parents are coming. And are they just being dragged along by their kids?

Or, like, what has been their response to these Easter fests and fall fests and these things? Yeah. I mean, some of them just, like, hey, they're dragged along. And they've heard several gospel messages already. And I'm not sure where they're at. But they are softening. You know, some of them are already Christian.

They're, like, so grateful. Like, for example, we have a Friday program. And that's unique. There isn't a Friday program, I realize, for elementary-age kids. Who does that? Yeah. Yeah. And then some parents, actually, they're, like, it's almost, like, so when they're joking, like, we'll drop our kids off. We're going to have a date.

The parents and the mom and dad were, like, we'll be back at 830. But we're just going on dinner date. And we'll be back. Dude. Yeah. If I were a parent, I would be, like, yeah, I'm going to drop my kid off. Yeah. Yeah. We do that. You're safe.

You're happy. Enjoy it. But it's awesome. It builds trust. It builds a lot of trust. Yeah. With us. And just even, just. Even our own building is such a blessing to have. Oh, wow. It's a nice setup. You guys. It's not a dinky little, like, you know. I guess their conception of, like, a church Friday program was, like, some kind of small corner in a dusty chapel.

Yeah. They're, like, whoa, you guys are really nice and well-lit and clean. So, I think they appreciate that. There are, I think, people, though, I think they're moving towards more curiosity, a lot more curiosity. Because now there's a lot of touch points. They're, like, oh, they're with so-and-so's basketball team.

Oh, they're in April's with so-and-so. And so, they see us everywhere, in a sense. Yeah, yeah. And you need to make those connections. And I mean, in a way, it brings the community together. It makes the community feel smaller, too. So, that's good. I mean, the parents are just generally really grateful.

They are thankful that, you know, their kids can come to this. And actually, there's a few kids where the parents said, you know, my daughter. Like, there was one who came to Fall Fest. And I was talking to the mom. And she said, you know, my daughter, I think she wants to come to this program because she has questions about God.

And I'm an ex-Catholic. And I don't know how to answer these questions. And so, she's, like, grateful that she could, she's, like, so I want to send them to the professionals, is what she said. I want to send my daughter to the professionals to answer these questions she has about God because she's, like, she's at a loss at how to answer them herself.

And actually, there's another kid, kindergartner, that was, the mom said the same thing. He has all these questions about God, life, and I don't know how to answer them. So, they're grateful that they can send them, too. And so, that was really encouraging and neat to hear. Yeah, in a world where, like, I mean, the world we live in where there isn't a lot of answers and people don't talk about that stuff.

I think that is something that does hit in parenthood when kids ask, you know. I mean, my son's definitely asked questions before. I'm like, how do I explain this apologetics question to, like, a four-year-old, you know. But they get it, like, they're ready to hear that stuff. They just need it articulated in the right way.

And so, I think there's so much, like, you care about your kid and you want them to develop emotionally, physically, socially, all those things. But then a lot of times we don't really grasp in the, you know, modern life is that spiritual dimension as well. So, it seems like you guys are really filling in that need, which is awesome.

So, how has it been for, so we talked about the parents, we talked about the kids that are coming or just starting a little bit. How long has this shift been happening? And, like, how are our kids, the AX2 kids, you know, the ones that are inviting their friends, what are some changes and growth that you see in them?

I think, when did we start opening it up? Like, two years? Two years ago, maybe? Yeah, two years. Wow. So, it's been a while. Yeah. And I think we just did a, well, yeah. Anyway, what was the second part of your question? It was just what, I mean, two years, are they getting tired of it?

Or, like, is GOSPL becoming, like, the norm? Like, what are some things that have changed? No, they've grown a lot. I think they've done. So, we've shifted, one season we shifted the program. So, the kids are actually in charge of programming. Oh, wow. They come up with the games.

They come up with, like, you know, kind of, like, even, like, just how to engage their friends. What would they like? What would work? And so, I think that would be, that was kind of a unique thing for them to be able to kind of take on a greater role in that.

They didn't necessarily do everything for that event. You know, we gave the Bible study and all. I think they're in a place where, yeah, like, they're really excited to invite their friends. And what we're, the shift we're seeing is that their friends, so mostly, like, you know, like, we get a lot of, actually, most older, we get older, like, fourth and fifth graders.

They happen to stay connected relationally with, you know, their friends. They go to recharge, like, our Friday youth programs. Yeah. And so, they've actually been really receptive there as well to the point where, in terms of metrics, like, if you, as a kid, show up to our program, as a high likelihood, you're going to make a salvation decision.

Wow. Within five years. Yeah. Wow. So, you've been seeing that, like, three years later. Wow. What an investment. You may not make the decision now, but they've built up so much. So, like, on Friday, for example, we see our friends that we met, like, you know, when they're fifth graders, fourth graders.

You see them up in the youth room and say, hey, hey, what's up? You know, how you doing? You're here. And that's great. Do they say, like, hey, Teacher Jim? Hey, Teacher Jim. Yeah. So, we're on different floors. Oh, okay. Yeah. And we see them and say wave hi.

Hey, what's up? And then we're like, hey, yeah, yeah, I'm going to go to a retreat. I'm going to go to a retreat. You're still coming out. That's so cool. Yeah. And then they're inviting their friends. It's a level of trust that they have with not just, like, me and Julie, but with the whole church.

Yeah. Because of that good experience they had when they were really just kind of just looking for answers, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So, what do you think is building that trust? Like, I mean, trust is such a hard thing, right? And it's such a, I think it's lacking today.

And it's tricky, too. It's like, you can't go and buy trust. You can't, you know. And then as soon as you, like, people can sniff out, you know. So, is it just how much fun they have? Is it just, like, what are they detecting as they come to our group?

I think it's more than fun. I think fun is. It's important. It's good. It's important. You know. I think it's the atmosphere the teachers set, the staff sets. I think they know they're in a safe place. I mean, we'll have talks about getting overly competitive during games. You know, I think.

Oh, yeah. So, like, our kids, we'd have to, like, I'd have to have character talks with them. Hey. You don't have to go all out all the time. Sometimes it's good to let the other kids win. Yeah. Or the boys will have to talk about, hey, you know, don't be really competitive.

You know, don't make the game like this. Yeah, I think a lot of it is kind of the staff. And I think they can sense even the camaraderie amongst the A2K staff and that they're cared for, I think. I think they can, you know, kind of perceive all those things.

Yeah. So, like, let's say some dude comes. He comes because one of our A2K friends invite him. And so he already has one friend at least. Yeah. And then he comes and he starts horsing around with all of them, you know, tossing a football. And then now, all of a sudden, he has all these other friends.

Yeah. Yeah. And so on Friday night, he doesn't have to sit at home and just watch TV. Yeah. He has these friends and these adults who kind of keep the atmosphere very, you know, there's no bullying, obviously. There's, you know, it's safe. It's very fun. And then the parents come.

We talk with their parents. Like, you know, we know, like, where the parents, I think I can tell you where they, like, where they work, where they grew up, you know, what they did. And, like, we just share life stories as they pick up their kids sometimes. Yeah. Just a little bit every week.

And so I think they say, oh, my parents like them too. And so it's, like, it's kind of like a family friend kind of thing on Friday kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, that's awesome. That's really cool. I'm glad to hear all those things. Like, this, that the kids taking ownership, you know, and then just welcoming, that welcoming atmosphere that, yeah.

I guess, I guess what I'm feeling right now is, I feel like I'm learning so much that college ministry needs to learn. Like, kind of relearn a little bit, you know. Well, every time we show, like, an Acts 2 kids recap or something, and then it's like, this kid shared the gospel with this kid.

And then this kid told them to come to church. And all the college students, all the college staff are like, dang. You know, there's a little bit of, like, oh, I'm so challenged, you know, I'm so challenged. So keep, keep making those recaps and keep talking about kids sharing the gospel.

It's, it's pushing colleges to do the same. You know, they're, they're like, man, if that kid could do it. It's mutual. When we, we show, like, some recap videos. Like, this is what happened. And then they're like, and so they have a, wow. Church, it's so fun. It looks so amazing.

Look at that color war thing. And they have kind of a sense of, like, some awesomeness out there. Yeah. And he recreates a portion of it. They go all in. They're like, yeah. All the aunties and uncles, they're doing it. And we want to, too. And as a kid, you see a college student sharing the gospel.

Like, that's a very cool person. It's not like your parents. You're like, that's so cool. And they're sharing the gospel. So it's, it's awesome. Like, that kind of intergenerational effect. Yeah. So it does kind of make that kind of a, I think that's really important. Well, a community that, that is a community that is not just flat and normal, but then there's people to look up to.

And then our kids also, you know, they have a chance to serve and take care of the kids younger than them, too. And I think that, that dynamic is, I think, I want to say, God made us to live in that sort of community. Yeah. Or not just me in my insular life taking care of myself, but the interconnectedness of, I mean, very kind of concretely, God put us in tribes.

I mean, like the people of God were in tribes and in groups. So I think there is a lot to say about how that interconnectivity is, is kind of a solution to the over internet, internet connectivity that most Americans face. Yeah. Yeah. And that's so true, man. So as, as this continues, what are something you guys see in the new, in the near horizon with AX2Kids?

Like, where do you guys want to take this? With just some, some dreams, you know, let that, the I part of your widget just start going. And what are some things you guys are thinking of? You have ideas, I'm sure. No pressure. We don't have any. You're just kind of like, we're just doing our thing.

We're feeling it out. No, I think one thing that's kind of on our heart is as we've been going to these CDF conferences this past two years, I'm just learning that CDF being, oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Child Discipleship Forum. Oh, okay. It's a big children's conference in Nashville that we've gone to for the last two years.

Cool. It's probably one of the biggest in America right now. Okay. It's sponsored by Awana. Oh, okay. Awana is the, was that the worldview? Children's one? Oh, it's children. Versus every Sunday, that kind of thing. Oh, okay. Yeah. Big names speak there. It's like a George Barna, um, I think Sean McDowell, right?

Like, yeah, a lot of, a lot of big names speaking on this. Yeah. Um, but one thing we've been learning is that, um, the, the golden window to get the gospel in and to build that biblical foundation is actually 15 months to 13 years old. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how you know at 15 months.

What was your worldview at 15 months? But it starts building at 15 months and it goes up to 13 years old. Yeah. And I think one thing we want to do is just knowing that is really building in like that solid biblical foundation, like even to apologetics, um, those types of things in our kids, um, at that age and that, um, yeah, I think that's why it's neat that they're doing evangelism to their friends because then these, these young ones who, um, I think the, the rate of becoming a Christian is just a lot higher in that window.

Like if you're, if you can understand and be given, you know, the golden question during that window. Um, yeah. So where is it? Where am I going with this? No. In terms of, uh, the investment, I think for the, for the children at that age, um, we as a nation, you know, I, I think our church does, uh, is starting to do it like, you know, more and more of this.

It's not just babysitting. It's not just childcare. Yeah. We have a precious opportunity to shape the, the minds, the values, and the hearts of, um, future leaders, um, in Christian. Yeah. And I think I take that very seriously. Um, and, uh, it was really burdensome for me for a while.

So I did, you know, we have about 72 kids now here from infancy to high school. I used to spend, uh, at least once a week to pray by name for every kid, because I thought that that was how I have to get started to pray for every single kid by name.

And it ended up being long prayers because I'm praying for the parents. I'm praying for, like, you know, their ministry groups that they're in. Wow. But that is where we have to see them. Um, we spend so much time in like other activities, but I really wanted to, uh, push ourselves, you know, to be prayerful by name, uh, for each precious child.

And, uh, just as we pray for our own kids, just to take ownership of all the kids in our ministry and the kind of, uh, and I shared this at, at, uh, the rally we had with the A2K teachers, but I really do see a world transformed, um, just, just, and our kids are just these beacons of light in this dark world.

And I see like this light, just like, just emanating and just, and just glowing in the cities that they're all stand out and serving together. And just, uh, that's possible because of what Jesus has given us. He has given us, uh, the hope, the only hope there is, he has given us himself.

That's the only answer, uh, in this dark world to, uh, to share his love and his, his answer to the gospel. Uh, and then if that is in the kids' hearts, if that's how they identify themselves, if that's how they can kind of, you know, live their life. I think that's, uh, kind of, we should go all in in my ministry.

I feel like we, we got to go all in right now. Wow. The windows, the time is short. Well, you're going to make me tear up, Jim. Just as a beautiful vision. I mean, just preach it, man. Like, cause, cause I was, I love the word you use investment.

And then like pairing that with a window of opportunity that Julie, you're talking about. I mean, I, I was thinking about this, um, the last couple of weeks, actually, because, um, at our acts to winter conference, we learned about the heroes of faith. And then our recess Sunday, we learned about John Wesley and we learned about his mom and how she was like the, the spiritual progenitor.

Like, like she, what I, what I realized was there's no accident. Like, like the amount of investment she poured into him and that translating, even him doing the Holy club in college, like there's a reason why he had that much stamina and that much conviction and bravery and, and that kind of zeal, you know, um, not that you're, everyone's going to become that, but you don't become that way by accident.

Right. And so the word investment came to my mind as well. Like what, how am I investing in my kids? Right. Um, not that I want, I don't want to like over-invest and just be nuclear family focused. Right. But I do feel like sometimes it's like, cause our church has been so college ministry focused, right.

To the point where sometimes the college students are like, what's going on with your kids? You know, they think our kids are deprived or something or remember with their kids and things like that. That's not true, you know, but, um, but yeah, to, to remember like, um, as we're ministering to college students, you know, I have a, I have a kid at home too, who also needs that kind of investment and I can't just give him my leftovers.

I have to, I have to push myself to invest in him as well, you know? And so we can raise up this generation, you know, to stand on our shoulders and, you know, they don't need to remember me or anything that we did that the world learns the name of Jesus.

I think that's going to be really exciting, uh, quite a vision for us. And I don't think, uh, Susanna Wesley, I think that was her name, but hard time knowing her name. I don't think she knew the extent of, of her son's impact on the world. Oh yeah. And, and, but, uh, but God knows.

And I think, uh, you know, God had a vision for, for the whole family, for, for, um, for the gospel. And I think that's how I want to see, um, just all of us live in any ministry that we're at any ministry that we're at, we have that calling to, to invest in the people in front of us.

Hmm. So if you were to net it out, let's let me, we can end this way. Uh, if you were to ask like the people watching this podcast to pray for us, two kids for our next gen, what would be like the three things that you would say, please pray for these three things that I would pray for that, that the word of God will be deeply rooted in every child's heart that even when they hit like the lowest valley and that the darkest night that they, they can remember that, like those verses, um, the word, the word of God to lift them up, that the God loves you and he's always there for you.

He's ready to welcome you home. And, you know, there isn't, you know, a valley so dark that he's not there. Yeah. If we don't have to do three, Julie, could you just add one of your own? Yeah. I just kind of reminded me of, um, kind of one of our goals and prayers for our kids during this last, uh, what do we call it now?

ACP. Um, the story was the prodigal son story that a medieval time. And, um, one of the prayers for the teachers, for the kids was that they would know that you cannot lose God's love. No matter what happens in your life, you cannot lose God's love. And that all these kids would know that along with like a strong biblical worldview and kind of like what Jim was saying, that they would be able to stand on the shoulders of the people who came before them and be able to even do greater things for God.

I think my final prayer would be, watching would be wherever you're at, as, uh, serve God wholeheartedly because kids are watching. I mean, like they pick up on everything, your tone. Yeah, they do. They pick up on your behavior and then be genuine, you know, be authentic and integrated in your faith.

Don't separate the two and just work on it. And I think that's, as we build his church, um, I don't think it's an individual that's going to like make that, like that powerful impact compared to, uh, his body, the body of Christ. That's what's going to make the biggest difference.

The word that it's not just that one amazing preacher. No, it's just the secret that God gives us is the church. Wow. Amen. Amen to that. So to net it out, those three things, it's, it's the word of God deeply rooted in them to come to mind in their most desperate moments for them to know the love of God and the love, love of God to meet them in those moments as well.

Um, you know, so biblical worldview, word of God, love, love of God, that, that conviction of God's love for them. And then, yeah, we being the community that, that, that context to, to grow them. Right. And so, yeah, we can be the answer to our own prayers. So, yeah, well, thank you guys so much.

I feel so, uh, I feel so blessed hearing from you guys and excited for the future of, um, Acts 2 Kids and know that's, um, that's, uh, you know, in, in a lot of ways, I think we do look towards what's happening at Fairfax to kind of set the pace, um, and, and to, um, like push the, the, the, the, the, the, and pioneer this whole thing.

And so we're really thankful for what you guys are doing and excited for how that's going to ripple into the rest of our network. So thank you guys so much. Uh, please like subscribe and tune in to the next episode. So yeah. Thank you guys. is