One of the greatest ways to stir up your faith and passion for seeing God demonstrate His presence and power in children and your children’s ministry is to read about what God has done in previous revivals and heavenly visitations. Reading the reports about what God has done in the past and knowing that if God has done poured out His Spirit upon children before that He can do it again provides a constant, consistent weapon against the lies of the enemy and his deceitful reports that children flowing with the Holy Spirit is just wishful thinking.
Sadly, it is difficult to find books that tell of the wonderful moves of God among children. Authors have treated this subject with the same type of mentality that many churches have treated children’s ministry … the subject is stuck in obscure places and only mentioned in passing. I know this is true because my personal library has dozens and dozens of books that recount the events of previous revivals and it is rare to find a paragraph or two in any of the books that even mentions children. It is as though that God totally ignored the children. But, we all know that this isn’t true.
So, allow me to suggest a couple of books to add to your library that tells these stories and will bless you and encourage you.
* “Children and the Holy Spirit: How to Set Your Child’s Heart on Fire for God” by Mark Harper. The book was written in 1999 and isn’t readily available through places like Amazon.com. You can purchase the book online through Mark’s website www.superchurch.com. It will be a great addition to your library!
* “They Told Me Their Stories: The Youth and Children of Azusa Street Tell Their Stories” by Tommy Welchel. This book available through Amazon.com shares stories that I haven’t read in any of the dozen books that I have on the Azusa Street Revival … especially as seen through the eyes of what was then the children and youth of the revival.
Do yourself a favor and invest in some resources that will remind you of the fact that if God has done it before, He can and WILL do it again if we pursue after Him!
