Last week, I shared with you about ministry to the next generation. How important that is for the kingdom! It is equally important that we protect the children God has entrusted to us. The Bible has much to say about the value of children to the Lord (Matthew 19:14; Mark 9:37; Matthew 18:6, 10, 14).

One of the heartbreaking truths about our fallen world is that children are too often abused physically, emotionally and even sexually. It is extremely sad that this sometimes happens on church grounds or during church activities. Even worse, sometimes the abusers are church leaders.

There should be zero tolerance for this. As the people of God, it is our responsibility to protect children from abuse. Churches should be proactive to make sure children are safe.

Texas Baptists, at every level, from convention messengers to executive board directors and staff, are committed to helping churches make sure that they care well for minors and that they respond appropriately when abuse takes place.

A recent executive task force has launched, among other things, a new webpage titled Speak LIFE (Proclama VIDA in Spanish). The LIFE acronym stands for learn, implement, follow up and emergency response. The webpage provides information and resources for each of those four important areas related to protecting our children.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. This is an opportunity to raise awareness of this important matter among church leadership, members and families. Even more so, it is an opportunity to learn about the resources available to churches in prevention.

The Texas Baptists Center for Ministerial Health, through the office of Olga Harris, director of counseling services, and in partnership with MinistrySafe, will offer webinars this year for our churches, including:

Background Checks – What we DON'T know can lead to a Ditch on May 15
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Through Thoughtful Reporting on Aug. 7
Peer-to-Peer Sexual Abuse on Nov. 13

All of these will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CT. It is not too early to register. I encourage you to add these to your calendar and to share them with your church staff and leadership so they can register as well.

During this month, would you take time to pray for our children, for our churches and for our families? Will you seek to be informed and prepared? Will you share resources with your church leadership and strive to make sure your church does all it can to protect children? Will you commit to responding appropriately should abuse occur?

Perhaps you might consider having a special emphasis or moment in the worship service on the last Sunday of April around this topic.

Practicing the Great Commandment includes loving children enough to protect them. Practicing the Great Commission includes instilling trust in the hearts of young ones so that one day they can trust Christ and follow Him as Savior and Lord.

In fact, at this year’s Annual Meeting in Abilene, we will have a keynote speaker who will address this topic, as well as a breakout session where you can learn more about it.

King Jesus will ask an account of us for the way we treated the least of these. He will reward those who acknowledged that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

Protecting our little ones