The 4/14 Window

Most Christians with any interest in missions has heard of the 10/40 window, the part of the world with the most unreached people groups.  But have you heard about the 4/14 Window?  This refers to the world of children between the ages of 4 and 14 years old.  The term was introduced in a 1996 publication by Dan Brewster, then program director for Compassion International and based on research by Dr. Bryant Myers. 

Dr Myers showed that “85% of those who become Christians do so between the ages of 4 and 14 years old.”  Children and teenagers make up half of the world’s population, yet as little as 10% of mission efforts are currently directed toward them.

The 4/14 Window recognizes that children are the most receptive people group to the gospel, and positioned to be a mighty force to bring others to faith in Christ.  Children have their whole lives ahead of them to live out and share their faith, and they also have time to be long-term agents of change.

The 4/14 Window is a movement of the Holy Spirit to focus God’s church on the 1.2 billion children at risk around the world.  The children are suffering as slave laborers, orphans, prostitutes, and soldiers, and the Church needs to be positioned to answer their cries.

The 4/14 Window is a necessary response to Jesus’ command, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)

    

Jesus did not marginalize children, so neither should we.  Jesus set a little child in the midst of His disciples and asked them to form their theology, their ministry focus, around this child.

Questions to Consider:

1) Children can be Both Churched and Unsaved.  One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen among those who have a heart for the lost is that they don’t see the children in their own church as lost. Every child, even the cute ones in our Sunday schools, needs the gospel.  Our goal is not just to get the children into church, but into Christ.

So if the church is going to be missional, let’s begin being missional with those closest to us—the ones already within the church walls.

2) In what tangible ways, do you, your family, church and/or ministry place a high value on children and see them as worthy of ministry?

3) What steps might you take to ensure that children between the ages of 4 and 14 hear the gospel of Christ and are equipped to be active participants in the Church?

4) What other ways might you respond to this urgent appeal for a new missions focus to the 4/14 Window?

5) Children are a Bridge to Families.  A church that is great at helping 4 to 14-year-olds flourish spiritually will attract those who are looking for a church to call home.  If a church wants to be missional with families, it must be missional with the kids.

God is calling us to radically change the way we view young people and to respond to their strategic importance and rightful place in His Kingdom.  The 4/14 Window Movement sees children and youth as more than a mission field to be reached.  They are also a powerful mission force affecting change in our world today.

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

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"The Man with No Legs" is about how after evading God for decades, despair woke me to my need for Him.  God called me into His service ministering in Alaska and India.  Everything was going great, until one day my world came crashing down, and I lost both of my legs.  This is the story of how God brought me through this crisis and even used it to spread the gospel further throughout India, and for His glory!