There is another "window within the window" however, which may even be more significant for the National Evangelical Fellowships making up the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). This new window lets in the light not just on the churches and missions, but on the very foundations for the future of the church. Indeed, it may suggest an opportunity and a focus for the churches for the next decade. That window is what I call the "4-14 Window."

Some years ago, Dr Bryant Myers, now Vice President for International Programme Strategy for World Vision made an excellent presentation which suggested that in the USA, nearly 85% of people who made a decision for Christ, do so between the ages of 4 and 14!

Each time I have spoken on the subject, I have conducted my own survey, and it has largely confirmed this important missiological fact. My informal results have yielded a somewhat lower figure than Bryant presented. Generally about 60% of the people I ask say that they became Christians between the ages of 4 and 14. Perhaps only 60% of Christians made their decision for Christ during these pliable years. Or only 50%. But even so! What should this say to church leaders today? What should this say to the Evangelical Fellowships around the world?

We wouldn’t normally think of children as a people group. People groups are typically defined along ethnic, geographic, habitat or social affinity lines. But if we think for a moment about them in this way, we find a sobering reality.

Over one-third of the world’s population, nearly 2 billion people, are under the age of 15. Of all the children born today 80% live in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and some parts of Europe where extreme poverty is prevalent.

Surely this fact alone is enough to cause church leaders to re-examine their priorities and strategies for the coming decade.

Missiologists are also documenting the reasons for apparent changes in receptivity to the Gospel. The School of World Mission shelves at the Fuller Seminary are brimming with theses and dissertations exploring the reasons for resistance and receptivity. One clear and consistent factor is that people tend to be more receptive when their lives are disrupted. The poor and exploited tend to be much more receptive to the Gospel. There is no people group today whose lives are more disrupted than those of children and youth.

Bryant reminded us that children are…

For years we were told that some 40,000 children die around the world every day, very many of them die due to malnutrition and preventable diseases. Thankfully, however, the annual childhood death figure has come down to only (!) 24,000 per day. Nevertheless, many challenges remain and children in many countries still face enormous risks. Those in the "4-14 window" remain the most affected and vulnerable group for every kind of disease and suffering.

We know that very many of these children are still unwanted. One evidence of this is the appallingly high rates of abortion, especially in the so-called developed nations. An equally shocking and growing problem is that of street children around the world. Statistics indicate that between 100 and 200 million children around the world call the streets their home.

Between 100 and 300 million children are currently involved in abusive child labour around the world. In India alone, it is estimated that nearly 100 million children work without proper rest, safety or care. Child labour is not necessarily unjust and in many cultures the family relationships are strengthened when children work alongside their parents. However, far too many children are working under exploitative conditions. And when children are working, they are not in school.. Child labourers are often treated as expendable parts, easily replaced by the next young child with good eyesight and nimble fingers.

Children are also the victims of the many wars around the world. In the last decade, over 15 million children were killed in armed conflicts, more than 4 million were disabled, and more than 12 million lost their homes.

Equally disturbing are the tragedies of the buying and selling of children for sexual abuse. Global figures are difficult to assess, but some estimate that as many as 10 million children are caught up in sex industry: child prostitution, sex tourism and pornography.

The needs and injustices behind such shocking statistics cry out for attention. But the net result globally is a suffering, disrupted people group which is often hungry for the touch of the Gospel in their lives. Attention to this "4-14 window" is then imperative for any church which is serious about reaching truly receptive peoples in any other "window" of the world. Lamentations 2:19 urges us to "Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street."

In light of all these factors, it is curious then the relative lack of attention that churches sometimes give to children’s ministries. What do we have to say, from an ecclesiastic standpoint, to the most numerous, poorest, disrupted, hurting, and quite possibly the most receptive of the world’s population groups?

Sadly, apparently not much.

Another reason for the Evangelical Fellowships around the world to consider seriously the needs of children is that an emphasis on children is often the fastest way to plant and to grow churches. Compassion’s experience is that one of the most significant interventions for church growth is to assist the church develop a child health, education, and spiritual nurture programme. If the programme is done right, and new Christians enrolled and parents included, those churches will grow. And in the process, many of those families - both the children and the adults - will come to Christ.

We know that children are the church of the future. But we must understand that children and their parents are also the church of today.