Letter to Parents
Dear Parent, Your child has expressed an interest in exploring or pursuing a call to vocational ministry and God is uniquely interested in your son or daughter for that purpose. Your child is special and you have a God-sized responsibility right in front of you. It doesn’t matter how old your child may be, God has chosen this time to begin revealing His plan. He is communicating with your child and your child is listening. The days, weeks, months, even years ahead are a time of preparation for an eternal purpose. This will occur through experiences, opportunities and people who will lay a foundation for a life-time of ministry your child will build upon. As your son or daughter continues to obediently follow Christ, rest assured that God is gently and persuasively guiding and directing them down a path that will equip them to face the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead. The path may not make sense to you or your child or even appear to have any succinct direction. But in years to come, as you and your child reflect on these days, you will see how decisions, actions, experiences and people have played an important role in molding them into the spiritual leader God envisioned. As you continue to raise your child, God has a stated purpose for you during this time: “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” [Ephesians 6:5] Your support, encouragement and direction are essential elements in the overall spiritual development of your child. As you model obedience, faith and spiritual disciplines in your daily life, your values will be observed and incorporated into the life of your child. Your child may have joined the Missions Prep Network (MPN) for any number of reasons. But now that they are a member, it is my desire to assist in leading them to successfully answer the call through networking, leadership development and experience. Because their call is unique, their ultimate destination and place of ministry has not yet been revealed to them. The MPN will take a broad-based approach of nurturing your child’s unique interests, skills, abilities and challenge them to explore the world of ministry and missions. The MPN will also challenge them to know what they believe and why. As a parent, there are a few things you can know for sure regarding God’s interest in your child: 1) God has a vested interest in your child; 2) God will protect your child in places and ways you cannot; and 3) God will empower your child to fulfill His purpose. These are exciting days and I join with you in enthusiasm and wonder as to how God will direct the life of your child to accomplish heavenly purposes here on earth.
Donald King, |
