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A primary qualification for the winning of boys and girls is a broken heart. No
one can be a successful soul winner who does not care for souls. They must
have a genuine, God-given concern for the souls of boys and girls. I do not
mean "crocodile tears." Children are quicker to detect sham and hypocrisy than
older people.

Tears over the Plight of America’s Children

The condition in American is similar to that which existed in Israel in the time of
Jeremiah. (See Lamentations 2:11-19; 4:3-4; 5-21-22) Jeremiah is known as
the "weeping prophet" – but why did he weep? It is true that he was moved
by the Spirit of God, but the fact is HE WAS WEEPING OVER THE PLIGHT OF THE
LITTLE CHILDREN IN THAT LAND! "Mine eyes do fail with tears … because the
children … swoon in the streets of the city." (Lamentations 2:11) The children
were actually fainting in the streets for hunger.

It is true that the adults in the land were suffering too, but they suffered
because of their own sin – their having forsaken God. They knew they had
sinned and they knew the way back to God, but were unwilling to retrace their
steps. THE CHILDREN WERE THE INNOCENT VICTIMS OF THE FOLLY OF THEIR
PARENTS!

Children are actually starving in America for the "bread of life" and are
dropping into an eternal Hell! The sad thing is the most of us do not seem to
care.

We are facing a crisis in our land. In just a few years today’s children will be
making our laws, running our government, and comprising our citizenship. Now
with thousands of mothers working, an additional multitude of children are left
to play on the streets, unsupervised. If there ever was a need and an
opportune time for child evangelism, THAT TIME IS NOW!

Many children are allowed to grow up and pass through the Sunday school
without having actually been led to a personal acceptance of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, that God might open the eyes of Sunday school teachers to their
great privilege and solemn responsibility of winning the children to Christ.

A pastor’s wife was called upon to substitute for a Sunday school teacher who
was absent. In the process of her teaching she asked the question: "How did
Jesus die?" One of the boys immediately answered, "Why, He got shot, of
course." Another boy in the class scorned, "Aw, you’re crazy! He just got old
and died." This was in a fundamental church and had not the dear pastor’s
wife had occasion to personally investigated the lack of spiritual instruction
those children were receiving, we can only imagine the result.

Thousands upon thousands of children in America have never heard the
Gospel and have never had a chance to be saved! I ask you do we have cause
to weep? Multitudes of children are starving for the "bread of life." WE NEED
SOME JEREMIAHS TODAY!

We have received many letters expressing the hunger in the hearts of
children, to know the Lord Jesus. Thank God that He has revealed to "babes"
some of the things that are hidden from the "wise and prudent."

Do children have a desire to know the Savior? Read the following paragraph
from a letter received from a mother, and answer this question for yourself:

"My baby just put her arms around me this morning when I was talking about
her being saved and said, ‘Mommy, if we just had a church where we could go,
then I could be saved too.’ Every time I talk and pray with her, she cries so
hard. I just plead with you to intercede for her." We wrote this mother a letter,
telling her how to lead her child to Christ.

May God melt our hearts and open our fountain of tears as we contemplate
the tragic condition of the children in America, without Christ and without hope.

Tears of Sorrow

Yes, we should shed tears because of our responsibility for this condition.
Whose fault is it, that so few children in America go to Sunday school? Whose
fault is it, that most of them have never had a chance to be saved? Whose
fault is it, that most homes don’t have any Christian instruction? Surely it is not
the fault of the dear, innocent children! No, they are the victims of our own
unconcern and sin.

Oh, how the heart of God bleeds over the impending doom of these millions of
lost children! When Jesus was here, He tenderly took them in His arms, and I
am sure that His heart is concerned today.

In Jeremiah’s time, God made it clear that they fault was wholly that of His own
people. They were lukewarm and had turned away from the zealous teaching
of the Word of God in them homes. "The law is no more; her prophets also find
no vision from the Lord." (Lamentations 2:9) God had commanded them
(Deuteronomy 6:7) to teach it "diligently unto they children."

God didn’t blame the unbelievers, the ungodly, and the enemies of truth, and
NEITHER CAN WE! The Lord’s people in a nation are responsible unto God for
the spiritual condition of the children of that nation!

We can’t blame the fact that most of America’s children are not saved upon the
infidels, agnostics, skeptics and modernists. God isn’t expecting anything from
the. But He certainly makes it clear that it is the solemn duty of believers to
win them. We who, by God’s grace, have the light of salvation "by grace
through faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ are surely to blame. We have the
message of salvation; we have been appointed as "ambassadors for Christ."
"the salt of the earth," "the light of the world" and "my witnesses." But we
have "no vision from the Lord." Our hearts have been cold and unconcerned.
We have settled back in smug complacency and are letting the precious
children go to Hell! When God answers prayer for these children, He will work
through His own people to bring them to the Savior. God grant that our hearts
may be touched and we will repent of our unconcern, and in genuine sorrow
for past failures, determine by His grace, to "capture the children for Christ."

Tears of Repentance

"Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned." (Lamentations 5:21)

Oh, how we need to turn to the Lord in genuine repentance! We need to ask
Him to give us hearts of love, tenderness and compassion. WE NEED TO
REPENT BECAUSE OF OUR UNCONCERN. How much do we care? Most of us
shrug our shoulders and say, "Too bad" – and that’s about the extent of our
concern. The fact is we just don’t care! We do the things we are concerned
about, and we weep over the things we care about.

A few years ago I was conducting an evangelistic campaign in a certain city
where everyone seemed to be concerned about a certain talented young man.
He was a senior in a nearby college, the director of a dance band, and was a
typical "man of the world." His name was on nearly every prayer list that was
handed in. The people said he was cynical, hard and unconcerned about his
soul. They said, "If you talk to him in a service, he will argue with you and get
angry."

One night this young man was in the meeting, and he listened very attentively
as I preached on "Eternity." I emphasized the fact that there could be only two
possible eternal destinies, and that our acceptance or rejection of the Lord
Jesus Christ determined whether that destiny would be Heaven or Hell.

At the close of the service, he came to me immediately and said, "Preacher, I
want to talk to you." I expected an argument, but when we were alone in a
classroom, he turned his handsome face to me, laid a hand on each shoulder,
and said, "Preacher, do you actually believe what you preached tonight?" I
said, "Of course I do." Then he said in a trembling voice, and with eyes
swimming in tears, "I know you are expected to preach it, but down in your
own heart, do you actually believe that there is a Heaven like you talked about
tonight, and that there is a Hell such as you described, and that the only way
to escape Hell and spend eternity in Heaven is to trust Jesus Christ as your
Savior?" I said, "Certainly, I believe it." It seemed it was more than he was
ready to accept. Then hesitantly he said, "Do all Christians believe that?" I
said, "Surely they do." He fixed his eyes on me with a gaze that was hard to
meet, and with tears freely streaming down his face, said, "Preacher, I have
only one thing to say to you. CHRISTIANS ARE THE MOST HEARTLESS PEOPLE
IN ALL THE WORLD." I was about to open my mouth in defense of Christians,
when he said, "I have lived within six blocks of this church all my life; I know
every member of the church by name; I meet them every day; I talk with them
about everything else; but never once in twenty-one years has one of them
warned me about Hell; never once has anyone mentioned to me my soul’s
condition; never once has anyone told me about the Lord Jesus Christ, or
invited me to be saved. I maintain that if all these Christians believe that I’m a
lost sinner and on the road to a Hell such as you preached about, and in all
these years they have never once been concerned enough about me to
mention it to me – then Christians are the most heartless people in all the
world." I could do nothing but hang my head in shame at the truth of his
words.

Do you care? Let’s see. If a little child who lives on your street were run over
by an automobile, would you care enough to turn out in the street and pick up
that broken little body? Would you care enough to call at the home, while the
little one lingered? Would you care enough to weep when the child passed
away? Oh yes, we can weep and we are unashamed of our concern about the
physical welfare of our boys and girls. BUT, HAVE YOU EVER DONE ANYTHING
ABOUT THAT CHILD’S SOUL? Oh, the unconcern of the average Christian! Is it
possible we are more touched and concerned over the earthly and physical
things than spiritual and eternal things?

The tragedies resulting from this wide-spread unconcern of church people over
the salvation of children is emphasized in this letter which recently came to our
office:

"I don’t want to take up much of your time, but I just feel that I want to tell
you this. Several years ago, while a revival meeting was going on here, my
oldest boy, who was then six or seven years old, was concerned about his
soul. The sermon that night was on ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ and that little
‘feller’ went down to the front seat and he knelt there, but no one paid any
attention to him. I was on the outside, as I was one of the world at that time
myself. He came out of the service crying, and said, ‘Mother, if you had been in
there, you would have cried too.’ One of the main members of the church told
me not to pay any attention to him, because he was too young to know what
he was doing. Oh, that almost breaks my heart! Do you suppose God will hold
it against me?" "That boy," the mother went on to explain, "is older now, and
is utterly unconcerned about his soul."

May God open the eyes of these "main members" in all our churches that they
may realize that a little child needs to know the blessed Savior!

A mother from Iowa wrote, "I wonder if you could help me with my problem. At
night my little girl goes to bed and cries and cries. When I ask her what is the
matter, she says she does not know how to be good, and she can’t be good
even when she tries so hard. And then when she goes to bed, she thinks of it,
and just cries and cries about it. I tried to tell her that she is pretty good,
because she is. I have told her to pray to God to help her to be better, but this
does not seem to help her any. What can I do?"

I had the joy of writing to this dear mother and telling her that the little girl is
right; she is not good, and this is a real conviction of sin. This dear little child
realizes her own need of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that all her righteousness
is as "filthy rags" in the sight of God. May God open the eyes of thousands of
blinded parents, religious leaders and Christians everywhere, to the real need
of boys and girls!

Our little girl, Betty, was only three and on-half years of age when she trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ as her own personal Savior. Betty traveled with her
mother and father in evangelistic work for four years, beginning at the age of
three. It was in such a campaign in a Michigan city one night, when the Holy
Spirit took hold of the service in a marvelous way. Many persons had made
their way to the prayer room, and among other precious souls saved, were a
large number of boys and girls. Of course, some of these children were
weeping and Betty Darlene ‘toddled’ into the prayer room with the others, also
weeping. Of course, we paid little attention to her, thinking that she was
merely ‘upset’ because other children were crying.

That night after going to our apartment, we prayed with Betty and tucked her
into her little bed. Soon we heard her crying and I immediately went in to see
what was wrong. Imagine my amazement when that sweet "little one" (See
Matthew 18:6) said, "Daddy, I want Jesus to take my sins away." This was a
term entirely her own, as I had not been in the habit of expressing salvation in
exactly those words. I, stilling thinking that she was merely disturbed over the
evening service, did not take her tears as a genuine concern for her soul, and I
merely "said a little prayer" in order to satisfy mer. It is with shame and
humiliation that I confess this now – that I was so blind to the actual working
of the Holy Spirit in that little heart and life.

After an hour or more had passed, we again heard sobs that seemed to come
from the very depths of her soul. I went into her room and inquired, "What is
the matter?" She answered reproachfully, "Daddy, you prayed, but you didn’t
really mean it, because Jesus didn’t take my sins away." Just then Mother
came into the room, and humiliated for our lack of discernment, with our own
hearts greatly touched, we sat on the side of her bed and explained, in simple
terms, the way of salvation. Betty was, in fact, "ahead of us" as we were
talking, and had as thorough an understanding of her need of the Savior and
of the way of salvation as any adult could possibly have. It was with many
tears that we knelt by the side of her little bed with her, as she prayed
sincerely for Jesus to "take my sins away and save me, for Jesus’ sake." Then,
smiling through her tears, she immediately turned over and went sweetly to
sleep.

Mother and I agreed that we would not mention it to her the next morning,
just to see what she would do. We went to the pastor’s home for breakfast,
and she ran joyfully into the house and cried, "Grandpa Anderness (his name
was "Anderson") Jesus took my sins away last night!" Then it was he said,
"You know, I watched that little girl in the service last night, and even though
the message was a hard message against sin, I wondered, ‘Is it possible that
a little child like she would be under the conviction of sin?’" He expressed his
belief that it was genuine, and the years that have followed give ample proof
that she actually became a "new creature in Christ Jesus" that night.

Now, I realize there are some who would say that this is unusual and we
grant that it may be "unusual" that a child is "born again" at such an early
age. It is true that Betty was in a service nearly every night of her young life,
and it is only natural that the Lord should speak to her heart at an early age.
However, such was not the case with Bobby.

Our little boy, Bobby, came to us from an orphans’ home when he was four
years of age. He was a sweet, brilliant little boy, but surely it could not be said
that he had any "background." He had had no such opportunities for Christian
teaching and instruction, and it was only with the assurance that the grace of
God can accomplish miracles and overcome any possible hereditary "taint" that
we proudly took him into our hearts and home as our own little boy.

Bobby had been with us only a few short weeks when he attended each night
a revival campaign which I was conducting in our own city. Each evening as I
gave the invitation for those concerned to indicate it by an upraised hand (so
we could remember them in prayer before we gave an altar call) little Bobby
raised his hand high. Of course, there were many who smiled at this, and it
seemed to hinder the service at a crucial moment. I explained very carefully,
patiently and tactfully, that it was disturbing and that he should not do this
again. With a perplexed look on his face, each time he would say, "But Daddy,
you asked us to." I am ashamed to say that I told him, "I didn’t mean you."
Again it seemed impossible to me, though I had given many years to children’s
work at that time, that God was actually speaking to the heart of that dear
little boy.

This happened night after night, and each night we patiently explained that he
was "disturbing." Finally, one night when he thought that I had not seen his
hand, he got way out in the aisle, held up his hand, and waved it. Mother was
at the piano and could not correct him. It was very evident that this act
attracted the attention of some who had been deeply under conviction, and so
Bobby was soundly spanked when we got home that night.

A few days later, I had to be out of town for a week of meetings, Mother was
ill, and the girl who had been working in our home was suddenly called away.
There was nothing left to do, but for me to take Bobby with me.

One night in the service, God began working in the hearts of sinners, and a
number came to the prayer room – but among the first came little Bobby. After
the service, as I was kneeling with those who requested prayer, Bobby hung
around my neck, crying aloud, and hindered me until I finally asked the pastor’
s wife to take him out of the room. Somehow he got away from her, and in a
very few minutes was back again. I again sent him out, with orders that he
was not to return.

That night, after we had prayed and gone to bed, I was telling him a Bible
story, as I had been doing each night. On this night, as God led, the story was
about Calvary. In simple words I explained the facts concerning the trial,
crucifixion, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ "for our sins." I turned the light
out and was nearly asleep, when suddenly in the darkness, Bobby surprised
me by asking, "Daddy, doesn’t Jesus love me, like He loved those other little
children tonight?" I assured him that He did. Then he said in a perplexed tone,
"Well, Daddy, don’t you love me like you loved those other little children?" I
again assured him that I loved him, and told him to go to sleep. He answered,
"But you didn’t tell me how to be saved. You didn’t pray with me like you
prayed with those other little children."

I turned the light on, and saw his eyes swimming in tears. I dealt with that
little boy for about a half-hour, asking him questions that would be
embarrassing to many adults. It was evident, not only that he knew clearly the
way of salvation, but that he felt his need of salvation. I said, "Bobby, do you
want to trust Jesus as your Savior?" He said, "Yes." I said, "When?" He
replied, "Right now." And with that he climbed over me and lit on his knees on
the floor. You should have heard that little boy pray! He gave every evidence
of having been genuinely "born again."

I tell these stories in humility and shame, and with an appeal to other parents,
to be ever watchful for indications of the Lord’s dealings with their "little one."
Yes, as Jesus taught us – "Little children" need to be saved; they can be
saved; they should be saved; and they must be saved, before "the evil days
come …" (Ecclesiastes 12:1), and it is forever too late!

Millions of children are lost and are going to Hell and no one ever cared
enough to shed one tear. It sounds bad, doesn’t it? But have you ever cared
enough to shed a single tear over that unsaved child of yours? Or over the
unsaved child in your Sunday school class? Or that lost child that lives in your
block? If God measured our concern by the tears we have shed, what would
He think?

WE NEED TO REPENT BECAUSE OF THE NEED OF THESE UNREACHED CHILDREN.

Children need to be saved. The lost sheep of Matthew 18 is a little child. Jesus
said in verse 11 of this chapter that they are "lost," and He makes it clear in
the 14th verse that, unless they are brought to the Good Shepherd, they will
perish. The sinful nature of a child expresses itself in deliberate sin very early
in life. We cannot give them the Gospel too soon.

A mother wrote, "My little boy is so hard to manage. He nearly breaks my
heart. I just can’t see why I have a little boy so is so rebellious. I ask God
nearly every day to give me the right words and to show me the way to make
him be more patient and courteous to others, especially to me and to Daddy."
Now, may I interrupt this letter long enough to ask you how old you think this
child is? Here is the answer. "He is only six years old, and I love him so dearly.
Please pray for us all, and give me some light as to how to help my precious
boy."

WE NEED TO REPENT BECAUSE OF WASTED LIVES. Think of the lives of these
children! They are going to be invested either in the service of Christ, or for sin
and Satan. When a child is saved, there is not only a soul saved from Hell, but
a life saved from sin, and saved for Christ.

It was a cold, winter night. The thermometer hovered slightly below zero; the
wind was howling and the snow was falling. Just past midnight, the city fire
whistle began to scream in a wail that subdued the whistling of the wind. It
blew and shrieked and screamed and blew and wailed – we thought the entire
town must be burning. I leaped out of bed and ran to the telephone. The
operator was not even taking numbers, but was repeating over and over
again, "A little girl is lost. The police department has requested that every able-
bodied man report to the police station at once and join in a searching party."
I immediately dressed and as I was backing my car out of the garage, the
policeman who lived next door "hailed" me and on the way to the police
station he explained that the little girl had been lost since 4 o’clock. The police
department had searched diligently since that time, and though he was off
duty he had just been called back to continue the search.

I shall never forget that sight! As we approached the business district of a city
of more than 10,000, every business house was a blaze of light and the
streets were swarming with people. They were huddled together and talking
excitedly. Some without shame let tears run freely down their cheeks.
Businessmen, doctors, merchants, lawyers, ministers and all left the warmth of
their homes and the comfort of their beds and were openly weeping. Two by
tow, we were assigned by the sergeant at the police desk to go from house to
house on every street of the city, knocking at every door. The "tough"
sergeant said, "If anyone refuses to open the door, call a squad car – we’ll
break the door down."

Every businessman had been called from his home, and was commanded to
open his store, in case the child might have been locked up in some store by
mistake. My policeman friend was assigned to search deserted houses,
underground sewers, dark alleys, barns, etc. Together we went into places
that night where, under ordinary circumstance, I could not have been induced
to go. The raging wind, the blinding sleet that was now falling, and the cold
that seemed to freeze the blood in our veins only spurred us on with greater
determination to find that little girl before she died in the storm. All night we
searched and it was estimated that 2,000 men joined in the effort. Why? A
LITTLE GIRL WAS LOST!

Just as the first rays of light streaked the sky, the fire whistle again sounded
the agreed signal, and for the only time in my life, a fire whistle actually
sounded musical. Instead of a wail that caused our spines to tingle, there
seemed to be a note of joy in its voice. We were just approaching the town
square when the whistle blew. Hats were thrown in the air; a shout went up
from thousands of voices; great men actually jumped up and down for joy and
fell on each other’s necks and wept. I have never seen a wilder, more excited,
more jubilant crowd in my life! Why? A LITTLE GIRL WAS FOUND!

As we turned the car toward home I could not keep the tears from my eyes as
I thought of the thousands of boys and girls who were spiritually lost in that
town and no one seemed to care. No one shed a tear for them; no one lost
sleep searching for those lost lambs that had "gone astray." Oh, how
inconsistent we are! We can be excited, stirred and weep oceans of tears
when a child is lost and in danger of physical death. But few of us have really
been stirred over the spiritual of boys and girls who have wandered out in the
darkness of sin and are in danger of eternal Hell.

A little boy was lost on the western prairies. The sheriff organized a searching
party, and for hours they searched through the tall fields of saving grain. Men
ran in every direction frantically calling and searching, but with no results.

Evening shadows were falling; the chill of the night was in the air; he must be
found or it would be too late! The sheriff called the searchers all in and said,
"We are not going about this in the right way. We must get organized."

Then, under his direction, over a hundred men joined hands and march side by
side through the tall grass and grain fields. Soon one of the searchers
stumbled upon the crumpled form, and the life of this little one was saved.

Just so, we need to join hands in a united effort to each the lost children of
America and to win them for Christ. That is exactly what the Child Evangelism
Fellowship Inc. is doing. It is the aim of this great, world-wide movement to
gather these unreached homes to give them the Gospel. The Good News
Clubs®, 5-Day Clubs® , supplemented by open-air child evangelism, are being
greatly used of the Lord to win countless thousands of children to the Savior.
We will be happy to put you in contact with a local worker in your state or
community.

TEARS OF INTERCESSION

How long since you were so burdened for souls that while you prayed, tears
ran down your cheek? How long since you have actually wept for souls?

There was a superintendent of a large, rescue mission in New York City, who
was very emotional. He could not talk about the love of God or of Calvary
without weeping. Oftentimes his sermons would be interrupted while he stood
silently and sobbed. He was ashamed of his tears and fought against it. Often
he would pray as he went into the pulpit, "God, help me not to cry tonight." It
seemed that his heart became cold, and his fountain of tears was dried. He
preached ineffectively week after week. Nothing seemed to happen. No one
was saved. Then, realizing the failure of his ministry to touch hearts and win
souls, he went down on his knees before God in prayer, and cried to God to
show him what was wrong. It seemed that God revealed the coldness of his
heart, his shame over the tears that had been shed. Then he sobbed aloud to
God, as he cried, "Oh, God, give me back my tears, give me back my tears."
God heard that prayer, and softened and mellowed his heart again. Once more
he stood in his pulpit and wept over sinners, but unashamed. God again
restored his power, and gave him souls for his ministry. That man’s tears were
caused by a genuine, God-given, heart-felt concern for souls.

God has not paid any attention to much of our praying, because we haven’t
really been concerned, we haven’t been in earnest. We haven’t really cared!

After Jeremiah told the Lord’s people to weep over the suffering children, then
he told them to pray to God for their deliverance. Weep first, let the thing get
hold of you, let your heart be broken, then take it to God in prayer, WE NEED
MORE BROKEN HEARTS!

There is nothing I can pray about with more faith than for the salvation of little
children. We know that we are praying in God’s will when we are praying for
souls. The Lord seems to have a special concern for their souls, and tells us,
(Matthew 18:14) that it is not his will that one of "these little ones" perish.
There is nothing that is closer to the heart of the Lord than the salvation of
boys and girls.

May God give us tears, tears of concern over lost children, tears of sorrow,
tears of repentance! And then weeping, let us turn to God in earnest prayer
on behalf of lost children. Then, as we weep and pray, let us say, "Here am I,
Lord, use me."

MY COMMITMENT

I have read this message and God has burdened my heart for lost children. I
would like to receive information regarding Child Evangelism Fellowship® and
how I might be used of the Lord to win precious children to Christ.

Signed
__________________________________________________________

Address
_________________________________________________________

City ______________________________ State
_________________________

- - - - -

Rev. J. C. Brumfield was associated with Child Evangelism Fellowship for many years. In
the beginning and developing stages of the ministry, he worked closely with the founder,
Mr. J. Irvin Overholtzer. Later, Mr. Brumfield began the Radio Kids Bible Club heard
across the nation until 1964. For a number of years he pastured the South Bay Baptist
Church of Torrance, CA.

God Give Us Tears has had a wide circulation since its first printing in 1966. It is reprinted
at this time with the kind permission of the author’s wife, Mrs. Betty Brumfield.

We trust that the Lord will continue to bless this outreach and that He will provide
heartfelt tears for each one of us as we seek to win boys and girls for the Lord Jesus
Christ.

"Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:
35)

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come again withy rejoicing, brining his sheaves with him"
(Psalm 126:5-6)

Copyright © 1979 by Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission