Sharing Jesus With Children

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. Matthew 19; 13-15 (NIV)

It was an old manuscript; A bit ragged and bound at the edge with a plastic spiral. What is referred to in the printing industry as a “comb-binding.” The title of it caught my eye; “Sharing Jesus with Children” by BeeGee Langford. I discovered it as I was packing up materials from the offices of New Dimensions Evangelism in the basement of Felix Snipes’s home on Henderson Mill Court in suburban Altlanta—now almost ten years ago. Felix had passed from this world—after 50 years in evangelism. The ministry had been passed on to me. It was an undertaking; for Felix had accumulated quite a collection of outreach and ministry items. So, as I sorted through the files, this aged booklet caught my eye. I put in a box to move to the now Florida offices of New Dimensions. As I skimmed through the well-written text, I thought to myself, “I need to do something with this!”

Billie Gail Langford—or “Bee Gee” as she was known to friends and family was actively involved at First Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas, for 46 years. She passed from her earthly body in 2012. She had a passion for the salvation of children. As I continue to understand more about her, I know that God must have laid on her heart, in 1983, to put down some of her vast knowledge in this guide. I was eleven years old in 1983, living in Kansas. Bee Gee didn’t know me. I didn’t know her. But God knew both of us. I am not sure how Bee Gee knew of Felix—or how he knew her—I can assume that they met perhaps while Felix was ministering in the Pasadena area. God’s timing is always best. 

As I was packing to leave this past summer for a 6-week tour, I pulled that book from the files and thought, “it’s time to do something with this.” I carried it with me all summer; Reading over it, thinking, and praying. “I need to get this in the hands of people that have a passion, like Bee Gee, like me, to see children come to a saving knowledge of Christ.”  

As I began making plans in the fall for how to best use this material written by Bee Gee, and knowing that she had passed from this life, I reached out to her church—which put me in touch with her husband, Jerry. After emailing him, my wishes for this resource, I received a quick reply… “She would be very pleased that you would utilize this in your plans for an online course. Just today, I was organizing household stuff and found this booklet. The timing was a God thing…”  God’s timing is always best.

 So, I believe that now is the time. This year through our FaithKidz project, we’ll launch an online course…based on Mrs. Langford’s book, “Sharing Jesus with Children.” This will be a free resource to anyone wishing to learn more and go deeper on “Sharing Jesus with Children.”   (Please stay in touch to learn how you’ll be able to access this resource.)

Would you pray for this project? That it might be done to glorify God and grow the Kingdom of heaven?