A CRY FOR CHILDREN
By Ada Nicholson Brownell
Reprinted from the book, What Prayer Can Do
During World War II enemy soldiers entered a
small Dutch village, intending to take the young girls for sexual slaves.
The fathers and almost every
other man from the village were in battle or in prison. Women and children—some
of them teenage girls—were left.
As soldiers came to their
homes and seized the younger women, the village mothers and grandmothers gathered
in the town square where enemy buses were parked
The women stood and watched as
the girls, some barely into their teens, were herded like animals toward the
buses. The women had no weapons.
When the first girl was seized
and forced into the bus, in unison terrible cries of anguish erupted from the
women standing by.
Suddenly they took off their
wooden shoes and began to attack the soldiers.
Their daughters were saved
because the village women came to defend them.
I met one of the young girls
who escaped and immigrated to the United States. She told me this story in
Arvada, Colorado. How thankful she was for the cries of anguish from the women
as they went into action with the only thing available—their shoes.
I thought of teens—both boys
and girls—who are being seized by Satan for his use. One parent, whose son was
involved in drugs and was in trouble with the law, told me, “There’s nothing I
can do.”
But we don’t have to stand by
and see our youths corrupted by Satan, who will steal their talents and love
for life, and even kill the body and destroy the soul (John 10:10).
A young married couple came to
church without knowing their parents had become Christians and were praying for
them.
“Both of us got this desire to
read the Bible,” the young man explained. “We bought one and started reading.
Instead of starting at the front, we started at the back. We were reading
Revelation, and we got scared. We didn’t understand some of it, so we decided
we’d better find a church. We came here and gave our lives to Christ.”
The couple learned their
parents, who had become Christians, and many of their parents’ friends, were
praying for them. The parents didn’t know how to explain to their children what
happened in their lives, so they just prayed and their children found God.
Some parents’ prayers aren’t
as quickly answered. But when the cry of anguish for souls is sent heavenward,
we know God hears (1 John 5:14, 15).
All we can take with us into
heaven are other people. We want our families with us for eternity.
Every day I thank God I have
children who are dedicated to Him. Even then when one gets into a dangerous
situation, I find a place on my knees to intercede for him.
But the cries of anguish and
action for youths need not be limited to our families. The cry can go up for
our community, our city, and our nation’s children.
We can pray for youths. We can
be good examples. We can teach the Bible and its principles. We can encourage
them. As parents we can be firm and loving with discipline. We can help them be
faithful to the house of God. We can show our love for them.
Yes, there are things we can
do to defend our youths. We don’t have to sit idly by. Like the village women,
we can use what we have to do battle.
But we won’t fight this battle
alone. When the cry of anguish goes up and we put faith to our works, we enlist
the help of Almighty God.
The next cry will be the cry
of victory!
n THE PENTECOSTAL EVANGEL, June 9, 1985
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