It was in 2006 that I understood in a new way, the promise children hold. The occasion was the Transform World Summit in India’s Bihar State, where 170 leaders representing 17 different tracks met to consider “Bihar.” For most who had gathered then, Bihar was termed the graveyard of missions and was referred to as the core of the core of the core of the 10/40 Window. 100 million population, 66% illiteracy rate, 35USD per capita income, 45,000 villages where 90% of the population lived and where 52% of all children under-5 were malnourished. Bihar needed help!

However, it was when a group of young orphan and destitute girls no older than ten, sang for us one evening that something special occurred. As they sang, God’s spirit moved upon the congregation, as conviction fell on the audience – their love for God, their dependence on the heavenly Father, their purity and sincerity all were evident. Spontaneously the majority of the congregation found themselves on their faces before the Lord in acts of repentance, renewed commitment and dedication. For several global leaders who had gathered from several nations of the world, this was a turning point. It was a turning point for me too.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matt 19:14)

Kathmandu, Nepal
From August 28-31, 2012, eighty-four servant catalysts representing six South Asian countries gathered to learn, plan, pray and serve together the 4/14 generation in South Asia. Six tracks including Media, Holistic Child Development, Ministry to Children, Government, Generation Y and Family served all participants including several visitors who also joined the sessions. World Without Orphans (WWO), Children in Prayer, Literature and National Facilitation Team (NFT) facilitators served the entire group.

The Call and Context
In the list of the top 10 countries in the world with children in this age group of 4 to 14, fall the three South Asian countries of India (248m children), Pakistan (38m children) and Bangladesh (36 m children). South Asia therefore assumes critical significance in this missional focus on children and her often desperate needs. The top 10 countries world-wide have a collective population of over 700m children vs. the 1.2billion of the world (58%) and together are larger by 16% of all other countries of the world put together. 1 out of every 4 of the world’s 4/14’ers are therefore from South Asia. The chart given below provides a deeper understanding of the areas of the world where the 4/14’ers reside.

322 million of the world’s 1.2 billion children reside in 3 South Asian countries alone
Foundational Assumptions

The focus of the 4/14 window initiative is to make an urgent appeal to consider the strategic importance and potential of the 1.2 billion children and youth. It is a plea to the Church to open hearts and minds to the idea of reaching and raising up a new generation from within that vast group—a generation that can experience personal transformation and can be mobilized as agents for transformation throughout the world. The vision and hope is therefore to maximize their transformational impact while they are young, and to mobilize them for continuing impact for the rest of their lives.

Jesus had an intense interest in children. He brought back to life three people, two of whom were children. He encouraged children to come to Him, and He used them as an Illustration of Simple Trust In Him. His interest in children is seen in His taking them in His arms and blessing them (Mark 10:13-16). Thus to neglect children is to run counter to what the Bible says about them.

Luis Bush says, “This requires that we become acutely aware of what is taking place in their lives. We must also endeavor to understand their nature and the essential means to nurture them. Only with this kind of informed awareness will we be able to reach them, shape them, and raise them up to transform the world.

“There are more than 1000 verses in the Bible to children”, says Dan Brewster, who also comments “that children play a significant role in the unfolding of the message of the Bible that God loves and protects them; that they are extremely perceptive in understanding the things of God; and that God often deploys them as His messengers and models – often it seems when adults may have been too corrupt and deaf to His calling…

Conclusion

The synergy developed in this South Asian region of the world is promising. The event served to be catalytic in nature, building strong inter-personal relationships towards jointly focusing on common challenges across national borders. The commitment expressed towards intentionally serving those in the 4/14 window in various states and nations through a variety of ministries was heart-warming to hear...It can be concluded that as the result of this conference, several dozen strategic ministry partnerships have been forged to serve multiple thousands of 4/14 in each South Asian country. It can also be inferred that as a result of this gathering, a key leadership group has been set in place to serve the 4/14 with greater focus, vision and commitment.