Any use preaching the gospel, praying for children?
By Tek Chong.
Activities in Emmanuel School*
Over several days with the children of Emmanuel Community School in Phomn Penh our team built up a close rapport with them with a program of activities like talks, group games, how to brush their teeth (Jason and Sara are dentists), etc.
At the School Christmas party, a gospel message was given and when the invitation to receive Jesus as Saviour was given, almost all the children came forward.
In a debriefing session two questions were brought up.
When these Cambodian boys and girls respond to the altar call, are they actually making a personal decision or are they just following the crowd?
We came to the conclusion that we are to sow the seed, but it is God who will work and bring about the harvest. He said, ‘’my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’’ (Isa 55: 11 ESV) So we can leave the result to Him because salvation does not come from us but from the Lord. Some hearts may be more fertile than others and produce fruit sooner but ultimately it is God who will prosper His work.
Secondly our team also wondered whether there was any point praying for the children in English if there are not enough English-speaking interpreters to interpret our prayers.
The Lord then reminded us of a passage in Numbers 6:27: “Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”
God promised that He would bless the people we bless in His Name. This means that whenever we bless any person in His Name, He will also bless that person. So, we were reminded that when we pray to bless someone our prayer is to God and not necessarily for the person to understand. The recipient may not understand English but God understands that we are blessing the person so God would honour our prayer. So being assured by this Scriptural Truth, we confidently prayed and blessed the students in English whether they understood or not.
At the end of the session, many of the team members reported that as they prayed in English, they witnessed many of the children tearing or faces lighted up, showing evidence that they felt blessed by God. 
*ECS (Emmanuel Community School) newsletter read Here
