When I was growing up, I was given the gift of good books and good guests at the dinner table. Books like God’s Smuggler allowed me to view a wide world outside my own. Dinner guests like missionary Eleanor Webb also filled in much of my global understanding of God’s heart for the nations. Stories came alive at her telling. Now, in my forties and with children of my own, I know that God’s heart for the nations began before Brother Andrew and Eleanor Webb. God tells a story through Scripture — of His desire that all people would know him.  It is a story worth telling our children.

The Story From Genesis to Revelation

When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, He told Satan that from Eve’s offspring would come someone to bruise his head. God’s rescue plan for all humanity was already under way. Promising Abraham a son, God did so with a global promise — that through Him all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12). This is the story God is telling of His heartbeat for the nations. It is a theme repeated throughout Genesis as Abraham’s family line continues. “All nations, all nations, all nations,” echoes throughout the stories.

When the first temple was built, a place was included for foreigners to pray to the One True God: That all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you. (1 Kings 8:43, 60) This is the heart of God for the world.  In 1 Chronicles 16:24 we are charged to: Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all people. Nineteen times the Psalmist echoes God’s heart for all people and the prophet Isaiah specifies it seventeen times. Isaiah includes that all languages, or tongues, would know the redemptive story God was writing for humanity.

When Christ was born He was given a name that was His mission statement. Yeshua means, “Yahweh saves.” Explaining this salvation to Nicodemus, Jesus tells him it was God’s love for the whole world that compelled Him to send a rescuer (John 3:16). In Mark 11:17, we are reminded: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. There is no exclusion by race or language in God’s kingdom. There is only belief or unbelief. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)

The Gospels echo God’s global heart and the Epistles show us the Good News of Jesus spreading. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 13:47)Revelation 7:9 rounds out God’s triumph in His purpose, giving us a glimpse of heaven in the story He is writing: Before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

This grand story of Scripture is not only for us, but also for our children.

Our Children’s Role in this Story

From Genesis to Revelation, a redemptive story has been told. It is a story for all nations. It is the story we get to excitedly tell our children. As future church leaders, parents, educators, missionaries and lay people, their role is to learn, pray and grow in wonder and awe of God’s good work among all people.

How?

They come alongside God’s global work in our homes, families and churches. When we give to missions, we can do it as a family. When we talk about unreached people groups abroad and in our own communities, we model God’s heart for all people. When we pray for our missionaries, even the smallest child can be offered the opportunity to pray. When our kids pray, God hears. What an amazing thing — that the God of the universe stoops low to hear the lispy, ineloquent, delightful requests of His littlest ones. Our own kids take turns praying for missionaries we support and for the unreached people groups we read about. Often, there are interruptions and wiggles. Always, there is childlike faith and they are heard before the Throne.

Practical Applications

How do parents and churches give kids a grasp of God’s kingdom expansion mission through Scripture? We do it a little at a time, and faithfully.

1. Consider hanging a beautiful map of the world in your home or church. When you hear about a people group in the community or far away, look them up. Talk about what they believe, whether there are known believers in their community, and if they have the Bible in their heart language. Pray for them, marking on the map where they live.
2. If you support a missionary, share their newsletters with your kids. Invite them to dinner and into Sunday School when they are on furlough. Mark on the map where they live. Read about the people they work with and together, pray.
3. Thoughtfully curate a home that reflects the multicultural beauty that heaven will be. Gather a playlist of worship music in other languages, share stories of how worshipers in other places meet to worship, try a new recipe from a place waiting for the Gospel, and hang artwork with people that look differently than you. Each of these are conversation starters with our kids, family, and friends.
4. Pray for God’s kingdom expansion work across the globe. Include your kids as you pray for the Gospel to be sent, for churches to send and for workers to commit to learning language and culture.

Hannah Hagarty is a mom of ten children and “Honey” to two grandsons. She and her husband served with Radical in West Asia. Hannah is the founder of Wonder Letters, which equips churches and families to talk about God’s heart for the nations with their children. Hannah and her family reside in Punta Gorda, Florida.