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Amber Alerts flash across our highway signs. Our local television newscasts report yet another terrifying child abduction in America!
In the United States, 85 to 90 percent of reported missing persons are under the age of 18. From 1982 to 2000, missing persons reports increased by 468 percent to an astounding 800,000+ each year (klaaskids.org).
Sadly, this is one tragic part of the overall breakdown of the family structure in our world today. Even more troubling is that juvenile abductions are so often linked to the selfish, violent and perverted act of sexual abuse.
Child abduction is just one danger that children face in the world today. Negative media influences, an oversexualized culture, inadequate education, poor celebrity examples, parental neglect and eating disorders are a few of the serious dangers facing young people today in the Western world.
One clear function of the human family should be to protect and guard the safety and purity of children. Vertical Thought is committed to proclaiming to the world that there is a solution to the seemingly insoluble problems that endanger today’s youth. The world can and will be made safe for children.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ walked the earth speaking about the good news of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14). He came to earth bringing a message of a new world that He would establish in our near future.
Bible prophecy predicts with certainty that in the Kingdom of God child abductions and sexual abuse will not happen—no more Amber Alerts!
As ruler of all nations then, Jesus will put a great focus on educating children. He will personally lead a worldwide educational system designed to build and develop the mental and spiritual knowledge base of children. “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13).
During His human ministry Christ spent time and energy personally interacting with young children (Matthew 19:13-14). As a result of His righteous leadership and government dedicated to educating and protecting children, the world will be a place where children can grow and play without fear of abductions and other negative influences.
The Bible paints a beautiful picture of this safe world to come: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den” (Isaiah 11:6-8, emphasis added throughout).
Soon this evil world will be transformed into a world made safe for children! The wild nature of animals will be changed—but even more impressive and vital will be the change in the nature of society and adults. Instead of seeing constant news of the abuse and mistreatment of children, we will look on a world where “the streets of the city [Jerusalem and all cities by extension] shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets” (Zechariah 8:5).
Your safety and that of other young people and children is just one way the world will change when Jesus Christ establishes His Kingdom on earth.
To learn more about how this world will be transformed, take a look at “The Promise of a Coming Kingdom.” Actively anticipating that new world of the future can lead to huge changes in your life now! VT
- About the Author -
Erik Jones runs a small business while pursuing an education degree at the University of Akron in Ohio where he attends the United Church of God.
Ukraine is an exciting country well worth visiting. Known as “the breadbasket of Europe” for its large grain production, it is Europe’s second largest country in territory and fifth largest in population.
Our team of four from the United States, France and Sweden traveled to Vinogradov in Western Ukraine on a LifeNets-sponsored program to teach English to children attending a local summer camp. The knowledge of English is very poor but much sought after in this part of the world, hence our invitation.
From my two-week stay in Ukraine I learned some simple but valuable lessons of life:
• God loves and cares for the little children.
Jesus said that “of such is the kingdom of heaven,” and “take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones” (Matthew 19:14; 18:10).
Sadly, some of the children at camp have been through some very tough times, and life has been hard on them. We were greatly encouraged by the work that local Christians were doing there in order to give the children food, clothing and a stable moral foundation by teaching them lessons from the Bible. This, coupled with love, was the recipe applied to prepare them for life.
• Ukrainians value personal contacts.
Unlike Facebook or Messenger, the real live meeting takes precedence. Eye-to-eye contact, exchanging friendly words with one another, singing and praying together, sharing a delicious meal—these are the real things in life that tie people together. You can find mobile phones and the Internet there, but they have not “progressed” as far as in the wealthy Western societies—new technology is still used with moderation by the majority.
One reason for the high dependency on personal contacts may well be that individualism is far less prevalent in Ukrainian society.
• The spoken word is often sufficient to close a deal.
Sadly, in many parts of the world today oral agreements are no longer as valid as their written counterparts. I was surprised to learn that many people in Ukraine still stick to them. This perhaps is a direct consequence of many still valuing the teachings of the Bible.
It is remarkable to observe the Bible’s influence on the functioning of a society. It effectively keeps virtues such as trust and honesty alive.
• Religion is woven into the fabric of society.
You may find a number of churches in Ukrainian towns (Orthodox churches are most widespread). The people there have a greater awareness of God in their everyday lives as they now have direct access to the Bible.
This is remarkable since less than a generation ago Ukraine belonged to the Soviet Union—a communist empire where Christianity and the Bible were greatly suppressed. Today religious freedom is written into the Ukrainian constitution, and as a result people no longer fear the state or the official church in matters of belief.
One interesting thing I came across was that the Ukrainian word for Saturday is pronounced “Su-bo-ta” (sounds similar to the English word Sabbath). It turns out that there are quite a few people in Western Ukraine who observe the seventh-day Sabbath simply because of the obvious use of Sabbath for the name of the day of the week. They know that the Sabbath is commanded by the Bible.
You can learn more about the Sabbath by checking out “God’s Sabbath in Today’s World.” Think of it as your own lesson from Ukraine. VT
- About the Author -
Stefan Saxin lives near Gothenburg in western Sweden where he studies chemistry at the University of Gothenburg.
