In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of using and involving children in the church. They share personal anecdotes about how children enjoy being used and how they should be given opportunities to participate in church activities. The speaker also highlights the significance of listening to children and being present for them, both at home and in church. They encourage parents to prioritize family time around the kitchen table and to be attentive to their children's needs and experiences. Additionally, the speaker mentions the importance of Christian programs on radio and television as a resource for spiritual growth.

Well, anyway, it's really, really, really good to be in Melford. As I said, Melford is going to be very special for me from here on in. Well, I'm just going to share a bit about my own life and about Revival Days a little bit at first in Saskatoon. And I was a changed person after Revival came to Saskatoon. You know, when the Fraternals came to Ebenezer Baptist Church, I thought, oh, I'd better go because I thought it was great to go to anything special around the city. And I went to hear them, and I thought, well, they're sure good. They sing well, too, but I don't know, nothing too great here, you know. And I kept going back. And then, first thing I knew, I heard they had outgrown Ebenezer Baptist Church, and they were in some of the larger churches, larger and larger. I had gone for, oh, several nights. Then I knew I had to get down at the front of that church. I just knew. And yet, I was a so-called good Christian. I worked hard in my church. I did everything that most good church workers do. I was faithful. I was in church. If it was the last thing I did, I was in church. But, you know, after getting down at the front of that church and saying, Lord, I did it all in my strength before. Here I am. If you can use me, take me, use me. And, you know, I said, Lord, come in and fill every room of my house. And what a difference when you give it all over to Jesus. I just, and that's 10 or 12 years ago. When you rely on him every day and not on your own strength, what a difference. What a difference. And our son at that time was in grade 11. That's why I was so thrilled at the church here to see that young girl share. She was in grade 12 on Sunday. And David was in grade 11 at that time. And he was going to be a doctor, a medical doctor. And he well could be because he was upgraded. But the first few nights he went to the revival, he said, there's Mrs. Jones from our church. Preach. She sure needed to get down there at the front. And this went on night after night. He said, and listen, I would watch different people from our church go down and meet the Lord in a new way. But he said, then one night, I knew I had to go down there. And you know, God met David in such a real vital way that night. And what a, he just said, I knew my life had to come to the Lord. He decided then, this is it, Lord. Here I am. After he finished grade 12, he got out of there with a scholarship and he went to Caringport for three years. And then as a youth pastor to Calgary. And then for further training at Trinity in Chicago for two years. Now he's back on staff at Briarcrest. And he's really, really doing a lot of counseling with young people. And so I've shared with Ralph and Lou that a change that came to my son through their ministry. God only knows, well, he could have been a good doctor, but oh, to know the lives that he's touched since he was touched with revival. So I'm so glad you were all taken in these meetings because they are just so special. We have two other children. Brian, he's in Victoria serving, well, he's in a big church there and he leads this thing and things like that. He works with income tax. And our daughter is in Moose Jaw whose husband is graduating on Sunday from Aldersgate College. So that's our family. All right. I've been 25 years with Child Evangelism. I just finished my 25th winter with them. And I said, Lord, as long as you give me the health and the strength and the kids come, I'll tell them about you. And each Monday night after school, they tumble in, and I mean tumble in, mud and all, but they're awfully good. I've got them trained that they'll take off their shoes in the kitchen and put all their coats on the table. And it's such a big pile sometime, and what a time to get them all straightened out afterwards. But our club runs around 20 every Monday night. And, you know, out of those 20, there's only two children that go to an Evangelical Sunday school, and most of them don't go anywhere. And I've invited them to our Sunday school. In fact, I sent a note home to their moms, our Sunday school bus will pick up your children if you'd like them to go. No, we have our own church. But they are allowed to come into our home where they're not allowed to go to our church, and I thank God for that. So I have a little girl that's my helper. She's a Christian, but she's not from a Christian home. And she's in grade 7, going on 8. And I said, Laurie, are you going to be back in the fall to help me again? And yes, she is. And oh, how I want to see this young life go on for the Lord. Our director in Regina says, use them or lose them as they get older. Use them or lose them. Keep that in mind. As these kids get older, they've got to be used. Even asking these little kids at our evening service with the children to hold up songs and that. They like it. They like to be used. So as soon as the kids come in my back door, the first thing they go is to wear all the songs, and they decide which one they want to hold up. And so we use them. Use them or lose them. All right, that's enough about that. I'm just going to tell you where I was born and what happened and so on. About 40 miles southwest of Moose Jaw, back in the hills, and I mean the hills, south of Park Bay, along the number one highway there, we grew up out in the hills. Four and a half miles to school. We had to ride horseback. There was seven of us kids, six girls and a boy. And my dad farmed. He had cattle. So we rode the range a lot, rounding up cattle. And I still taught horsemanship at Pioneer Girls Camp for 10 or 11 years, up until a year ago. And now I've been going to camp as a speaker instead of in the cabins with those girls. You know, the night can get pretty long for a grandma sometimes. But in a way, we grew up on the farm there. My dad was very strict, and I love him for it. But you know, I never, ever heard the name of Jesus, except coming from the barn or something like that. Of course, there was no church out there, no Sunday school, nothing in a way. Our nearest town was 12 miles. But so that's the way we grew up. And my dad was so honest. If he owed anybody five cents, he was paying it back. In the wintertime, in those hard years, we had relief apples and fish and stuff. In the summertime, he'd take the horses and a fresnel and go and work on the roads to pay back that money. You people could relate to something like I'm saying. I don't think in Melford you were hit so bad with the drought like we were in the southern part of the province. But believe me, we knew what hard times were. Daddy would never even take out to cut the wheat. He'd cut it with a little mowing machine because it was this high, enough to get feed for the cattle. And that's the way we went. And the thistles, you couldn't see anything but thistles. And someday in the summer, the sun would be so dark from dust, it was almost like dark. Do you remember this? Yes. And then the days that you could see, you couldn't see anything but black and it was grasshoppers. And I remember saying to Dad, Dad, it's going to rain tonight, there's a cloud over there. And he said, oh, it'll be another licorice, sure enough, another little windstorm, and that was it. But in a way, we never went hungry. As I say, my dad worked hard so all of us kids could get an education. And if we didn't, it was our own fault. And I went away to school in grade 11. Then the war broke out and I dropped out and joined the Air Force. And I joined up in Regina, and I was sent to Toronto for a manning deck role for a month. And then they sent me to Yorkton. And I was there about a year as a telephone operator at Yorkton. When I was on duty one night, and we had to keep in track of the postings onto the station and off the station, and this orderly sergeant that came on to report to the telephone operator, and I said, what is your name, sergeant? And he said, I'm not going to tell you. And I thought, oh, what a brat, sort of. I thought, well, to make a long story short, he's my husband now. But that night, that night, after I was finished at work and he was finished, we met in the mess hall for a little snack before you go to bed. Everybody on that shift did. And I thought, there is that sergeant there again. He came over and sat just across from me and said, then this girl came in and she had been drinking. And he said to me, do you know that girl? And I said, yes, she sleeps next bed to me. He said, will you see that she gets in bed? And I said, no way. She got that way, she can get into bed any way she likes. And he said, what if I tell you that's an order? I was a corporal then and he was a flight sergeant. And I said, well, that would be different. I sure didn't want to, but he didn't report me or anything. And then I saw him different times after that. And one time I was on duty and I knew where he was, what flight he was in. And so I'd plug in there and I'd hear that voice and get all excited, you know. And then he asked for something. And I listened and left the key open, listened in. And he asked that girl for a date. And I just felt like pulling out that plug and disconnecting him. But I didn't. But anyway, not long after, I would see him occasionally at the dances. That was all that there was to go to. It wasn't, but that's all I was interested in. And there he was, that sergeant again. Well, to make a long story short, I think it was a year later, I wanted to be a June bride, but he was afraid he was going to be sent overseas. So it turned out to be a frozen old January one in Regina. But anyway, I thank God that I married him. But, you know, I remember one day in the Air Force there, I went into town and I bought a little New Testament four miles from town. And I often wondered why I bought that. I still got that. And I came back and I crawled up on my bunk and I read it, places. And I remember seeing where I had marked it then. But that was all. We had to go to church parade because everybody had to go. But I remember one day at church parade, they sang in the garden. And I remember I was crying. I thought, well, what am I crying for? And God must have been speaking to my heart then. So we were married and went to Saskatoon to live. And, you know, first thing we knew, we had a little girl and a little boy. And my little girl was about four by that time. We lived near St. Paul's Hospital there. And Ken was traveling in the country at this time for this company that he's worked with for 36 and a half years. He's assistant sales manager now of Albert in Saskatchewan. So he's in the office and he's home all the time. But at that time he was out in the country for about six years except for the weekend. And, you know, I thought, I've got to get my kids to Sunday school. I just knew that that was the proper thing to do. Get your kids to Sunday school. And I thought, what Sunday school to go to? But I remember my dad saying, well, I'd say, well, what are we? And he'd say, well, you can say this, you know, which was nothing. But we were nothing. But I thought, I'll try this big church. So come Sunday I took my little girl. She was four and my little boy was two. So I left him home with Ken. And I took Jerry and I and off we went to this big church. And nobody said hello. Nobody said one thing. I just turned around afterwards, after it was over, and I said, Ken, no way. That's it. I'll try another church of the same denomination. Next Sunday I went back and the same thing happened again. And I thought, no way. They don't care. Nobody cares. And I'm telling you, dear ones, when that stranger comes to your church, meet him. Meet him. Don't leave it up to the pastor or the pastor's wife. They can't get around to all of them. Meet them. It may be hard for you to go and say, well, I'm so-and-so. I want to welcome you here. Meet them. I came home and I was real dejected. I said, Ken, that's it. If that's religion, that's it. Well, he didn't care because he wasn't too interested in it anyway. But, you know, I started to listen at night. When he wasn't there, I turned on the radio. Thank God for Christian programs. We are without excuse in our country, I believe. Many people are, have an excuse, but we are without excuse. We can turn on that radio. We can turn on that television and get Christian programs and thank God for them. I turned on the radio. Night after night, I listened to this broadcast. And the more I listened, the more I knew. We were led to believe in this big church I'd been supposed to be going to. You just live a good life. You'll make it. And I thought, well, I'm not that bad. I got a good chance as anybody. I have a good chance. I think I can make it. That's what we're told and they're still told. And there's people sitting there and they're going to miss it. They're going to miss it. They're sitting there, real precious people that can put some Christians to shame by the lives that they live. By the good lives they live. They can put some Christian to shame. Well, I listened night after night. And the more I listened and heard that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, I thought, God, all but me. All but me. But the more I listened. You know, it's just like somebody had a big load of bricks and they handed it to me to put on my back. And the more I listened, the heavier this load of bricks got. And to my knowledge, I didn't know a Christian. I knew there was none in our family or none in Ken's family. Never heard of any anyway. To my knowledge, I didn't know anybody, a Christian. But I kept listening. The more I listened, the heavier this bag of bricks got on my back. And you know, one day a knock came to my door. And here it was a man with a magazine. One leg he had in the wintertime going from house to house. One leg. And I said, oh God, he must be right. Who would go with one leg and crutches through the deep snow? No sidewalks where we lived. From place to place with a magazine. And he put it in my face. And I remember just standing there shaking and saying, it looks right. It looks right. And he talked for a long time to me. Gave me this. And you know, it was the Lord, but something seemed to tell me, something's wrong. Something's wrong there. And you know, when he left, I was just so desperate. I didn't know what to do. And I remember going into our bedroom and just falling on my knees and saying, God, I don't know what to do, but I know I've got sin in my life. Because I heard that on the radio, that all have sinned and I've got sin in my life. I just knelt there for a long time. And I talked to God in my own simple way. I remember getting up off my knees. Just like somebody had lifted that big load of bricks off my back. I didn't know what had happened, but I sure felt better. I know that that load of bricks was gone. A few days later, a friend of ours said, where do you take your little girl to Sunday school? I said, I don't know, but I want to go to a church that reads the Bible. I want to go to a church that reads the Bible. She says, well, come with us. You know, come to this little church that we go to. Do they read the Bible there? She said, yes, they do. They read the Bible there. I said, where is it? I'll be there on Sunday. And I was there on Sunday, ladies. The usher came and met us in the vestibule. It was in the winter. He swept off our overshoes, mine and Gerilyn's. Welcomed us. Well, how come you've come here? Is this your little girl? Isn't she cute? All mothers love to hear that. And just come in and meet so-and-so. We're so glad you came. Those ladies came around me and met me and my little girl. We're so glad you came. And I sat down, and the minister opened the Bible, and if he'd have said Genesis, I'd have looked at Revelations. It was all the same to me. No difference. But I knew he opened the Bible, and he read from it. And oh, the warmth of that little church. And I went home, and I said to Ken, I'm going to that church. He said, but that's not our denomination. I said, I don't care. They love me there, and they read the Bible there, too. And I'm going. He said, well, that's fine, but don't bother me with your religion. You can take the kids and go, but don't bother me with your religion. Oh, thank you, dear. But, you know, I thank God that he never stood in my way. A lot of dads stand in the way of their moms when they want to take their kids to Sunday school. Ken said, take the kids and go, but don't bother me with your religion. So, boy, I was there. Oh, I was there. I was sharing with somebody that I used to put my kids in a sleigh and an apple box 25 below and pull them 10 blocks to that church. Never thought a thing of it. Got all bundled up warm, and these kids in this sleigh. I couldn't get enough, for God's word. Oh, I just couldn't get enough. I never thought anything of it. I was so happy to get to prayer meeting that I pulled these kids in the sleigh. Covered them over with a blanket, you know, an apple box on a sleigh. Pulled them along, singing as happy as can be, just to get to prayer meeting. I said to Ken, can I buy a Bible? He said, what's the matter with the one you got? I said, well, I think it's just half there. I don't know, but most people have a big one. And I just have a little one. And I think it's just half there. I'd like a big black one. Well, he said, how much are they? And I said, I don't know, but I think I can get one for just a little under $2, $1.98. I'd been looking at them. He said, well, if you can get one for $2, you can buy it. But that's it. Now, ladies, as you know, in those days, $2 was like about $200 now. $2 was a lot of money. But when he left on Monday morning to the country, I took my little kids on that streetcar. Down I went, and I got that $2 Bible. It was a big black one. I should bring it sometimes. I still got it. And you know, it's more marked and used in the next room and the next room that I had. I came home, and somebody said I should read in the last half. And I started, and I'd go and work, and I'd come back, and I'd read some more. And I'd go and work, and I'd come back, and I'd read some more. I was just so happy. And then the pastor of that little church called on me. He said, are you a Christian? I said, well, I don't know, but I don't feel like I used to feel. I used to feel this and this, and now I feel this. So then he opened God's Word and showed me what happened. And he said, would you like to be baptized? And I said, sure, what's that? You know, if he had told me first, Mrs. Curry, you have to jump off the roof of that church, I think I'd have been willing to do it. Just anything. I was so happy. The peace and the joy that I had, I didn't have before. I was willing to do. I said, sure, I'll be baptized. Shall I wear my wedding dress? That's as true as it is. I didn't know. I thought a wedding dress was pretty sacred. I had a nice long white one, and that would be nice to be baptized in. And he said, no, Mrs. Curry, we have choir gowns that you could wear. Well, what do they do? Well, then he showed me, Jesus went down into the water and came up out of the water. Great. Where's the water? Sort of. Anything. He says, well, we have it in our church. That's different, but they had a little baptistry there. I was the only one baptized that day, and I couldn't have cared if anyone was there. I was so happy because I knew that was a commandment, and I was obeying God. I went home, and Ken's mother was visiting us at the time. And Ken and his mom, they gave me a bad time when I got home. My hair was still wet, and what did they do to you there at that church? Did they dunk you? Well, you know what? It didn't matter to me. I couldn't have cared less. I was so happy with that peace and joy I had in my heart. Well, as we went on, as we went on, he was just so fine and kind. But, you know, I just can say this. If you have an unsaved loved one, husband or relative, no way can you nag them into the kingdom. No way. No way. I remember thinking, if Ken would become a Christian, I'd live in a tent. And I really meant it. I really meant it. If my husband would become a Christian, I'd be willing to live in a tent. One night I remember in bed, and I started to cry, and he said, what are you crying for? And I said, I just want you to be in heaven with me. And he patted me. Oh, I'll be there. You know, I'll be there. Well, this went on for about eight years, as far as I can remember. Eight years. He never stood in my way. When he was in the country, I would get all of my Christian friends, come over for coffee, and I'd go over to their place and back and forth. But in the weekends, we would have some of our other friends in. But oh, when he wasn't there, I would get the kids around me, and we were memorizing verses and everything at the breakfast table. And you know, David said to me, am I ever glad that I memorized all of those salvation verses. I've been counseling kids sometime at a camp, and it's dark, and I can bring the word of God to them from memory, these salvation verses. And I want to say a word here for your AWANA program in this city. I counseled a little girl the other night. She was a Christian, but she just wanted to make sure she had Jesus into her heart. And then I said, now I want to mark all of the salvation verses in your Bible. And I started to repeat them, and she knew them all, all those precious little verses that I wanted to mark. She knew them. She had memorized them at AWANA. That said something to me. I'm really interested in that program. I just hope and pray that we could see it in many more churches. The memorization that those boys and girls do is just fantastic. I just highly recommend it. All right. As the years went by, as I say, I really studied God's word. I was really involved. And we had a little baby that only lived 20 minutes. And that was hard because Jerry wanted a baby so bad. We had a carriage. We had everything that you would get ready for a new baby, everything. And I had made clothes upon clothes. We were preparing for this baby, and Jerry was about nine then. Did she ever want a baby? Most kids that age, I don't care how many you got, they still want another one. And, oh, she was so excited about this baby coming. I remember she used to even hold my pajamas for me to step in. She thought it was easier for me. Anyway, the baby only lived 20 minutes. And all I could think of was the disappointment of these kids at home. But, you know, our pastor came to see us, and Ken was there. And Ken was really broken up with this. He just sat there, and he just wept. And I just said, God, you're still in control. You're still in control. I don't know why. But, oh, the emptiness to leave the hospital with a bouquet of flowers and no baby. But by the time I got home, they had put away everything, taken the carriage back to Eaton's and hid away under the eaves. We got a storage. They had hid everything. There wasn't any sign of a baby. Well, to make a long story short, one year later, our big David came. And I thank God for that. But not long after we lost that baby, one night I was at a missionary meeting, and Ken was putting the kids to bed. And he was a good dad, a real good dad, let me tell you, even before he became a Christian. He would put the kids to bed and listen to their prayers and tuck them in. Oh, he always played with our kids. David said the other day, Mom, do you remember the ring that you let us have in the middle of the carpet in the living room, a chalk circle where we could play marbles? I don't know whether I'd let him do that today or not. You know, he said, I often think of the fun we had as kids with that ring in the middle of the carpet. It wasn't a shag, it was more of a smooth one. And I don't know, it back him to heart. But they would play by the hours, marbles in the middle of the floor. And Ken would come home and he'd say, Dad, got time for a quick game? Sure. He would take time. Oh, it's important to listen to your kids. I would get so busy. I remember one day David said to me, Mom, look at me. You're not listening. Now that's something for all mothers, isn't it? We've got to be available and listen when they've got something to tell us. Not tomorrow. It will have passed by then. Right when they come home, if they've got something. That's why it's so important to be around the kitchen table instead of in front of the TVs. These little kids want to share what happened that day. But you can't when you're scattered all over in front of the TV. That supper time together with your family can be so beautiful. Pretty soon they'll be gone. As it is, that one has... Side two. Getting back to the kitchen table. Take time. Take time to listen to your kids. I remember at club one night, the little girls, they'd come running up to you and say, Mrs. Carey, I got this and I got that. And many times your mind's over here about what you have to do next. But it's a ministry to learn to listen. And I'm still learning to listen. Listen to people when they've got something to tell you. And keep your mind on them and not over here somewhere else. It's really something to listen. Well, as the years went by, this night, I'd gone to the missionary meeting and Ken put the kids to bed. And Brian was about, I don't know, eight or so then. And he said, Dad, have you got Jesus in your heart? Are you going to heaven with Mom and us kids? Are you ready to meet Jesus? Are you a Christian? He said, no, I'm afraid not, son. Well, Dad, you don't want to go to hell. You want to go with us, don't you? And Ken said, yes, I do, son. Well, Dad, you better get down here beside the bed and pray with us then. Pray and ask Jesus to take away your sin and come into your heart. And that's exactly what Ken did that night. I didn't know anything about it. The next morning, he went off to work. And I kissed him goodbye. Kissed them goodbye. Somebody said, if you don't kiss your husband goodbye, they can have a terrible day. Or if they go off to work, you've had a little bit of differences. It can affect their whole day's work. Send them off. Send them off. Those that have working husbands, send them off in the best spirit, knowing that you're there. It'll just help them at work. I sent Ken off that morning. He never said anything. Brian came running down, and I was ironing then. And he said, Mom, something happened last night. Dad asked Jesus into his heart. You know what I did? You can guess. Just burst into tears. And he says, Mom, what are you crying for? Aren't you glad? I said, Son, you'll never know. You'll never know how glad I am. Oh, I just can't tell you, ladies. You people would know when you've got somebody so precious to you, and they come to the Lord. It was just so special. Well, Sunday came. And, you know, we started to get ready for Sunday school. And Ken got dressed, too. And he came out, and he said, I think I'll go with you guys. I said, where do you want to go, Ken? I thought he'd say, well, to the churches that we belong in. He said, I think they need me in that little church where you go. Well, if you ever saw some happy kids, Dad, here's the place. Here's the hymn. Here's the place, Dad. I want to stand beside Dad. And there was just a real battle to see who was going to help him with the place and find the place in the Bible and so on. It's so beautiful to stand side by side with your husband in church, ladies. I can't tell you how beautiful it is. Unless you've been through it, you'll know what I mean. It's so beautiful when your family are all together, a togetherness, a togetherness like you'd never believe. And only the Lord can make the difference. And I urge you just to love that husband into the kingdom. The way you act and the way you act towards him is going to make the difference. He's going to want to know you're God, too, as he sees the way you act. Thank you. I know one lady, she came home from church, and she said to her husband, that's just what we were told. That's just people like you. To make a long story short, they're divorced. And she was a Christian. She was a Christian. You can't nag them into the kingdom. You've got to love them. Well, if any of you know Ken, he never turned back. He just, in his own solid way, he's a deacon, he's been Sunday school, and he's just such a precious husband and a precious father. And he's so good about letting me go with his blessings. I said to Ken, if any little kid comes to know the Lord, you've had a part of it, Ken. You've had a part by batching and letting me go to meet boys and girls. I don't know what the Lord has in store for us when we're retired. We have about three and a half more years. I know that, as far as I know, we're going to stay right in Saskatoon. But I said, as long as the Lord gives me the health and the strength and my husband's willing, I'm going. I'm going to tell boys and girls about Jesus. My heart just goes out for those kids. They have it so hard. I had two little kids in my Bible club, two little native kids, and they're so precious. And they both received the Lord. And they told me, we just live with our daddy. We just live with our daddy. Just over a couple of blocks. The second last time before our club closed this spring, he said, we have to go and live with our auntie. And our oldest brother has to go and live with another auntie because my dad is going to BC. Oh, mothers, these poor kids. So many times they're pushed from here to there, from home to home, from home to home. You can't blame them for just feeling as though everybody's against them. In Swift Current, three weeks ago, this one little boy, my heart just went out to him. And I found out he had been in four different homes, four different homes. Now he's in a Christian home. And he received the Lord not too long ago through this Christian home going to this church. And you know, one night there, I said, any of you older boys would like to be a better Christian? And he put up his hand. And I was so blessed because my heart went out to this little boy who had been pushed around from so many homes. So my heart aches for these children. Well, in closing, I think that that's about all I have to say. But I just pray that from all of these meetings, that you women will just keep going for the Lord. You know, the most precious place is close to the Lord, and yet so many people don't want that. I can't understand. The most precious place is as close to the Lord as we can be. And I know that God has started a work in Melford, and I believe He's going to continue it. I'm going to be praying for this city, praying for you women, that God's going to meet your needs.