L.I.T. Changed Our Family by Holly Elkins 

I've been a Christian for many years and have done many Bible studies, but no study has been as life-changing as the L.I.T. curriculum! I learned more in teaching the first year L.I.T. curriculum than I had most of my life. L.I.T. taught me who I am in Christ, how to know Him intimately, how to fight spiritual warfare, and how to live my life for Him in surrender.

As I studied and taught, God began to show me truths I had never been taught before. Nobody had ever discipled me after I'd initially prayed to ask Jesus in my heart. No one told me, "Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride because now you have an adversary that wants to kill, steal, and destroy you." But this curriculum did. I realized I'd been listening to Satan spew lies at me and tricking me into thinking it was God condemning me all of my Christian life. I lived in that condemnation. I truly believe this is how most Christians live. How sad is that? It's impossible to fight and live victoriously if you don't know there's a war waged against you and you have weapons to fight with.

L.I.T. taught me I'm made righteous by the blood of Jesus through Scripture reading and memorization. I began to see the world differently and began to fall deeply and madly in love with Jesus. My worldview completely flipped upside down as I began to see Truth and Life in the Word of God Most High and that His will for my life is to love Him and love others. It's truly that simple.

I began teaching my children these truths and pouring into them who God says they are, not the world. My daughter Jadyn was in Nehemiah Kids and learning these truths as well. At the age of 10, she went on her first L.I.T. mission trip and sought God and what He wanted from her. He told her to get face down and pray to Him and something good would happen the next day. The next day, Jadyn led a girl to Christ! Since that mission trip, Jadyn has been growing in her faith and has been on three more L.I.T. mission trips, one church mission trip to Mexico, and three international mission trips with Awe Star Ministries. She is 15 years old and deeply loves Jesus and loves others.

It all started with L.I.T. I'm so thankful this program was introduced to us. I'm so overwhelmed at the goodness of the Lord. I praise God for L.I.T. and the many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ I've met and grown to love as family! My husband has taught and grown as a Christian with L.I.T. My son is starting 5th grade L.I.T. this fall after two years of Nehemiah Kids. This program is an intrinsic part of discipleship, starting from very young to obviously adult if people are open and willing to allow God to awaken the soldier within.

Taste and see that the Lord is good, put on your armor of God, and MOVE! God is always working—we need only to know Him, seek Him, and follow His lead.

About My Father’s Business

The past fifteen years with L.I.T. have been an amazing journey. I have learned an awful lot. As I talk with individuals, they hear about our mission trips and are really excited that God is using kids on mission. Many believe that is all that L.I.T. is about. We are about the Father’s business, proclaiming the Good News of Christ, but we are also in the ministry for the purpose of making disciples and equipping children and families for ministry. Fifteen years ago, I discovered the transformational power of the Word of God by teaching children spiritual disciplines that connected them with Scripture. I learned that telling them about Jesus and a relationship with Him had little meaning. What we want to help children understand first and foremost is God has a plan and purpose for your life (John 10:10). But in order to embrace that plan, you must lay down your life in total surrender to Him (Romans 12:1). Luke 9:23 is very clear if you want to follow Jesus—we must lay down our lives, take up our cross, and follow Him in obedience. This is where the lightbulb goes on for many of the children I have worked with. We have a divine mentor—the Holy Spirit, and we must show them how to listen to and follow Him. So, we showed them how to pray and worship. I am truly blessed every time I hear children worshipping the Lord. A junior high teacher at our church came to me one year and said, “Clint, I have been teaching junior high students for more than 40 years now. This is the first time I have ever seen girls who are prayer warriors. Praise God for what you are doing in the lives of our kids.” We also teach them how to have a daily quiet time and how to apply what they learn to their lives. Many families do the devotionals with their children, and it has completely changed the whole family as Holly shared above. I heard stories of households coming to know Christ through one child. We are finding that the majority of parents in the church today have never been discipled themselves. Knowing this, they don’t have any idea where to start discipling their own children. That is where N.K. and L.I.T. come in and give them the tools to do so. I have served for many years in churches, educating children about missions and missionaries, but now we talk about missionaries, we train them how to share the Gospel, and we become missionaries together. If you want to set the heart of a child on fire for Christ, train them and release them on mission and watch them experience Acts 1:8. I have heard more than 50 times children say, “I was teaching today. I was really scared, and I prayed. Something came over me. I don’t know what it was, but God used me in a powerful way.” I have learned that children and students who know Christ have spiritual gifts, and they find their purpose and identity in the body of Christ through ministering using their gifts. In fact, our staff this summer on the L.I.T. mission trips had more than 45 years of ministry experience. Each one began serving in the church in the fourth or fifth grade, and they have become amazing leaders now.

This being said, after September 1, we will require all churches desiring to use the Nehemiah Kids and L.I.T. resources to go through training first before they can use the resources in their churches. We have learned that many leaders want a quick fix or they are looking for a curriculum to purchase and hand out. The problem is, their leaders, parents, and children do not understand what the ministry is trying to accomplish, and they don’t last beyond a year. Through our training, we help churches understand the paradigm shift from the old philosophy of religious education to a more effective discipleship and transformed lives. Those churches that are properly trained stay the course, resulting in children, students, and families transformed by the Gospel. We invite you to join us on the journey and partner with us. We have more than 40 monthly ministry partners who support the ministry on a monthly basis. This isn’t my ministry, it is OUR ministry! Those who pray for L.I.T. and support the ministry financially are part of a bigger mission to empower the next generation. Click here for more information. 

Blessings, Dr. Clint May President, L.I.T. Ministries

L.I.T. Ministries International

South Africa

Great things are happening as we continue to expand the ministry, not just in the U.S. but internationally. Jaco and Johanessa reported to me that they are training churches in Africa and believe that there will be seven L.I.T. churches there after the first of the year. They shared that they have three churches that are doing L.I.T. this fall. At Every Nation Church in Paarl, they have approximately 27 children and students in their L.I.T. ministry. They took a group on a mission trip this summer, and several L.I.T.s took on leadership roles during their trip. Picture to right is the L.I.T. group from Windhoek, Namibia. The video below are the L.I.T.s leading worship. 

Mexico

I am heading back to Piedras Negras, September 29-October 1, to help churches launch L.I.T. there. Mike Lehew and I led a training last spring, casting the vision of the ministry. We have been invited back this fall to help the churches there launch L.I.T. We currently have all of the fall resources translated into Spanish.

I-GO Mission Trips

Dates & Locations

• June 18-24, Sapulpa, Oklahoma
• July 7-13, Ozark, Missouri
• July 29-August 3, Texas (tentative)

Praises and Prayer Needs

Praises

• For God’s continued provision for the ministry
• For Jaco and Johanessa Viljoen in Cape Town, South Africa

Prayer Needs

• For the Lord to expand our territory and use the ministry to impact thousands of children through discipleship and missions
• For wisdom for the ministry to know where we are to go next as the Lord continues to open doors for international training and ministry; pray for clear direction as we wait on the Lord
• For our training in Piedras Negras, September 29-October 1; for safety and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit while we are there
• For the 2018 Mission Trips, planning and promotion
• For wisdom to build the infrastructure of L.I.T. as we move into the future
• For God‘s grace as we wait patiently for Him