The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 6:9, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”

There is a tendency today to overlook the value of small children. The news is alarmingly crowded with accounts of their tragedies –often deaths at the hands of their own parents. Earlier this week, I had the occasion to see a small, sleeping child beside his father. He was a truly beautiful little boy. I remarked to the father how beautiful the child was, and the father told me the boy had just been awarded to him and his wife by the courts. The child was not naturally his, he said; he was a “mentally challenged” child, who was given birth by a woman who was hooked on drugs.

My heart sank as I heard the story. The woman had given birth to several children, all of whom she abandonded in favor of the drugs she craved. And I wondered, as I gazed at this little boy, what he would ultimately become. Would he grow to manhood? Would he overcome the challenges he was facing?

In a way, this child is far removed from the meaning of Andrew’s words in our verse above. The lad of whom Andrew spoke was well and possessed food for the day. Yet, those words ring within my heart in relation to the baby I saw. “There is a lad here…” How much do we value human life? How much do we value the lives of the little ones? It’s far too easy to dismiss the tragedies of others and switch our focus to material things. Yet, all around us are children –little children—who need the love and care of adult Christians.

The man, who is now the legal father of that little boy, is himself a Christian. “All I can do is pray for him,” he told me. Yet, the Scriptures say, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (Jas. 5:16). Earnest, sincere prayer is so vitally needed today! For whom are you and I earnestly praying? What’s more, are we sufficiently “righteous” for our prayers to even be heard?

We love you and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”