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The child evangelism movement is a Christian evangelism movement that was begun in 1937 by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer who founded the Christian organization Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). It focuses on the 4/14 Window which centers on evangelizing children between the ages of 4 and 14 years old. Children are targeted because they are the "most receptive, but also because they are often the most effective agents for mission" to evangelize their peer group. Groups supporting the evangelization initiative have argued that "It is crucial that mission efforts be reprioritized and re-directed toward the 4/14 age group world-wide" ==Strategy== A study conducted in 1995-6 survey commissioned by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary found that 71% of Christians in the US converted before the age of 14. In 2003 George Barna published the results of his research, showing that children are the most important population segment to minister to because of their spiritual teachability and developmental vulnerability. Barna argued that a child's moral development is set by the age of nine, while churches focus on older children. Barna wrote that "Habits related to the practice of one’s faith develop when one is young and change surprisingly little over time.” and “the older a child gets, the more distracted and vulnerable he or she becomes to nonfamily influences."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Book notes - TRANSFORMING CHILDREN INTO SPIRITUAL CHAMPIONS )〕 Barna found in 2004 that children converted to Christianity before their teen years are more likely to remain "absolutely committed" to Christianity. Barna stated "It is during those () years that people develop their frames of reference for the remainder of their life." He later stated "The early impressions we make go a long way toward shaping a person’s worldview, relationships, dreams, expectations, and core reality." Bryant Myers and Dan Brewster have used Barna's research to argue that global evangelism programs should target younger children for conversion. “The implication of these findings is clear,” says Barna. “Anyone who wishes to have significant influence on the development of a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is still young.” The Christian relief organization World Vision has declared that the child evangelism movement is a very important evangelism movement in the 21st century. Dan Brewster argues that children should be targeted for evangelism because the "clay is still soft" and argued "Children need our attention more urgently than any other group of people" Compassion International president Wess Stafford has compared his approach to evangelizing children to indoctrination into Nazism, Communism and the Taliban's recruitment of children: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Child evangelism movement」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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