Happy Birthday To… ??


Jeff Nichols and I are in Colorado Springs visiting the famed Broadmoor Resort, where I have the privilege of speaking at a Child Evangelism Fellowship briefing. I love these folks! Here’s part of what I’m going to tell them: The task of reaching the children of the world is especially poignant this weekend.

Somewhere in the world in the next few days, a little baby will be born as the seven billionth person on earth. According to the United Nations, the world’s population will officially reach seven billion on October 31.

It’s almost unbelievable to me, because when I was born the population of the world was a mere 2.6 billion.

In fact, according to a calculator on the BBC website, when I greeted the world on May 29, 1952, I was the 2,621,572,533rd person on earth. And I was the 75,873,149,532nd person to have lived since history began.

Now there are seven billion, and nearly half are under the age of 25.

What percentage of the world’s population is under the age of 15? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, it is 27 percent. If that sounds low to you (it did to me), keep in mind that in much of the world the proportions are much higher. In Niger, 49 percent of the population is under the age of 15. In Uganda, it’s 48 percent. In Angola it’s 47 percent. In Congo it’s 46 percent. In Afghanistan it’s 44 percent. In the West Bank and Gaza it’s 43 percent. (In the United States, it’s 13 percent).

Seven billion! Our job has never been larger or more exciting. We have our work cut out for us! What a time to be an ambassador for Christ!

Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation.

Mark 16:15