By Allie Martin
January 2, 2007

(AgapePress) - A Christian ministry is trying to help grandparents create spiritual bonds with their grandchildren.

Pastor Cavin Harper founded the Christian Grandparenting Network (CGN) to assist grandparents in communicating traditions and spiritual strengths to their grandkids. Statistics show that many grandparents are now raising their grandchildren. In fact, says Harper, as many as six-million children are being raised by grandparents throughout America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, during the last two generations the number of families headed by grandparents has almost doubled, increasing by 76 percent from 1970 to 1997. That statistic is one reason Harper founded CGN.

The pastor and ministry founder believes it is vital for grandparents to reclaim their unique role within the Christian family. "A goal and objective [of the Network] is to really challenge grandparents to be intentional in their role," says Harper. "And when I say intentional, I mean intentionally effective grandparents who are going about helping their grandchildren know and follow Christ wholeheartedly anywhere."

Harper explains that God's Word calls grandparents to instill godly values in their grandchildren.

"One of the things that really motivated me in this whole thing, as a grandparent myself, was reading Judges. In chapter two, it says 'there arose a generation who knew neither the Lord, nor the things that he had done.'" In response, Harper says he prayed the Lord would not allow that to happen to his generation.

He also notes that the Bible never calls grandparents to retire without any involvement in their grandchild's spiritual upbringing.

"It's clear in Psalm 78 that we are to tell the next generation; there are a number of passages that give us that command," he points out. "We are to tell them [and] we are to impress upon our children and our children's children the truths about God's love, His mercy, His grace, His power, His might, the wonders that He has done."

The CGN, which is affiliated with LifeQuest Ministries, has created a free resource called the "Legacy Journal" (info available at LegacyJournal.org) that is designed to spotlight contributions the Bible calls Christian grandparents to make in their families.

Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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