In Brief... Children Used as Soldiers
Currently 41 nations use children as soldiers and 120,000 children are fighting in African wars. The country of Myanmar (also known as Burma) holds the "distinction" of having the highest number of child soldiers, 50,000.
Children are being used as front-line fighters, minesweepers, spies and porters-even as sex slaves. A London-based coalition of several human rights groups announced in mid-June that more than 300,000 children are fighting as soldiers. By UN definition, anyone under the age of 18 is a child. Most child soldiers are 15 to 17 years of age, but there are documented cases of some as young as 7.
The coalition's report presented details of children being given drugs to make them fearless. A 14-year-old "soldier" in Sierra Leone testified that children who refused the drugs were killed outright.
An Ethiopian youth told of being recruited when he was 15. Speaking of his 1999 battle, he said: "It was very bad. They put all the 15- and 16-year-olds in the front line while the army retreated. I was with 40 other kids. I was fighting for 24 hours. When I saw that only three of my friends were alive, I ran back."
How tragic it is that children are not allowed to be children. God speed the day when He will "judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Micah 4:3).
Source: "41 Nations Using Child Soldiers," by Susannah Loof, AP, June 12, 2001.
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: July 2001
Course Content
William Eddington
Bill Eddington and his wife, Rae, live in Melbourne, Australia, and have six adult children.
He was baptized in 1970 and ordained as an elder in 1975. Since that time he has served the Church in many capacities—counseling, preaching, giving Bible studies, baptizing, acting as a Festival coordinator and a Festival elder and conducting weddings and funerals. He currently assists Australian Southern Region pastor Barry Williams and pastors a small congregation several hours' drive from Melbourne.
Jim Tuck
Jim has been in the ministry over 40 years serving fifteen congregations. He and his wife, Joan, started their service to God's church in Pennsylvania in 1974. Both are graduates of Ambassador University. Over the years they served other churches in Alabama, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, California, and currently serve the Phoenix congregations in Arizona, as well as the Hawaii Islands. He has had the opportunity to speak in a number of congregations in international areas of the world. They have traveled to Zambia and Malawi to conduct leadership seminars In addition, they enjoy working with the youth of the church and have served in youth camps for many years.
