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CEF now has ongoing active ministry in 183 nations.
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Curriculum Evaluation Currently Underway Isn’t it amazing how cultures change! Kids today are growing up in an increasingly secularized world. Many children don’t know basic Bible stories or have any clue about God and His ways. These kids are coming to our clubs! We want to be absolutely sure that our lessons remain on point and biblically strong while meeting the needs of today’s kids.
Reese R. Kauffman President, Child Evangelism Fellowship
Right now a cycle evaluation core committee is analyzing what kids growing up in today’s society truly need to know and understand as they move through our Good News Club® and 5-Day Club® programs. The committee has put in many hours studying input from CEF® staff , theologians and other experts in children’s ministry to formulate a list of the top biblical truths we need to teach children that will guide our teaching in years to come. Now they are evaluating how our current lessons teach these truths and are making appropriate recommendations for new and revised curriculum. Our goal is to have stronger, more relevant lessons, without compromising our commitment to a clear and biblical presentation of the Gospel. As you can imagine, the task is huge. Would you please join us in praying for this committee? For the children, Reese R. Kauffman
Impact (USPS Permit #PE3155) is published quarterly by Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc., 17482 State Highway M, Warrenton, MO 63383. Periodicals postage paid at Warrenton, MO and additional mailing offices. Postmaster send address changes to Impact, PO Box 348, Warrenton, MO 63383-0348. Do you have a story to tell of how God has used Child Evangelism Fellowship® in your life? Send it to
[email protected] or CEF/Impact, PO Box 348, Warrenton, MO 63383-0348. Child Evangelism Fellowship is a Bible-centered worldwide organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living. Our vision is to reach every child in every nation, every day. Our strategy is to train, equip and support workers in order to reach our goal of active ministry in every nation of the world by 2017. CEF ® is dependent upon the charitable gifts of those concerned for children around the world. Child Evangelism Fellowship is a charter member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Contributing writers: Bethany Massey, Hannah Owens, Joelle Tschetter Editors: Yolanda Derstine, Deborah Koenig
Layout: Jeremy Sniatecki
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“We Need You Now!” We met by phone. Nadezhda is the leader of the children’s ministry in the New Generation Church in Krasnoyarsk/Siberia, Russia. We did not respond immediately to her request for a Teaching Children Effectively Level 1 course in her church. But Nadezhda was persistent, like the widow in Jesus’ parable. “There are 100 children in our church that need to be taught the Gospel of Jesus. The 22 teachers involved in children’s ministry have never been trained in evangelism. We need you now!” she said. Soon a course was scheduled. Every one of the teachers came! As a result of the course they not only teach their Sunday school classes but also visit children with cancer in the regional hospital every Friday. They visit hospital rooms, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pray for each child. Many children have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Irina Georgievna, education psychologist in the hospital said, “Many people and organizations come to us. They organize various feasts for the children. They entertain them but you are the people who give them FAITH, HOPE, LOVE.” Nadezhda said, “Boys and girls look forward to seeing us. Can one person make a difference? Absolutely, yes! We just need to DO something.… Some children have already passed away but we believe that every teacher who told them [about Jesus], changed something in the eternal future of these children.” We thank God for another training opportunity and for being able to participate this way in the most important business on Earth – leading precious children to the Savior. —Vladimir and Larisa Gaidarov
Teaching Children Effectively™ (TCE™) Level 1 is designed Siberia, Russia to equip students with basic skills and effective methods to evangelize children and immediately begin an outreach ministry. This course is offered by local CEF chapters and is also available as a module of Children’s Ministries Institute® or on CMI Online. See www.cefcmi.com for further information.
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Anguilla & British Virgin Islands Declared Open to CEF Ministry The Child Evangelism Fellowship Board of Trustees has officially declared Anguilla and British Virgin Islands open to CEF ministry! Both countries have trained national boards, active Good News Club ministries and staff excited to reach the children for Christ. Myron Tschetter, regional director for the North America/Caribbean Region said, “The Anguilla and British Virgin Island national boards have a real passion to reach the children and the leadership abilities necessary to lead the ministry forward.” God brought together a unique group of people to serve on the British Virgin Island’s national board. One attended Children’s Ministries Institute in 2003 and all of them are Teaching Children Effectively graduates. The board’s heart for the children of their country is evident. One member shared, “Children need to know they were created by God and their life has meaning. If we do not tell them, who is going to do it?!” Another said that he had grown up on the streets. Because someone took the time to teach him the importance of having Jesus in his life, he is now passionate about being a part of this CEF national board. In Anguilla the pastors and national board members are excited about the ministry of CEF. Pastor Richardson shared, “Anguilla is ready and waiting for CEF.” One man attending board training said he needed to leave early because he had other responsibilities. However, one hour later he returned because he wanted to learn as much information as possible. God, in His perfect timing, moved Florita Kentish, a former 2005 Antigua TCE graduate, to Anguilla.
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When asked if she would be willing to help put together a national board she said, “I know that is why God brought me here!” Florita previously served with the United Nations and now serves as chairperson of the Anguilla national board. We are confident that God is going to use these national boards and staff to achieve great things in reaching children for Christ! British Virgin Islands has a TCE Level 1 and 2 planned as well as preschool seminars and a Christian Youth In Action® training next summer. Anguilla has Good News Club® trainings planned, permission from the principal of the largest school in the country to conduct a Good News Club, and the endorsement of the secretary of education to be in all the schools. Praise God for open doors and those who have a passion to reach boys and girls with the message of salvation!
Anguilla & BVI
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Sunday, July 28, the tiny East
Denver Bible Baptist Church was in for a big surprise! Their congregation of 6075 people tripled to 235 people, 106 of whom were children! Where did all the people come from? They were children and families who had gone to one of the 5-Day Clubs the church had hosted that week as part of the CEF Good News Across America® outreach!
But things hadn’t looked so promising at the beginning of the week. Ministry coordinator Mike Worley wrote:
“We met with Pastor Loren Richmond at the church and prayed with him for his church and for the outreach. Then we went to the club sites to hand out fliers to invite the children. As we walked through the neighborhoods, some of the younger missionaries began to feel afraid. I have to admit my wife and I were concerned because of the violence, drugs and gang presence in that community. But we knew God had sent us. God would protect us. God wanted these children to know about Him. “On Tuesday of 5-Day Club week we went to the 7 Star Motel. Soon after club started a gang fight broke out right next door. We saw a man grab a baseball bat and go after a group of men. A man in the second group showed a gun. There was a standoff for a few minutes; we ushered the children into one of the motel rooms and gathered the ministry team, preparing to leave for a safe place. We prayed and the police soon showed up. About 15 minutes later we brought the kids back out and finished the club! One of the boys received Jesus as Savior amidst all that was going on! “Soon after club began the next day an ambulance came right to the motel with sirens blasting. The mom of the boy who received Jesus the day before was in medical distress. He and his sister sat in club while the EMTs attended to her. We prayed with them for their mom. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, leaving the children’s aunt in charge of them, and the children stayed and listened to the Word of God. That day the sister placed her trust in Jesus as her Savior! The next day their mom was back; the children’s and our prayers were answered. Both children attended club all week and they were at the rally on Friday.”
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That same week the pastor was invited by one of the parents to “come and talk to me and my wife about this Jesus thing.” As the pastor approached the motel room to meet with the parents, he could hear the sound of the 5-Day Club music CD that each child received at club. In addition to hearing Gospel truths through these songs, the family was also hearing God’s Word through the verse songs. God was preparing their hearts and when the pastor spoke with them, both parents and one of the children trusted Jesus as their Savior!
United States Good News Across America is a special outreach of Child Evangelism Fellowship designed to impact communities for Christ by reaching children and families with the Gospel. Each summer CEF targets a major U.S. city and sends hundreds of missionaries to partner with local churches to help them reach unchurched children and families. They hold clubs in community centers, parks, apartment complexes, playgrounds, boys and girls clubs — anywhere children gather. The outreach culminates on Friday night with a rally at each church designed to further the relationships built and ultimately see families evangelized and discipled. In addition, each church commits to having a Good News Club in their local elementary school in the fall. It’s not too early to plan to attend Good News Across America 2014 in Portland, Oregon. The dates have been set for July 14-26. If you’re interested in more information, visit www.goodnewsacrossamerica.com.
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Children Receive the “Book of Jesus” Philippines “Thank you, Sir, now I have a book of Jesus!” a second grader happily told evangelistic team leader Oro Hael. CEF staff in the Philippines have begun a mass distribution of one million books to children as part of our larger campaign to reach two million Filipino children with the Gospel this school year. Last year 1.6 million children heard the Gospel! Workers are distributing Meet the King to pupils in first through third grade and The Gospel of John to students in grades four through seven as part of the evangelistic ministry. The students participating in the discipleship ministry, who number around 350,000, received the devotional Every Day with God. The books have all been translated into the local languages of the Philippines. The evangelistic ministry includes open air evangelism in communities. The discipleship ministry, called the Elementary School Values Education Program, has been warmly welcomed into 190 of the Filipino public schools. It takes the form of an elementary school values class and a character education class—Bible classes meeting in the schools—and Good News Clubs and Bible clubs meeting in communities.
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Willy teaching a lesson
Tara Robbins with friends
Madagascar
Willy had taken the CEF training Teaching Children Effectively Level 1 and had taught Good News Clubs. He came to pre-training with his friends as they learned how to share The Wordless Book and lead a child to the Lord. Afterwards they went out with their Good News Club teachers and shared The Wordless Book with children in the community. Some of the younger boys were having a hard time sharing The Wordless Book so Willy decided he would help. He took those boys out with him to do open-air ministry and gave them extra practice.
At Christian Youth In Action Willy had been an assistant supervisor and had also taught with his team. But when it was his turn to teach the Bible lesson at his team’s practice club, he couldn’t get through it. He has a brain injury from a motorcycle accident and sometimes has a hard time remembering things. It shook him up when he couldn’t get through the lesson; he told his supervisor he might not be able to teach it the next day. She said she would do it if he didn’t think he could. The team began praying. Willy studied through the night and the next day taught an amazing Bible lesson! Afterwards he excitedly said that God had spoken through him and he couldn’t stop thanking God for what He had done! We can’t wait to see how God will continue using this young man who has such a heart to serve God. —Tara Robbins
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Yeosu World Expo
Becomes a
Gospel Expo!
South Korea
“What are you doing here? Religious activities are prohibited here.” The security guard berated the evangelist. “Have you given those [evangelistic] fans to the children? Give me all the contents of your bag.” The guard then snatched the bag and added, “Do you have an admission ticket? Can you show it to me?” The security guard took away the ticket from the evangelist and ordered him to leave the expo.
11 Although feeling upset and mistreated in the free country of Korea, the evangelists gave thanks to God. CEF of Korea had recognized that the huge Yeosu Expo 2012 was a golden opportunity to reach children for Christ. They designed folding fans with the history of the Yeosu Expo and the complete Gospel message on them. After being expelled from the fair, they did not give up! They bought more tickets, entered again and continued evangelizing. Who could hinder them from carrying on their mission? During the eighth week, God sent the most evangelists as well as the most visitors and children to the Expo. How could Satan just remain a spectator? The harassment from the guards began again. They checked all bags at the entrance. No evangelists could enter because each of them had 50 to 100 Gospel folding fans and brochures/tracts in their bags. They could do nothing but pray in the desperate situation. Urgent prayer requests were delivered to the intercessory prayer groups. “Oh Lord, please cover the guards’ eyes and open the way for your servants,” they prayed. Suddenly the clear sky grew dark and stormy. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed. The weather became so severe that even umbrellas were useless. The security guards rushed to cover their expensive security check scanners, and the vast number of visitors pressing to get in and escape the rain made the security check impossible. The evangelists were able to enter with no restrictions. Soon after all the evangelists had entered, the weather cleared up and the land dried quickly. “Who can stop God’s passion to save souls, and how can we not praise his faithfulness?” said Jeremiah Cho, national director of CEF of Korea. Over a period of nine weeks 450 evangelists from across Korea came to the Expo. They used the fans to share the Gospel with 40,000 children. They also circulated 100,000 Gospel tracts entitled “The Secret of the Aquarium.” “It was tremendously moving for us to look around and see that almost every child at the Expo had heard the Gospel and was holding a fan in his or her hand. ‘The Secret of the Aquarium’ appealed to many children because the aquarium was the most popular display at the Expo. We did not see even one of the 100,000 tracts discarded on the ground. We could not stop praising the Lord, who changed the Yeosu Expo into the ‘Gospel Expo,’” Jeremiah added.
Child Evangelism Fellowship PO Box 348 Warrenton, MO 63383
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Fast Facts
Do you have a story to tell of how God has used Child Evangelism Fellowship in your life? Send it to
[email protected] or CEF/Impact, PO Box 348, Warrenton, MO 63383.
1. CEF now has 2,905 full-time workers. 2. Last ministry year a record-breaking 288,638 adults were trained to reach children with the Gospel worldwide. 3. Only 22 countries need to be opened by 2017 to achieve our goal of “Around the World in 80 Years.” Patriotic Assembly Results in Teens Turning to Christ
Santie was a science teacher in the public schools of Namibia, teaching grades 11 and 12. She took the Wordless Book training to learn how to share the Gospel with children. “After the training we challenged the students to make an appointment with us to share the Wordless Book to cement the training in their minds. When Santie called to make her appointment, we assumed that’s what she wanted to do. But when she arrived, she had a totally different story to share with us.” The week before had been Namibia Independence Day and there was a special assembly at school. After the assembly the students were talking about freedom and Santie said, “Let me tell you about real freedom.” When they got to the classroom she used the Wordless Book to tell them about the real freedom they could have by believing in Jesus as their Savior. She explained the entire Wordless Book to them then told them that if they wanted to receive Jesus as their Savior, they could come back after school and talk with her about that. In Namibia school ends at 1:00 p.m. and students normally go home to eat lunch right after school. But this day the teens came to Santie one at a time, two at a time, three at a time! By the time Santie wrapped up her day, 18 high school students had received Jesus as Savior! Santie was able to adapt our Bible lesson material for older children and taught a Good News Club to those students every Thursday! —Brian Davelaar
Namibia
