After being denied access to the school to promote Good News Clubs®, CEF filed a lawsuit against the district and the superintendent for violating free speech and equal-protections rights. CEF’s goal was to regain access to the school property to minister to the children in need of the Gospel message.

“For years, CEF staff and volunteers haven’t been able to reach the children in this school district with the Gospel,” said CEF Executive Vice President Moises Esteves. “Every single year, children left these schools without the opportunity to experience God’s truth through our Good News Clubs. However, we are thrilled to reenter these schools and set up our programs once more, offering thousands of kids a chance to learn about God’s powerful love.”

Elementary school children (Photo courtesy of CDC/Unsplash)

The school district previously allowed CEF Rhode Island to run a Good News Club at the elementary school for the 2019–2020 school year before COVID caused the cancelation of all clubs in Spring 2020. When CEF Rhode Island requested to resume the Good News Club, as well as start a new club at another local elementary school in the district for the 2021–2022 school year, district officials failed to respond to repeated facilities use applications by CEF Rhode Island. For nearly two years, the district continued to block CEF Rhode Island from hosting its elementary school Good News Clubs on district school facilities. However, other organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Girls on the Run were given free use of school facilities for after school programs.

“CEF Good News Clubs positively impact the lives of children and their families,” said Esteves. “Millions of children around the world have found the saving grace of the Gospel through our Good News Clubs, then brought these lessons home to impact their families.”

At Good News Clubs, teachers who are screened and equipped lead action-packed gatherings every week, delivering timeless truths of the Bible in exciting, engaging ways. Good News Clubs do not charge a fee and welcome children with written permission from parents. There are currently more than 2,500 Good News Clubs in 1,660 schools across the United States, including in other Rhode Island school districts.

“Children need the Gospel now more than ever before. In a world filled with such darkness, many find the light of Christ to be the first experience of hope and love they’ve ever had,” said Esteves.

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “This is a great victory for Child Evangelism Fellowship and the students and parents of the Providence School District. Public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities. Child Evangelism Fellowship gives children a biblically based education that includes moral and character development. Good News Clubs should be in every public elementary school.”

Child Evangelism Fellowship, which was founded 86 years ago, has been establishing Good News Clubs® in countries around the world for decades. Clubs are thriving worldwide, in countries including Australia, Cambodia, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Uganda.

Last year, through CEF’s combined ministries, more than 19.5 million children worldwide heard the Good News. In 2022, more than 439,000 teachers were trained around the world.

For more CEF news, see the ministry’s latest edition of the online magazine Impact.

Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry that has been dedicated to seeing every child reached with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, discipled and established in a local church since 1937. CEF is located in all 50 American states and in most countries around the world, with over 3,500 paid staff and tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.

Header photo courtesy of Joe Gratz/Flickr.

Nearly 300 French cities and several Paris neighborhoods have seen violent protests and vandalism in recent weeks.

The spark was lit when 17-year-old boy was killed by police on June 27. Nahel Merzouk, a teenager of North African descent, was shot during a traffic stop. Police say Merzouk drove at the officer who shot him in self-defense.

Paris, France (Photo courtesy of Pascal Weiland/Unsplash)

Protestors argue the tragic incident demonstrates the mistreatment of minorities and refugees in France. Police say it’s an issue of youth delinquency. Many of the protestors and vandals arrested have been youth and teens, with the average age being 17 and some as young as 12.

The continued unrest, although it has slowed some, has deterred many holiday travelers plans during Bastille Day and affected local businesses and ministries.

Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) has felt the impact with their Good News Clubs for kids in France.

Krista Biesiadecki with CEF says, “Parents are concerned about sending their children out into our Good News Clubs and other things that were happening for children in these weeks. A lot of cities are also enforcing curfews and asking that parents would just keep their children home, especially when a lot of the violence is starting with young people and teenagers.”

The conflict is complicated, but one thing is certain: Hurting communities in France need the hope of the Gospel. Yet, this can be easier said than done.

“These areas have been previously difficult to reach with the Gospel,” Biesiadecki says. “In those same neighborhoods where there’s a lot of violence and there’s a lot of rioting right now, a lot of the Good News Clubs and CEF ministry to children has not been accepted.”

(Image courtesy of CEF)

According to a recent survey by Odoxa, 74% of the French population aged 65 and older claims Christianity (largely Catholic). However, among young people in France under age 25, only 30% identify as Christian. Fewer are actually active in their faith.

“This is really an area of prayer that we can be praying for the children and the young people of France, that they would know and they would have hope in Christ,” says Biesiadecki.

“This is a generation without a lot of hope that [is] growing up without knowing Christ. It’s leading to a lot of violence and a lot of sad situations in their communities.”

Please pray also that God would open new doors for CEF’s Gospel ministry to kids in France.

Header photo courtesy of Joe DeSousa/Unsplash.

Krista Biesiadecki, communications manager of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) says, “In many of these regions, there’s a lot of hostility. Even in the city of Malakal…there were 13 people killed in a conflict in the United Nations refugee camp. Orphanages are being evacuated and children displaced.”

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

For refugee children, going from fighting in their home country to fighting in the refugee camp is frightening.

CEF has been serving refugee camps in South Sudan since 2016. Their staff members are seeking to reach this new wave of Sudanese refugees and children pouring into South Sudan from the northern border. However, some of South Sudan’s northern cities are difficult and even dangerous to get into.

Yet, Francis Candiga, national director of CEF South Sudan shares, “We really feel a burden to share the Gospel with the boys and girls who have a dire need of relief and comfort from the word of God.”

It’s a critical opportunity for refugee kids from Sudan to find Christ’s peace and hope! CEF needs prayer and support to make it happen.

Biesiadecki says, “We can definitely be praying for our CEF staff, for physical protection over them as they travel into those areas and minister to those children in refugee camps – new ones that are forming and then existing ones as well.

“Then, [be] praying for refugee families, especially the children, that they would have an opportunity to hear the Good News while they are in those camps.

“And then [pray] that the Lord would provide finances as well for our staff to be able to travel to expand the ministry in some of those northern areas.”

Click here to learn more about CEF! You can also give to CEF’s ministry here.

Header photo courtesy of Randy Fath/Unsplash.

On that fateful day, May 24, 2022, East Texas State Director for Child Evangelism Fellowship, Mimi Sellers, instantly had flashbacks to the 2018 high school shooting in Santa Fe. Comparing the two tragedies she says, “The best thing we did was keep the media out. Churches were strong, we were able to heal. When the media comes back to Uvalde on the anniversary of the shooting, we can expect protesting and possibly riots.”

The town already had a lot of challenges. Extreme poverty not only plagues the townspeople but prevents gathering enough taxes to help with civil government infrastructure. People who couldn’t afford to lose their jobs suffered such grief and turmoil that they didn’t go to work and lost employment. The ripple effect has caused the economy to suffer even more. People have spiraled down with grief, guilt, regret, and blame. The media goads people into venting about what hasn’t happened by way of improvements since the shooting. People wonder what happened to the donated money and the promises for better school security.

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

The atmosphere in the town is one of volatility. Loud people are approaching others, even people in their cars, and intimidating them. People feel vulnerable and afraid—when they’re not feeling angry.

Sellers summarizes the complexity and hopelessness. “There has been an economic, emotional, and spiritual collapse. There is a need for someone to rise up and take the town and turn it around. We know that Jesus is the answer.” Sellers and her ministry colleagues are strategizing on two levels.

The first part of the strategy is a partnership with churches to reach children and their families through various community outreaches. The second part has to do with long-term sustainability for ministry.

After the shooting, CEF volunteers from around Texas and even from headquarters in Missouri came to Uvalde and did street ministry. They started by connecting with pastors who themselves were traumatized. They were with families as they went to the hospital and morgue, viewed unspeakable things, and some were touched even more personally. At one point, CEF workers and pastors met for a strategy meeting. “You are the first people to ask us how we are doing” they said.

Do You Wonder Why?, booklet by CEF. (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

CEF volunteers brought 19,000 copies of a gospel-centered trauma healing booklet by the title, Do You Wonder Why? for distribution. They walked the streets offering to pray with people and distributing both English and Spanish booklets. Representatives from the schools and library took thousands of copies each. Churches used the booklet that very Sunday. 10,000 more copies were sent in June.

One of the CEF staff who came to the town was Angela Carillo, the CEF Local Director for San Antonio. After seeing the spiritual openness of the Uvalde townspeople, she just couldn’t leave. God provided for her to stay in town for eight months. She was able to hold several trainings and establish a local CEF ministry, coordinated by Silvia Alvear, a woman with administrative and teaching skills. Alvear leads the children’s ministry at her church and has made inroads with a few others.

Most churches in town have not recovered. Families with children or families who lost children have seemingly lost faith and are not attending church. Most churches are aging, and the pastors are demoralized. However, there are two bright spots.

Templo Christiano, which holds services in both English and Spanish hosted a volunteer training by Carillo and Alvear. Ten volunteers from the church help at the library’s Good News Club and the church held a CEF Party Club booth at a recent Dia Los Ninos fair. In the past, the church passed out candy, toys, and did games. But with Alvear’s direction, they had multiple programs with a Bible story and led over a thousand children and parents in prayer to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The church pastor loved the improved format.

Silvia Alvear learned about a program called Camp Healing by the HEB Foundation in Virginia. She invited the foundation to come put on a program and learned how to incorporate art, discussion, and games in a way that helps children talk about the hard things in their lives. Now she leads her church in a quarterly Camp Healing. She added significant Bible teaching to the program, using her CEF training.

Uvalde, Texas (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

The public school after-school program coordinator has approved a Good News Club to begin meeting this fall in the area public schools. There are four schools so the team of 10 volunteers that Carillo and Alvear have trained will send 2 people to each school and the school program coordinator will assist with helpers. Alvear says, “We are encouraged that the Gospel is going out and desperate people are coming to the Lord. But there is much to be done.”

These little bright spots can begin to turn the town around, but one more element is missing. East Texas State Director Mimi Sellers is looking for some outside support for this small town. “We need Hispanic men from strong churches in a hundred mile radius to come mentor key people in Uvalde. We also need financial support for two CEF workers so the work will be sustained. I’ve seen it many times, where passionate and skilled people have to leave a productive ministry to support themselves. They also have expenses associated with doing the ministry. They’ve stepped up in faith and now we need to keep them moving forward.” Sellers is talking to various churches in East Texas about those two needs, looking for who will receive the blessing by answering the call.

One year after the shooting and the wounds in Uvalde are still bleeding, requiring a spiritual doctor. Jesus said He came to bind up the wounds and heal the broken hearted and then He commissioned believers to be His hands and feet through the power of the Holy Spirit. Who will claim the words of Jesus and be the doctor?

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. ~ Isaiah 61:1-3

Header photo of Bible verses on a curb in Uvalde last year. (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

Responding police officers quickly made their way into the school and took out the shooter. The whole ordeal took just under 15 minutes. The shooter had been a former student at the elementary school.

Fred Pry, Assistant Vice President, USA Ministries for Child Evangelism Fellowship says they are in touch with local CEF staff in Nashville. “CEF is actually heartbroken by the events yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee and at The Covenant School. The Bible tells us to weep with those that are weeping, and they certainly are and we do as well.

“We reached out to [CEF staff] as soon as the news broke…and contacted our state director there. Of course, they’re heartbroken and they’re reaching out to the school and the community and the churches in the area to see if they can support them in some way.”

Representative photo of a school hallway. (Photo courtesy of Kyo Azuma via Unsplash)

In the wake of horrible tragedy in the Christian community of Nashville, grief-stricken believers are coming together.

CEF’s state director in Tennessee, Jeff Nichols, recently began a relationship with The Covenant School in Nashville. Nichols has reached out to his contacts at the elementary school to offer support from the ministry.

Pry says, “We want to serve the community. We want to serve the hurting.”

CEF offers biblical trauma resources for kids through their “Do You Wonder Why?” booklet. Sadly, this isn’t the first time this booklet has been distributed following a school shooting in the US.

“In fact, that booklet was used after the Uvalde school shooting that took place,” Pry says. “I personally had taken a vanload of booklets down there and we distributed them all in Uvalde, Texas to all the churches and God used that in a mighty way. That’s what we would like to do here in Nashville as well.”

Do You Wonder Why?, booklet by CEF. (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

If you want to give towards CEF’s Gospel ministry to kids, click here.

You can also contact CEF for information on other ways the ministry could use support as they serve the heartbroken Nashville community.

Pry reflects, “When these tragedies happen, it takes time for people just to get over the shock of it and then the question comes, ‘Well, what can we do to support the people that need support?’ Of course, people will come from all different areas. There will be counselors that are brought into the situation for the children, I’m sure, and pastors will get involved. That’s usually when we then have an open door to to provide these booklets because they’re meeting with people, they’re reaching out to people.”

In the meantime, Pry says, “We can’t minimize the value of prayer…. We had a time of prayer specifically praying for the folks, all the people that are involved — the school, the churches, the community, the families, and even the family of the shooter because we know that they are hurting as well today.”

Pray wisdom for CEF staff members serving as the hands and feet of Jesus in Nashville. Ask the Lord to be very near grieving families and kids, that they would sense His comfort.

Header photo courtesy of Mike Labrum via Unsplash.

It’s on track to become the world’s longest-running tropical cyclone this weekend. The last record-holder was Typhoon John which churned through the Pacific Ocean for 30 days in 1994.

When Cyclone Freddy first hit Mozambique two weeks ago, it displaced 37,000 people. Child Evangelism Fellowship hosts a children’s ministry training institute in Mozambique. Lydia Kaiser, CEF spokesperson says, “Area churches and schools are housing displaced families and there’s news of yet another depression forming in the Indian Ocean.”

Cyclone Freddy (Photo courtesy of NASA/Suomi-NPP – EOSDIS Worldview, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128877993)

Cyclone Freddy is on course to strike Mozambique again sometime Friday or Saturday.

Despite the storm, CEF workers are still gathering for children’s ministry training. The sooner they finish, the sooner they can reach more kids in Mozambique with Gospel hope.

Kaiser says, “Child Evangelism Fellowship workers have been able to continue in their 3-month training institute as flood waters threaten to submerge the access road. Eighteen students are being trained, bringing the national staff of CEF to 31 workers who are supported by SPAN, Sponsor-a-National program.

“National workers are fluent in Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, and they are faithful to the ministry even when hardships like flooding and cholera outbreak happen. The current team of 13 workers disciple an average of 2,500 children a week by going from school to school each day and holding open air ministry. ”

You can encourage these Christian leaders in Mozambique as they share Jesus with children and support families through hardship. Learn more about CEF’s Sponsor-a-National program.

“The cost to sponsor a national worker translates into only several USA pennies for each child who is taught.”

Also, Kaiser asks, “Please pray for the institute to be able to complete the third and final month of training, and for the people of Mozambique that they will be spared from another violent weather system.”

Header photo of flooded access road to CEF’s institute in Mozambique following Cyclone Freddy. (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

In Turkiye, economists and government officials expect damages from the earthquake on February 6th will cost more than $50 billion lira ($2.6 billion USD).

Child Evangelism Fellowship has national staff in both Syria and Turkiye. One of their workers in Syria wrote, “We, just now, found a place to stay. But there’s no food, freezing temperatures, and the children are like ice. We are ministering to 700 children and the parents.

“The parents say there is no food here for their children. There are still several tremors an hour and one mom told us that she has not slept in 5 days. It is beyond rough. Please pray for us.”

(Photo courtesy of CEF)

Lydia Kaiser, a spokesperson with CEF, also relays this message from local partners: “‘Everyone needs cover, food, and the little ones need diapers. The children are so cold, tired, and afraid, they can’t eat and they wet themselves. I don’t know how to keep my children safe. It’s below freezing outside so I’m afraid they will die from the cold. But if we go in, I’m afraid the walls will come down on us.’”

In the midst of tragedy, local Christians are sharing the comfort of Jesus. CEF works with national believers who, of course, know the language, culture, and how to effectively share the Gospel with kids and their families.

CEF workers around the world have organized Hope for Turkiye/Syria with a plan to distribute backpacks called Bags of Hope.

Bags of Hope contain food, toys, school items, and CEF’s “Do You Wonder Why?” booklet — which answers questions kids have in crisis and shares the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Kaiser says, “We request prayer that we will be able to get our ‘Do You Wonder Why?’ booklet printed in the vast quantities needed [and] in the language needed as soon as possible. They are being printed right now, but a lot is needed and the distribution is difficult.”

You can support CEF’s urgent ministry into Turkiye and Syria by giving here.

(Photo courtesy of CEF)

Please also pray for kids and their families who are still reeling a month since the earthquake. Pray for those who need physical aid to be connected with resources. And above all, ask the Lord to be near those who are grieving and shelter them with compassion and comfort.

Header photo courtesy of CEF.

Hundreds of Zoom connections and YouTube attendees allowed representatives from countries around the world to join the International Headquarters staff of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) on Friday, February 10th, to hear the results of their prayers and efforts. The goal was to reach millions of children during the Christmas season, helping them understand the true meaning of Christmas.

With more results trickling in, an astonishing 6 million children were reached — and 2.8 million were counseled for salvation.

Testimonies from people in each major region of the world brought tears to the crowd as they heard of the wonder children experienced who heard the true Christmas story for the first time.

In Ukraine, missile sirens went off, so club teachers didn’t expect anyone to come. The sirens lasted two hours but when they silenced, children came running.

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

In other countries, children climbed ladders to meet on roofs, gathered on sandbars along the Amazon River, and even gathered in the snow, learning to worship Jesus.

Success was due to extensive training efforts during October and November when 167,000 volunteers attended 11,000 training seminars. These volunteers went out and held 169,000 Christmas Party Clubs.

The most surprising statistic was that believers in the MENA countries region succeeded in reaching the most children with the good news of the birth of Jesus, accounting for 51% of the total number.

This year’s Christmas Party Club curriculum went by the name Immanuel, to emphasize God is with us!

CEF invites all believers to help in the 2023 outreach to reach even more children in the USA and beyond. The Christmas Party Club is one of several club programs conducted by CEF, with the weekly after-school Good News Club being the best known. In all clubs, children hear a Gospel-centered Bible lesson, play games, learn a Bible verse, sing action songs and more.

Click here to get involved with CEF.

Churches that sponsor local schools for the weekly clubs benefit from CEF training for their children’s workers and from young families coming to church who wouldn’t have come otherwise. The 2022 Christmas Party Clubs resulted in commitments by volunteers to hold 20,000 new Good News Clubs in the coming school year.

Child Evangelism Fellowship is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry that has been teaching the Bible to children since 1937. CEF has 400 offices in the USA and is organized in most nations of the world, with over 3,700 paid staff and hundreds of thousands of volunteers. In its last ministry year, CEF ministered to over 16 million children in its face-to-face teaching ministries.

Watch the video report here!

Header photo courtesy of David Beale via Unsplash.

In 2020 and 2021, parents learned that their children were being exposed to unethical indoctrination on everything from sex to politics. Now, these parents are fed up and ready to take school boards to task for allowing Satan clubs to meet in their child’s schools.

This controversy over Satan clubs in public schools has rocked several communities, including Moline, IL; Lebanon, OH; York County, PA; Bakersfield, CA; Greensboro, NC; and Chesapeake, VA.

To the surprise of many, however, CEF upholds the right of Satan clubs to be present in public schools.

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

CEF spokesperson Lydia Kaiser explains the ministry’s position: “While we abhor everything they stand for, we acknowledge they also have the right to free speech and religious expression. A SCOTUS ruling in 2001 clarified that equal access must be given to all clubs which are able to follow the school’s rules in order to meet on school property after school.

“Parents are actually the gatekeepers because all children must have a signed permission slip to attend any club.”

Kaiser explains when parents protest vigorously against the formation of after-school Satan clubs, sometimes schools either close down all religious clubs or refuse to grant permission to the Satan club to meet. This results in TST suing the school district, winning, and using those funds for further mischief.

It also results in promoting the unconstitutional public perception that no one, Christians included, may express religious faith in the public arena.

So What Can Parents Do?

(Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

CEF encourages parents to attend school board meetings to express their concerns, but to follow this advice:

1) Thank school boards for following the law and then call the bluff of TST. If a Satan club starts, and parents simply don’t sign the permission slips for their children to join, the club itself will not survive.

2) Expose the false narrative of TST — that they aren’t interested in indoctrinating children regarding Satanism. Even the name of the club will encourage children to someday become active in the occult as if it’s something good or innocuous. The TST mascot is a statue of elementary-aged children adoring the Baphomet figure of Satan with all the occult symbols. Furthermore, they claim to teach “individual sovereignty” which is idolatry and anti-authority.

3) Do something positive to counter the dark influences that lure kids. Volunteer in a Good News Club! Children attending Good News Clubs get to hear how God created them in His image and loves them. They learn about Jesus, His sacrifice for them, and His plan to give them a hope and a future.

Kaiser says, “While we have great sympathy for the frustration of these parents, we urge them to look at the larger issues at stake.”

People can learn more about Good News Club at cefonline.com.

Header photo courtesy of Kyo Azuma via Unsplash.

“About five million Ukrainians left, but within the country, another five [to] six million people have moved from the east to the west,” Bogden Bassara with Child Evangelism Fellowship says.

More than 50 percent of the national power grid remains offline, and winter is settling in. As Ukraine evacuates hundreds of people from war-ravaged cities like Kherson, archaic infrastructure threatens to collapse.

“The situation is not getting any better right now, with people being under constant attack,” Bassara says.

“[Nonetheless,] CEF ministry did not stop even for one day over [these nine] months of the war.”

Through CEF’s Hope for Ukraine project, local churches give Gospel backpacks to needy kids. The bags contain snacks, water, small toys, and three CEF booklets. So far, believers have distributed more than 125,000 backpacks.

A friend of a CEF worker spotted a mother reading the booklet, “Do You Wonder Why? Answers to Tough Questions” to her son on a train in Poland 300 km from the Ukrainian border.
(Photo, caption courtesy of CEF)

These Gospel backpacks provide scared children with something comforting and familiar, as well as new understanding and hope for tomorrow.

“We have three Gospel leaflets inside. Do You Wonder Why? answers some of the questions that children have right now. Meet The King is an overview of Jesus’s life with a clear presentation of the Gospel, and we also offer them the Gospel of John,” Bassara says.

The Lord also uses current events to make His name known. Several days ago, “I took 2,000 backpacks to Lviv, and as we were unloading the car, we heard sirens announcing that there could be a possible attack of rockets,” Bassara says.

“The shelter happened to be at a local evangelical church, so within a few minutes, we had maybe over 100 people sitting in the church. The pastor came and preached the Gospel,” he continues.

“This is just one example of how believers are using the situation to spread the Gospel in spite of difficulties still.”

In the header image, employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine tell children hiding in the Kharkiv metro about mine and chemical hazards, as well as about providing medical emergency first aid.  (Wikimedia Commons)