Contact: Rachel Hamel, Child Evangelism Fellowship®, 636-456-4321 ext. 1177
WARRENTON, Mo., May 15, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Child Evangelism Fellowship® has been taking the Gospel to children for 80 years, but they are now seeing monumental growth in their world-wide ministry.
"This year we are celebrating God's faithfulness over our history," said Reese Kauffman, president. "We are seeing God bless as we strive to reach 'Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day.'"
This week, over 1,500 CEF staff and volunteers from over 100 countries around the world have gathered together for an International Conference in North Carolina. The conference theme of "Rejoice" has focused on celebrating the amazing growth in the ministry over the past 80 years.
Much of the exciting expansion is centered in the weekly Good News Clubs® held in public school buildings and other locations. In 2012 there were 43,000 such clubs being held worldwide. That number has grown to 74,324 in 2016.
These clubs and other outreaches enabled Child Evangelism Fellowship to reach 20,429,085 children in our face to face teaching ministries last year alone. That translates to 55,932 children per day, 2,330 children per hour and 39 children every minute! And over 8 million of those made a profession of faith in Christ.
It was the most fruitful years to date and brought the total number of children reached by CEF since its beginning in 1937 to 220 million.
"But we want to do more than simply bring children to faith in Christ," Kauffman said. "It is our driving passion to also teach them to be in God's Word every day and to help establish them in a church for Christian growth. It's not about a program or materials, but to develop spiritual disciplines the children carry with them into adulthood."
To make this happen, CEF depends on far more than their staff. The organization has 3,423 workers, 96 percent of whom are nationals. But in 2016, they trained a staggering 398,095 people. These volunteers are the heart of the ministry, Kauffman commented.
"I stand in awe as God continues to grow this ministry and send His Word to the far corners of the Earth. The Gospel is changing the lives of children for eternity," he said, "and we are thrilled to be involved in this compelling kingdom work."
