“CEF France has been working very hard to maximize outreach for the 2024 Olympics, which we see as a huge mission field”
For Immediate Release
July 22, 2024
ST. LOUIS — As France prepares to welcome athletes from around the world for the XXXIII Olympiad (Olympic Games) in and around Paris from July 26 to August 11, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is on the scene, bringing the Gospel to children.
“CEF France has been working very hard to maximize outreach for the 2024 Olympics, which we see as a huge mission field,” says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry.
“CEF workers and volunteers have studied maps of areas where the Olympic torch will pass through, strategizing for literature distribution. There has been tremendous outreach before the Games and it will continue during the Games, and of course, after the Games.”
CEF France hosted a Gospel literature distribution campaign in Normandy from May 25 to June 1. Gospel of Luke booklets were distributed as the Olympic flame passed through sites in Saint LO, Caen and Bayeux.
A multinational team from France, South Africa and America traveled together to distribute Gospel booklets as the torch made its way to Paris for its final leg. It is scheduled to arrive for the opening ceremonies on July 26.
More distributions are planned for more stops as the torch continues through Paris.
CEF France’s Olympics outreach contains four main efforts, a few of which are already underway:
1: Hand out 5,000 wristbands and Gospel resources in Paris and elsewhere in Europe before the Games begin. This effort is ongoing for CEF France, before, during and after the Olympics. The resources and wristbands are being given to children taking part in CEF France’s “Olympic Day” clubs, teaching Christian children to share the Gospel with their peers.
2: The Sports Day kit
This resource is designed for churches to organize an “Olympic Day” between January and September 2024. CEF France is conducting training via Zoom for these churches.
One Vacation Bible School has used the kit in Valenciennes in the North of France. To date, 15 Olympic Days are scheduled.
3: Mass distribution of CEF gospel literature organized by the churches.
About 120,000 gospel literature packs have already been ordered by churches and individuals and another 10,000 will be used by CEF France to distribute during the Olympics.
4: Hosting a team from CEF of Ireland during the Olympic Games.
CEF France has already held a Sports Day club to reach children with the Gospel. Children were able to participate in Olympics-themed events and hear an exciting Bible lesson.
From August 1 to 8, Sports Day clubs will be held by a team of 10 Irish young people and 10 teens from CEF France, who will also do a mass distribution of gospel literature.
CEF France workers Frédy and Liliane Augsburger recalled the Sports Day held on May 25:
“It was a super beautiful and sunny day, with 47 children full of energy! Even during the breaks, the kids wanted to keep playing and never got tired. They were very attentive during the teaching. The main theme was, ‘The race with Jesus leads to victory!’ Unlike the Olympic Games where there is only one winner, in Jesus, we are all winners!”
Child Evangelism Fellowship, which was founded 87 years ago, has been establishing the Good News Club® 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 and many more.
In 2023, through CEF’s combined ministries, more than 25.2 million children worldwide heard the Good News. More than 577,000 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.
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To interview a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship, contact [email protected], Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.