‘Can you imagine trying to teach Sunday school without any pictures, materials or other resources to help children understand the story?’ said CEF Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
ST. LOUIS — Without materials and visual aids, it is much more difficult to teach children anything — including the Gospel.
That’s why Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) started the Boxes of Books program to help staff members and missionary volunteers around the world convey the timeless lessons of the Bible.
“Can you imagine trying to teach Sunday school without any pictures, materials or other resources to help children understand the story?” said CEF Vice President of Administration, Fred Pry. “But when teachers use visual materials to illustrate the lesson, it makes the Bible come alive, no matter what part of the world children may live in.”
Unfortunately, many teachers don’t have these materials and can’t afford them. This is why CEF sends Boxes of Books around the world — boxes filled with visual resources, lesson texts, “Wonder Devotional Books” and other materials that help children learn more about Jesus.
Visual aids are vital in teaching. Many children are “visual learners” who respond best to visual aids. In fact, over 65% of learners are estimated to be visual learners, according to researchers.
“Visual learners learn best when they can see information presented to them in a visual format, such as through diagrams, pictures, and videos,” according to SimpleK12, a resource of Teachers for Tomorrow.
“By integrating visual aids into lessons and daily learning activities, everyone involved in the learning process can experience improved communication, engagement, and success. Benefits of visual learning: enhanced memory, makes communication simpler and quicker, drives motivation, stimulates emotions, enhances comprehension.”
“Our colorful, exciting books can help teachers immensely,” Pry said. “Ever since we started sending these Boxes of Books to CEF offices in poor and ‘closed-to-the-Gospel’ nations, we’ve seen a huge increase in children hearing and responding to the Gospel message.”
The “Wonder Devotional Book” was designed to help children develop a lifelong habit of enjoying God’s Word and applying it to their lives. The books contain a total of 360 devotions to cover a full year. Each “Wonder Devotional Book” is a “60-Day Wonder Book” to make it easier for the children to keep it with their Bible.
“You can make the Bible come alive to children around the world,” Pry said. “When we send Boxes of Books to our workers around the world, we’re able to equip these teachers with all the materials they need to reach and disciple children on a regular basis.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), which was founded 88 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, Uganda, and many more.
In 2023, through the combined ministries of CEF, 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.
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.
###
To interview a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship, contact [email protected], Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.