‘Children love parties and Christmas! When they learn why we give gifts and celebrate the season, they discover the One behind it all,’ says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
For Immediate Release
October 14, 2024
ST. LOUIS — Many children don’t regularly attend church and have never heard the true meaning of Christmas, especially in countries without a solid Christian heritage. But it’s true even in the United States and other countries where secularism has become a competing value system.
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) brings the Gospel to children all over America and all over the world, teaching them about the real meaning of Christmas through their Christmas Party Club™.
In 2023, the ministry’s Christmas Party Club™ reached 8.8 million children in 295,000 clubs. Of those children, 2.5 million were counseled for salvation.
“You can’t overestimate the impact of a Christmas Party Club™,” says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry. “Children love parties and Christmas! When they learn why we give gifts and celebrate the season, they discover the One behind it all.”
Through a Christmas Party Club™, volunteers and churches can work alongside Child Evangelism Fellowship to reach the children in their communities with the true, Gospel-centered story of Christmas.
In a brief video, CEF workers explain why a Christmas Party Club™ is such a compelling tool for evangelism. “Children learn about what Jesus did for every child in the world,” one CEF worker says. “And children learn that the best gift God can give them is salvation.”
“CEF provides training, materials and activities that anyone can use to confidently host a Christmas Party Club™,” Pry says.
In a Christmas Party Club™, an exciting Bible lesson using colorful materials from CEF is presented. This action-packed time also includes songs, Scripture memory, and review games or other activities focused on the Christmas theme.
Each club includes a clear presentation of the Gospel and an opportunity for children to trust the Lord Jesus as his or her Savior. A Christmas Party Club™ can be used as a one-time outreach program, a party for a Sunday school, or a community event. They are taught by trained leaders, Sunday school teachers, children’s ministry workers and other believers who love children.
CEF India’s Christmas Party Club™ outreach
With nearly 1.5 billion people, India recently overtook China as the world’s most populous country. CEF is focusing on growing its ministry in India with the help of the Christmas Party Club™. In 2023, CEF India held 172,528 clubs, reaching 3,009,692 children. Of those, 803,981 were counseled for salvation. CEF also held 8,008 seminars for 140,248 people to share the Gospel through these clubs.
CEF India’s goals for their 2024 Christmas Party Club™ ministry include: holding 177,436 clubs, reaching 3,500,00 children, hosting 8,500 seminars and training many more to teach a Christmas Party Club™.
Christmas Party Club™ testimonies
CEF worker Bienfait Régis Ntakabanyura tells about a trip that he took with a volunteer instructor from CEF of Burundi. He says that they “went to Rutana and Makamba in South Burundi for two days to train 95 volunteers to teach the true meaning of Christmas to unreached children in that area. The trips were not easy, with rain and motorcycle transport, but Jesus helped us. One of my favorite Christmas Party Club™ (CPC) trainings was on December 2. When we were training the teachers, children were playing nearby. I invited them to attend a CPC demonstration for the teachers. That day, 56 boys and girls enjoyed the CPC. We praise Jesus that 25 of the children received Jesus as Savior.”
“Last year we purposed to train 300 volunteers and reach children through Christmas Party Clubs™,” a CEF staffer said. “Praise God that He expanded our vision, giving us more strength and resources to do more. By December 15, we had trained over 500 volunteers, equipping them with materials to share the Christmas message. We challenged every trained volunteer to conduct at least three clubs. Over 47,000 children heard a presentation of the Christmas message.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), 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 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.
Child Evangelism Fellowship 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.