‘Brick by brick, these clubs create fun and excitement in teaching kids that they can have and build a relationship with Jesus,’ says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
For Immediate Release
January 20, 2025
ST. LOUIS — Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is using models built of construction toys, primarily LEGO® bricks — perhaps one of the most popular toy brands around the world for kids and adults, with bricks sold in more than 120 countries worldwide — as a tool to build relationships with families while teaching children the Word of God.
International LEGO® Day is celebrated annually on January 28, which marks the day the first patent for the LEGO® brick was submitted in Denmark.
CEF workers partner with local volunteers to hold the construction toy clubs. CEF supplies the popular building blocks, figures and instructions so the children can create a variety of buildings and vehicles, as well as builds that relate to the Bible program.
Some local churches provide helpers to sit and build with the children.
“Brick by brick, these clubs create fun and excitement in teaching kids that they can have and build a relationship with Jesus,” says Child Evangelism Fellowship Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry. “While they are building construction toy ‘cities,’ they are building relationships.”
CEF clubs are using LEGO® bricks to teach children God’s Word in the U.S. and around the world.
In the U.S., CEF in California uses LEGO® bricks in their clubs, with CEF in Santa Barbara using the toys during the summer as an especially engaging version of the 5-Day Club®. This past summer, CEF Santa Barbara had five children come to Christ through a construction toy camp. CEF NorCal offers clubs in several locations as one-time events in the community (parks, churches, etc). Through CEF NorCal’s construction toy clubs, several children have professed Christ as their Lord and Savior.
In addition, CEF in New York City has also started using the building blocks for their ministry, and CEF in other states are planning to start the clubs.
Testimonies from CEF construction toy clubs
Denmark
A CEF worker in Denmark, the home of the LEGO® brick has held two-to-four-day events that draw many families with children ages five to 12. As the children build their cityscape, they also receive foundational knowledge of God, that He created them and provided forgiveness of sin through His plan of salvation. Most of these events culminate with a family service in the local church.
For the past two years, a CEF leader in Copenhagen has conducted a monthly club “in an area with many troubled children” bringing LEGO® bricks for the children to build whatever they want. The monthly club format is easy to organize and gives volunteers and workers time to hang out with the children and get to know them and their parents during the club activities.
“We see many parents from troubled families enjoying this way of being able to hang out with their children with someone else organizing it for them,” said the CEF leader. Club attendance ranges from 10 to 60 children.
Eastern Europe
A traveling CEF club has been touring Eastern Europe. Two CEF workers come alongside local churches to provide a three-hour evangelistic program including a Bible message, a memory verse, and a car full of LEGO® bricks. “The children love to build with these popular blocks while learning about God, and the churches are enthusiastic about this outreach program,” a CEF staff member says.
To view a video of the biggest building block “city” that CEF built in Romania, click here.
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 CEF’s combined ministries, more than 29.2 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.
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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.