‘CEF is there for children through various ministries, as workers share the life-changing message of the Gospel,’ says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
For Immediate Release
November 11, 2024
ST. LOUIS — The most vulnerable children are those who are alone with no guardian to care for them. Over 100 million children worldwide are homeless; some live on the streets, and others are taken in by those who abuse them.
“Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is there for children through various ministries, as workers share the life-changing message of the Gospel,” says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration, Fred Pry. “We’ve devoted our Fall 2024 Impact magazine to ‘Winning Against the Attacks on Children.’”
In the magazine, CEF details the dire situations facing abandoned and abused children, and how the ministry has been able to come to their rescue.
Runaways: Some children run away from home, like 12-year-old Tuti from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He ran away from his parents’ house because he had stolen items. He lived on the streets as an abandoned child.
Traditions: In Senegal, many boys ages five to 15 are sent to a Marabout (Quranic teacher) for religious training. Many of these boys, called Talibés, are forced to beg every day. They do this by holding cans to collect money for the Marabout as they fend for themselves. When they return, they may be beaten for not meeting their daily quota.
Violence and war: An Asian CEF worker taught about 140 refugee children in his first-ever summer camp. For five days he taught 10 to 12-year-old children, some of them now homeless because of the civil war. They have been separated from their parents and have suffered much trauma.
Poverty and addiction: Extreme poverty or drug addiction may lead parents to sell their children. Two-month-old Hannah was left at Project Destiny Kids; she had been very sick. Her birth mother, a prostitute and drug addict, planned to sell her at birth for drug money but was stopped by her cousin who agreed to continue prostituting to earn money to provide for the baby’s needs.
Exposed to all sorts of dangers, many abandoned and abused children alone on the streets, are beaten, sexually abused, forced to beg or become involved in criminal activity. They often suffer from sickness and starvation, and even face death.
“God can do miracles through a loving, caring person who shares the life-changing message of the Gospel with these vulnerable children,” Pry says.
Runaways: Things changed for Tuti when he attended a Christmas Party Club™ and believed in Jesus as Savior. He requested to visit his parents to ask for forgiveness. With joy, Tuti was forgiven and received into his family.
Traditions: Bella was a Talibe, or Islamic student. He was saved through open-air evangelism by a CEF worker. Now he is a CMI® graduate and teaches a Good News Club® in three areas. He has trained some Talibes in child evangelism who now help him to reach fellow Talibes.
Violence and war: During camp, 22 refugee children professed Jesus as Savior. They learned God loves and cares for them. They became happy and said He was the only one to give them hope. Although they don’t have parents, they know they have a Father in heaven who always loves them.
Poverty and addiction: Teresa trusted Jesus as Savior at age five. She began to attend Christian Youth In Action™ at age 13 and served as a summer missionary for four summers. Teresa served overseas for 25 years, the last 18 years in the Philippines where she founded Project Destiny Kids, an organization serving street children. Under Teresa’s care, a little girl named Hannah began to thrive and was adopted. She trusted Jesus as Savior in second grade and moved to Illinois in 2020. At age 12, Hannah attended CYIA™ and served as a summer missionary. In 2023, the Lord led Teresa to CEF of Tennessee, where she serves as Northeast Tennessee’s local director.
Hannah’s Testimony:
“I didn’t know I was adopted until I was eight years old. My mom always told me that I could ask her anything and she would tell me the truth. I soon learned that my birth mother had planned to sell me. That was hard to hear, and I believed it was my fault. I was hurt and angry.
“When I attended CYIA™ this year, I heard the Amy Carmichael missionary story and how she rescued girls sold to be temple prostitutes. That stirred something in me. I began to understand just how much God loved me that He would send my mom to adopt me. My birth mother made a terrible choice, but it was her choice and had nothing to do with me. My CYIA™ leader and cabin mates prayed for me and helped me process my pain and anger. The next day, with God’s help, I testified to the whole group, including my mom, what God had done in my heart. I am thankful for CYIA™ and my mom.”
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.