History of Child Evangelism Fellowship in Washington

Child Evangelism Fellowship® also known as CEF® is a Bible-centered, worldwide organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the local church for Christian living. CEF has over1,200 missionaries overseas, approximately 1,000 of whom are nationals. CEF is currently ministering in over 150 countries and in every state of the U.S. In the USA over 700 full-time workers and an estimated 40,000 volunteers serve the ministry. CEF was founded by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer in 1937. During the ministry year of 2007-2008 over 8,000,000 children heard the Gospel with over 3,395,945 professions of faith.

Child Evangelism Fellowship of Washington made its way west from the ministries birthplace in Chicago in the late 1930’s. Currently, there are 17 local chapters spread across the state with the state headquarters located in Yakima. In our last ministry year 34,031 heard the Gospel with 3,631 children making a profession of faith.1,656 people were trained in effective teaching techniques to equip them to be more effective evangelists and disciplers.

CEF has many evangelistic programs, but the two most identified with the organization are 5-Day Clubs® and Good News Clubs®. These two exciting ministries take place in neighborhood settings such as homes, backyards, schools and community centers all over the world. These fast-paced, one-hour programs are designed to bring the Gospel of Christ to children on their level in their environment.

Along with the clubs, CEF also has fair, computer, open-air, telephone and correspondence outreach programs for children. CEF provides classes to train their workers and other Christians who are burdened for evangelizing children. The Childrens Ministries Institute®, a modular 3-month course located at CEF's International Headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri, is dedicated to providing quality, practical training for those called of God to take the Gospel message to children. Similar training is offered in various locations around the world.

CEF Press® produces and distributes Bible and missionary lessons and related materials for use in teaching children to help accomplish the goals of the ministry. Teaching materials are available to the public by calling the toll-free number 1-800-748-7710. Many products are translated into some 90 different languages and distributed around the world.

Teach Kids®, a teaching resource magazine for children's workers published in English at CEF's International Headquarters, is distributed worldwide. Other versions are printed elsewhere in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. This resource offers instruction, teaching tools and inspiration. Each issue is packed with helpful ideas, a full-color visualized lesson and many reproducible pages.

CEF offers a variety of opportunities for involvement in the ministry-from part-time service as a Good News Club teacher or International Headquarters volunteer to short-term, summer or full-time service in the USA or overseas. There are programs for all ages from junior high school age through retirement.

An exciting program for teenagers is Christian Youth In Action® (CYIA). In June all across the USA hundreds of young people are trained to conduct 5-Day Clubs. Throughout the summer they have many opportunities to present the Gospel to boys and girls, experiencing the joy of leading others to the Lord. In 2008, 106 teens attended CYIA camp.