Category: Newsletter Updates

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support this 2022. We appreciate each one of you.

In this newsletter you will read updates on our public school Good News Clubs, a Salvation Testimony from a recent GNC, a note about teacher training, and some ways that you can get involved in our front-line battle! 

Sincerely,

CEF of GBA

We are also working to begin these Good News Clubs: 

Cloverbank and Big Tree Elementary Schools (Frontier School District) – these two clubs have been active for several years, but as mentioned, there are obstacles in restarting them this year. The teachers are ready to go, we just need wisdom in how exactly to move forward.

Lovejoy Discovery School (Buffalo School District) – As with the two Frontier schools, we have teachers in place and ready to go, we just need God to remove the barriers that are holding them back.

West Seneca School District -The superintendent of this district has enthusiastically welcomed us to start clubs in their schools. We have a church sponsor, and trained teachers trained ready to go! We are working with the school administration to figure out which school would be the best fit for us, and plan to begin by the end of January. Stay tuned!

Pray that each of these clubs would start soon, and that the teachers would not be discouraged by the waiting and uncertainties. 

A Salvation Testimony

by one of our JT Waugh teachers

The week’s lesson was on King David and Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s disabled son (2 Samuel 4 and 9). Mephibosheth had been living in poverty, until King David extended an invitation for Mephibosheth to join David’s family, and live in the palace. The comparison was made to how poor and hopeless we are, in a spiritual sense, yet the King of Kings offers us the same opportunity – come be part of My family, and someday live in my heavenly home! The choice was Mephibosheth’s.. He could accept or refuse King David’s offer. We have the same choice. God does not force us to choose Him, but lovingly waits for us to make our decision.

At the close of the lesson, the children were given the chance to accept the invitation, and let Jesus come into their lives. One girl in particular was hanging on every word. When the other kids bowed their head and closed their eyes, she indicated that she wanted to speak to a teacher privately.

During that counselling time, she said she really wanted to join God’s family, but didn’t want to give up her own family! 🙂 The teacher explained that accepting Christ actually means you then have TWO families, and this 3rd grader gladly put her faith in Jesus as her Savior.

Please pray for more children to understand the gospel and be converted.

   Teacher Training

Our teacher-trainer-extraordinaire has been hopping this fall, travelling to several churches and even someone’s home, preparing teenagers and adults to teach in CEF Good News Clubs. Over the past 3 months she has led 14 different people through the classes and process of becoming certified GNC teachers. Some of these new teachers have already started in clubs, others are just waiting on the sidelines for the paperwork and administrative details to be finalized before they too join the work.

For information how you can be trained (or have your congregation trained) to work with CEF, please email our teacher trainer, tlklindsey@gmail.com , call/text us 716-394-7820, or click the volunteer link button below. We especially welcome pastors and church leaders to contact us, and let us explain how we can benefit your church!

Please pray for more churches and individuals to see the need, and take the first steps to reach the children in public schools. 

Join Us!

We are on the front lines of a battle for the children of Western New York. Every week our teachers report some form of spiritual battle as they engage in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. We need…

* prayer partners

* financial supporters

* teachers to lead clubs in schools

* assistants to help in school clubs

* pastors and church leaders to see the potential, and encourage their people to enlist.

Visit cefbuffalo.org and click on our “Volunteer Form” button to get started!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We have had some big changes over the past quarter, and we thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support. Keep reading for updates on our May Brunch, the “Go and Tell” Program, local Good News Clubs, and Brian Ide!

Sincerely, CEF of GBA

Happy Spring, friends and supporters! Thank you for your faithfulness in giving and praying for us.

In this quarterly newsletter, you will read about the pastoral visits made by some of our committee, our upcoming “Good News Brunch”, and updates on our public school  Good News Clubs. I’ve also written a short story that I hope you will be a blessing to you.

Thank you for your interest in CEF of Greater Buffalo.

Sincerely, Brian Ide, CEF of Greater Buffalo

Pastoral Visits

Two of our committee members have been visiting local gospel-preaching churches, to personally present CEF of GBA, and explain how we can serve them. Member Dennis P gives this report of their travels:

In January 2022, Jim Maloney and I, under the Lord’s guidance, began visiting churches in three counties in order to introduce the Pastors to the Mission of Child Evangelism Fellowship. I performed background checks on the churches prior to visiting them in order to ensure it was in obedience to Biblical standards. We then formulated a strategic plan to visit several specific churches in a day, using google maps and especially GPS, because Jim liked to listen to her voice. Since then, we have been blessed to visit close to seventy churches, either speaking to Pastors themselves, the church office staff, or simply leaving a packet of CEF information at the front door of the church.

A typical trip would begin with prayer for the Lord’s blessing of the ministry and travel mercies. We would visit three or four churches in the morning and about the same in the afternoon. Between the two we would stop for lunch and fellowship. On one occasion, Jim offered to buy me a “Happy Meal,” yet I never succumbed to such an experience. However, I did give in to a Beef on Weck. We dealt with a snow storm, putting Jim’s driving skills to the test and causing us to get stuck, and also backing up a one-way side street in the wrong direction.

Several times the Pastor of the church would invite us in, watch the CEF videos, converse with us, and desire a follow up with Brother Brian. This resulted in CEF making presentations to a number of churches, as well as scheduling ones yet to come.

The Lord was no doubt in control, including when GPS failed. One time we could not find the church and simply decided to drive a little farther just in case. And there was the church. When we introduced ourselves to the Pastor, he said he had read Brian’s letter a couple of weeks earlier, and was thrilled when we showed up, saying it was an “Answer to Prayer!” Obviously, it was. Since then several other churches have asked for follow up, or want to have a CEF event in the summer or fall. For myself, it has been a rewarding ministry and opportunity to get closer to Jesus, the “author and perfecter of our faith.” Jim and I continue to pray for the Lord to open doors in both churches and area public schools, in order that the “living and true Word” would be revealed, and many children and adults would ask Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. To this Jim and I say AMEN! God Bless.

– Dennis

Good News Brunch

On May 14 we are hosting an informational brunch for pastors, businesspeople, and anyone who wants to know more about us. We are honored to have Dale Hudson coming to speak to us. Dale is a 32-year veteran of children’s ministry and works closely with CEF. He will encourage and challenge all who attend. 

This Brunch will be held at the Center Road Baptist Church in West Seneca, and costs just $20 per person. If you or anyone you know would like to attend, please visit www.cefbuffalo.org.

If you would like to learn more about Dale Hudson, visit 

www. BuildingChildrensMinistry.com

Good News Clubs

Our Good News Clubs are in full swing! We have three still going from the beginning of the school year: Blasdell Elementary, Cloverbank/Big Tree Elementary Schools, and an online club servicing Lake Shore schools and anyone else who can’t attend an in-person club. These clubs are all small (10 students at the most), but God is blessing and the children are learning! The teachers are having a good time, too J

Our Buffalo School #80 club is scheduled to restart the first week of April, after much prayer and work. We are extremely grateful to teacher Megan K for her tenacity and devotion to her students. Most people in her position would have given up on having a club this year, and would have just waited till next year. We are excited to see what great things God does in the few months that remain.

We also have an outreach partnership with Urban Christian Ministries, with weekly clubs for the children who attend their after school program.

Further Praise – since our last newsletter, the mask mandates in our schools have lifted, as have many of the Covid restrictions.  This will help tremendously as we prepare for the next school year.

We have also talked to several churches about future partnerships in local school districts. Starting a Good News Club in a public school is not easy. The teachers and volunteers must be trained and have background checks. School administration must accept our request. Children must register and attend. But having a church show interest is the first step . Lord willing, next year will be our best yet!

I Am Billy

by Brian Ide

Let me tell you a story about a child named Billy who came to Good News Club. Each school year Billy would look forward to Good News Club. Each time we started Club, Billy would be there, jumping up and down, excited to come hear about Jesus again.

Although Billy loved Good News Club, he was a teacher’s “nightmare.” He was far from the most behaved child in Good News Club. Most of the time he was quite a handful. But I grew to like Billy. During club he would talk to me, and I enjoyed our conversations. I learned much about Billy through these moments. His father was in prison, and he didn’t know where his mother was. His uncle was now taking care of him.

One day while teaching I used water and mud to illustrate the sin problem. I started with a clean glass of water telling them about God and that He had no sin. But, when we sin like lie, steal, or hate others we dirty the water. I then added mud to the water. Then I asked, “Would anyone drink this water?” And there was Billy saying, “I will!”

All I could say was, “Billy, I knew you would say that.”

You see, I knew he would answer that because I’m Billy. Oh, I may not have come from a broken home, but I understand about dark times. I understand how hard it is to control your emotions. I understand how we can want something that is completely wrong for us. Unfortunately, this is a fallen world. Our lives aren’t all neat and organized. But God can put things back together. He can mend broken lives.

I wish I could tell you that Billy made a dramatic conversion, but sometimes growth is so small, we wonder if it’s happening at all. Here at CEF, we are not in this for the short term, we are in this for eternity. That’s what we are doing by teaching the Good News. We are changing lives eternally.

Thank you for your prayers and support to make this possible.

Merry Christmas, dear friends and supporters!
Thank you for your faithfulness in giving and praying for us during this last year. We couldn’t have done it without you. In this quarterly newsletter, you will read about the four Good News Clubs that happen every week, an invitation to view our new website, and a letter from my heart. Please continue to pray for us as we finish this year and head into the next. Sincerely, Brian Ide, CEF of Greater Buffalo

Good News Clubs
Since our last letter, school has started again across Erie County. All of our county schools are now back to in-person learning, which means some of our in-person clubs have restarted, too. We even started a brand new club! That’s not to say there haven’t been any obstacles. Every club this year seems to have its own unique challenges, and the theme this year seems to be “Adapt and Adjust!”

Eden School District. The Eden club was our smallest last year, with just two students attending online. Unfortunately those children moved out of state, and this year we don’t currently have any children attending from Eden. One of the major problems is transportation. All the children must leave the school at dismissal (this is partly due to Covid restrictions, and partly due to the bus driver shortage), so any children that want to come to GNC would have to be driven back to the school an hour after they left. Please pray that the Lord will touch the hearts of the parents and students, and we will get some kids interested. We would hate to lose this opportunity.

Frontier School District. We restarted two in-person clubs in the Frontier district – one in the Big Tree Elementary School, a second in the Cloverbank Elementary School. Both of these were run by wonderful volunteers from the Old Time Baptist Church. Like the Eden GNC, students who wish to attend Club have to leave the building at dismissal time, then get a ride back. The Cloverbank GNC is doing well, and about 10 children attend each week. We had just one precious child register for Big Tree, however, so we have combined those two into one club, held at Cloverbank.

Lakeshore School District. There are no in-person after school programs happening in any of the Lakeshore schools right now; all after school events must take place off-site. After a few closed doors, we were so thankful that Angola Wesleyan Church graciously opened their doors to us, and let us use their building. We were optimistic that students from the elementary schools would merge into this one club, but about a month into the program, our teachers realized that – due to busing issues and Covid concerns – an online club would work better. They switched to an online format, and immediately doubled their attendance.

Blasdell School District. Our newest club! We are so grateful to Blasdell Gospel Chapel for partnering with us and engaging with the students of Blasdell Elementary School. They had five children register at the beginning of the school year (all boys, which is very rare!) and have now built up to eight students.

Buffalo School District. The Buffalo schools have been the most challenging. Like Lakeshore, they are not offering in-house afterschool programs. We have opened up an online club to them, but since the remote learning phase ended, the students had to give back the electronic tablets the school loaned them. Many have no internet access even if they wanted to attend an online club.

Praise! This may sound disheartening, but there are blessings all around! The school administrators have been kind to us, even though this is such a confusing time for them. The parents of our students have been flexible and understanding. The students are excited to come. The teachers are dedicated and doing the best they can in crazy situations. God is still in control, and we thank and praise Him for every opportunity He gives us to shine His light.

A Compassionate Plea from Brian Ide
I am writing to you about the times we live in. If anyone has noticed storms, tsunamis and earthquakes have gotten more prevalent these days. Some would say the cause is climate change or even bad luck. But if anyone would look into God’s word and, in particular, Jesus’ words, they will discover these are the beginnings of birth pains.
The time is approaching, and this is what I’ve noted in society today. People, even believers, are abandoning the Churches. Churches are abandoning God’s Word. In these times we need the Truth, and more unity if the Church is to prevail.

Our ministry, Child Evangelism Fellowship, works to serve Churches. We partner with local Churches and help them get the Gospel out to their local communities. This may be done through Good News Clubs (school year) or 5-Day Clubs (summer). We train these volunteers from these local churches then they are sent out, just like missionaries, to schools, back yards, parks or wherever children can be reached.

We are working to get the Good News of our Great Savior out into the public, but we are running into snags. The first is the number of Churches that have not “compromised” the Word of God, and the second is financial support.
First let’s look at the problem of having so few Bible-believing, and Bible-teaching Churches. CEF Greater Buffalo staff takes time to “vet” Churches in our area. We check their websites, view sermons and even visit in some cases. In our estimation there are seventy Churches that still haven’t compromised the Truth in Erie County alone. Sadly, this number is diminishing. And yet, we have around 120 elementary schools to reach in Erie County alone. The vision of our chapter is to have a Good News Club in each of these schools, but as a you can see by simple math, we need the help of every Bible-believing church in our area. We need them to make a commitment to get the Gospel out. But we are in prayer continually that God will supply this need.

Second snag is finances. We are in the “front lines” doing God’s work. It is said armies run on beans, bullets and band aids. These are our workers. If CEF of Greater Buffalo is to reach the children of Western New York we will need more staff. We need a Summer Coordinator and Trainer. The current staff needs the funds to increase hours of their work.
God used me to start this ministry in August 2015. It has been an “uphill” battle from the start. If you read these newsletters from the start of the chapter to now you will know many “great stories,” but for every great story, there are hardships that have been encountered. I see them as battles. I try to limit the mention of these battles because it may discourage some. But that doesn’t eliminate them. Through all these battles the hardest one for me is the battle of discouragement.

I get discouraged because of the things I mentioned above, but most of all because of the amount of those in need. I realize I can’t do this alone. I pray every day that God would meet our needs and we would reach the children. Please join with me in this battle by praying, volunteering, and supporting.

Thank You. As we close out 2021 and head into 2022, we thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support. We need you. Please continue to partner with us in 2022.