Summer 2023 Newsletter

Our GNCs have come to an end, along with the 2022-23 school year. Here are some facts from this year:

3  School Districts open to Good News Clubs – Buffalo, Frontier (Hamburg), and Lake Shore (Evans)

7  Public elementary schools served through GNCs

23  Teachers and helpers in these clubs

63  Children who attended a GNC during the 2022-23 school year

10  Students put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation

Though many challenges presented themselves this year, we rejoice at what God has done in our public schools!

Please praise the Lord for what He has done, and pray that these numbers will all greatly increase next year!  

 

A note about our teachers: 

Twenty-three different people taught or helped in a Good News Club this school year. These include teenagers, senior citizens, parents, men, women, school employees, people who have done this for many years, and people who have done this for the first time. Some are retired, and some squeezed this around a full-time job. Several teachers this year had serious health problems or physical limitations. The one thing they all have in common is a love for children, and desire to see them know Jesus. We appreciate each one of them.

Thank you, Teachers! 

by some of our GNC teachers

This was our first year back in the school since Covid, and most of the kids who signed up for GNC were brand new. We had only 3 returning students. These three had attended when in Kindergarten or 1st grade. Now they were in 3rd and 4th grade.

All school year we prayed that our students would come to know Jesus as Savior, and praise the Lord some of the new kids did! The three returning kids were a concern though. None of them talked to a teacher during an invitation time, although all three participated in the other aspects of the club.

Finally during one of the last meetings of the year, one of our teachers bluntly asked the entire class “Who here has asked Jesus to save them?” (note that this is not recommended! A one-on-one approach is better when dealing with children and salvation 😉 ) Thankfully the kids were all honest in answering. A few said they had not, and still had questions. A few answered that they had done so in a recent club.

Then one of the 4th graders spoke up: “I did that before, in the other club.”

The third grader chimed in: “Yeah, me too.”

When the teacher asked them to explain, they both told how they had accepted Christ during our pre-Covid GNC, when they were younger. Even though we had not seen them in three years, they still remembered their salvation experience, and were holding on to it for their assurance of salvation! We were so thrilled that the Lord had saved AND sealed these sweet girls. Please pray for the third student, a boy, who is still unsaved.

Please pray for this boy, and all the other students who attended a GNC but for various reasons have not yet put their faith in Christ. 

On Saturday, April 22, we held a chicken barbeque fundraiser at the Hilltop Baptist Church in Angola. The weather did not cooperate and the day was cold and rainy. In spite of this, we did still manage to make a small profit, and introduce our ministry to some people in the community. We are grateful to the pastor and staff of Hilltop Baptist for allowing us to use their facilities. We are also very grateful to the teachers of the Highland Elementary Good News Club for their help in serving the food.

We may have another fundraiser like this towards the end of summer. Hopefully the weather will be better. We’ll let you know!

Please pray for the finances needed to continue spreading the gospel to children in WNY.