Happy New Year, Friends and Supporters!
We have closed out a great ministry year, and invite you to rejoice with us in what God has done. Below you will read reports from our Good News Clubs, which are in full-swing, with a few more starting at the beginning of 2025. We are also excited about the opportunity God has given us in a Transitional Housing Facility. Prayer requests are listed throughout, and at the end.
Thank you for your support, CEF of GBA
Good News Clubs
Lake Shore Central School District Good News Club: Last year we had 30 students registered, between the three elementary schools of Lake Shore. This year, praise the Lord, we have almost doubled that!
Highland Elementary Good News Club– One of the GNC teachers is also the mother of two of our Highland students. She has used her influence to invite other children, and this year their club has 24 children registered. At least three of them have prayed to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
AJ Schmidt Elementary Good News Club– 16 students attend this Thursday club. Several of these are repeat attenders from last year, and it’s always nice when kids want to come back. We are also so glad for the new faces, and are praying for their salvations.
JT Waugh Elementary Good News Club– A special blessing this year is that this club was given their very own classroom! In the past they have met in the school cafeteria, auditorium, or library. This year the principal offered them a vacant classroom, so they are able hang posters on the walls, and leave supplies in cupboards. We thank the Lord for giving us such favor with the school administrators. There are 14 children registered at this club, and three have made professions of faith this year.
We would like to especially thank the Hilltop Baptist Church of Angola, and Pastor Travis Lewis, for sponsoring the AJ and Highland GNCs. Children are being reached for Christ because of your church’s prayer and financial support.
Pray for the continued attendance of these students, and that they will learn and grow.
Buffalo Public School District Good News Club: We have one club in a Buffalo public school – Highgate Heights, PS 80. One of the Highgate school teachers is also the GNC teacher, and has been so faithful with keeping this club running even through all the Covid and bussing challenges of the past years. This year she thought she would have a small club, because of the overall decreased attendance in the school’s afterschool programs. She is pleased to report, however, that they have 16 kids coming!
Pray for more Buffalo schools to open their doors to us.
Eden Central School District Good News Club: This is our second year back in Eden since the Covid re-start. We are not allowed to meet immediately after dismissal, the students must return to the school. As you can imagine, this is an obstacle for many parents. We did have four children register, but two have not yet attended, and a third now has some transportation issues. The teachers have been faithful, but having just one student can be discouraging.
One positive note is that the main teacher of this club has recruited two teen girls from her church to help her – potential GNC teachers!
Pray for this club to grow, and for a reversal of policy so we can meet at dismissal time.
Frontier Central School District. This district has again changed their rules, and told us that we cannot enter their buildings until after 6:00pm. After much prayer and consideration by the teachers…
Big Tree Elementary – will not restart.
Cloverbank Elementary – will meet from 6:00-7:00pm in the school, beginning Thursday, January 9.
Blasdell Elementary – will shift locations from the school to the Blasdell Community Church, which is located less than a block from the school. They will meet from 4:30-5:30pm beginning Thursday, January 16. Thank you, BCC, for opening your doors to host this club.
Pray for students to come to these Good News Clubs, to meet Jesus, and to have their lives transformed.
Hotel Club (For lack of a better name)
This past summer we had a wonderful opportunity to hold a one-day “Party Club” at a hotel that was turned into transitional housing for families in need. The Party Club was such a success that some of our committee members started to pray about the possibility of holding a weekly Good News Club here during the school year. God answered their prayers, and a Club started on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
They meet right in the hotel lobby and have had close to 30 children attend at once. Some parents also come to watch. Because of the location, many others have inadvertently attended a GNC as well 🙂 Some of the families in this facility have come from other countries, and it’s been fun to see, hear, and taste (!) the cultural differences each student brings to the Club.
Regardless of how these people got here or why, God loves each one of them. He sent His own Son to die for them, and we are so privileged to have this moment to share Truth with them.
Pray for the door to stay open for us to minister here. Pray for those who hear to understand and be converted.
Christmas GNC Stories
1. As the teacher explained why Jesus was born in stable and placed in a manger, a second-grade girl burst out, “That’s not fair! He deserved something very much more wonderful!”
2. As the teacher read the Christmas story directly from Luke 2, a fifth-grade boy, who hadn’t been paying much attention, looked up excitedly. “I know these words! They’re from the Charlie Brown Christmas story!”
Miracle in Our Midst
The Good News Club teacher had started defining the word “miracle” when a 9-year-old girl raised her hand. “I know what a miracle is. The doctor told my mommy that she could never have a baby, but Mommy prayed that God would give her a miracle.” The teacher asked, “And did He?”
The beautiful little girl spread her arms out wide, and with a giant smile announced, “Here I am!”
New Giving Platform
This year we transitioned to a new online system for managing donations and contributions. Unfortunately this transition was neither quick nor easy.
We are working on sending out year-end giving receipts. If you donated to CEF of Greater Buffalo Area this past year, and do not receive a giving statement by the end of January – or you receive a statement that contains errors – please send an email to admin@cefbuffalo.org with “2024 Donation” in the subject line. We will do our best to correct the oversight.
To give online, visit this page. Thank you to all who have given so generously to our mission this past year. We appreciate your sacrifice, and could not expand our ministry without your gifts. We look forward with confidence to what God will do through us in 2025!
Pray for the continued and increased funds to reach more children for Christ.