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September 2021 News & Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter about what is happening in CEF of Greater Buffalo. In this newsletter you will read reports from our summer “Five-Day Clubs”, and an update on our public school “Good News Clubs”.

Sincerely, Brian Ide, CEF of Greater Buffalo

“Five-Day Club” Report #1

We were so excited to be able to have a Bible club in our own backyard! This was our fourth summer living in our current home, and we want our neighbors to know who we are and what we stand for. We were praying that a dozen children would come, but God went above that, and gave us 20! Some of these were from nearby churches, including our own, but we did in fact have some of our neighborhood kids show up.

This year’s curriculum had a detective theme, and each day the kids would discover a new “clue” about who Jesus is. Each lesson also presented the gospel very clearly, and we were so thrilled to hear some of our neighbor kids pray to receive Jesus Christ as Savior.

Another cool answer to prayer was the weather – all reports said it was going to rain all week long. It did pour the Sunday before we started, so we had club in the driveway that Monday, but there was no more rain the rest of the week, praise the Lord.

We had so much fun, too! There were parachutes and beach balls and bean bags, new songs, lots of snacks, fun prizes, missionary stories, and the Bible lessons that taught about Jesus. We look forward to making this an annual event at our home!

– Calvin & Rebekah (Club in Angola)

Five-Day Club Report #2

My daughter, Rebekah [no relation to the Rebekah of the previous report], and I had an opportunity to do two Five-Day Clubs in August. Rebekah had the privilege of giving the Bible lessons and presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had the privilege of telling what God did through a missionary named Mary Slessor.

God taught me many things through studying Mary Slessor’s life and seeing all that God did through her. Mary wanted to do big things for God, but the reality was that God did big things through Mary.

God also taught me many things by actually doing CEF. The biggest thing was: “GOD IS ABLE!” I am willing to be used by God but my full reliance should be and is, on Him to do it, because I know I cannot do it without Him. I have always felt like a Moses, unable to speak well (Exodus 4:10). I can talk one-on-one or one-on-two, but anymore and I get too nervous and mess my words up.

Over the past couple of months, God has put me into a few different teaching positions, one of them being CEF. “Wow!” is all I can say because I know for fact that it is God who does it not me. I do not have it in myself to do any of those things. God is able to do all things (Ephesians 3:20), including teaching through me. If God can use a donkey to speak to Baalam (Numbers 22), He can use me to teach children.

I am very thankful to God and to CEF for allowing me to help with these Five-Day clubs.

– Nancy (Clubs in Derby & Frewsburg)

Five-Day Club Report #3 (Pre-school!)

“I’m Not Too Little!” That defiant statement has been echoed many times as little children try to do big people “stuff!” When it comes to knowing God they are absolutely right! Jesus said in Matthew 19:14…”Suffer (allow) little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Little Kids Can Know God® is a wonderful teaching tool designed by CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) to assist teachers of preschool children in teaching of wonderful Bible truths.

These teaching tools enable the teacher to effectively teach children 2-8 years and those with differential abilities, to know and understand God, the gospel, sin and many life lessons.

This summer I had the privilege of teaching preschool Bible classes to little ones at a faith- based daycare center in Western New York. On day 1 the children were reluctant to come to be with the stranger on the Bible Time rug. By day 3 they were running to the rug with happy, expectant faces! The songs, motions and colorful Bible stories taught with love, prayer and purpose made the difference. In 2 days they were taught that GOD made everything out of nothing, God loves me, God made me, I have sinned and that Jesus died and rose again, (“came back to life” in “Childreneze”).

My prayer is that I will be able to teach these preschool children and many others on a weekly basis. I also pray that more volunteers will answer the call to make a difference in the lives of children in the tender years. Not only do we at CEF have wonderful, colorful Bible based curriculum but we also have free training to equip YOU to serve in this needful, foundational ministry. There is an open door in your churches, schools, neighborhoods and some day care centers to reach the “Little Ones” during their tender years. We at CEF of Greater Buffalo, NY are ready to partner with you, help you and train you, to serve in this needed ministry.

C.H. Spurgeon said, “A child of five, if properly instructed, can as truly believe, and be regenerated, as an adult.” We don’t wait until the child is five years old to teach them to hold a spoon or wash their hands. We need to start teaching children the Word of God at a very early age. They are NOT Too Little!

– Joan Lindsey, IOT, Certified Preschool Bible Teacher-Trainer

(Clubs in Buffalo)

P.S. To contact Joan directly about training for preschool ministry, send her an email at tlklindsey@gmail.com. Or visit cefbuffalo.com and click on the “Volunteer’s First Step” button.

Good News Clubs

With school in session across the county, we look forward to resuming our after-school “Good News Clubs” soon. We are planning to have all in-person clubs this year in Buffalo, Hamburg, Eden, Lakeshore, and Amherst. Some of these clubs will be in the schools, and other will have to be offsite. (Pray for the school administrators who have to make difficult decisions about things like this.)

If you would like to register your child for Good News Clubs, visit our website or contact Brian directly. We will contact you with the exact details as soon as we know them.

Help Wanted

If you are considering volunteering with CEF of Greater Buffalo Area, please visit our website: cefbuffalo.com. Click on the “Volunteer’s First Step” button and you will be asked some basic questions about yourself, and the area(s) you would like to help. We will contact you about what you can do to further help!

You can also donate easily online. Your gifts are always appreciated.

Dear Friends,
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter about what is happening in CEF of Greater Buffalo. In this newsletter you will read two reports from our “Good News Clubs” teachers, a report on our annual Chicken BBQ fundraiser, and see what I’ve been up to lately!
God is still working here in Western New York! Thank you for your part in making this possible.
Sincerely, Brian Ide, CEF of Greater Buffalo.

Count It All Joy!
We have been living for more than a year with Covid-19 looming over our heads. This has certainly been a time of challenges, uncertainty, and sometimes trials. In the midst of social distancing, masks and quarantine there was a bright ray of sunshine: the online Good News Clubs.
Most clubs used the CEF Power Point CD which includes everything needed for a fun and informative Bible lesson and club. What fun! The lessons, memory verses and Gospel Spotlight are colorful, interactive and easy to understand. The review games are so “cool!”
There was one little glitch, however – singing songs! The teacher would sing the song, but it was not received by each student at the same time. As the children repeated the song, they were heard at different times by everyone. It sounded like an orchestra during warm-up! We learned to ask the students to mute their mics to sing along, and do the hand motions. Much better!
So many businesses, programs and projects were paused or abandoned altogether during this Covid trial, but the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is still reaching our students, their siblings, and sometimes even parents.
We thank the Lord that we can still “Count it all Joy” ( James 1:2) – J. Lindsey
(Buffalo Public Schools)

The Positives
This year was definitely a year of challenges for our afterschool “Good News Clubs.” Meeting online instead of in-person was not the best way to build personal relationships and teach students, but instead of focusing on everything we didn’t like about this past year, here were some positives:
More schools represented. Usually we drive to one school, teach a class to whoever can attend from that school, and then move on. This year our virtual club was attended by students from three different schools plus a homeschool family!
Kids moving wasn’t a problem. Halfway through the school year, one of our students moved into a different school district. In a normal year, we would have said good-bye to her, then prayed that there was a club in her new school. This year she was able to keep attending without any problem.
Time was flexible. If a child logged on late or had to log out early, there was minimal disruption to the rest of the class.
Location was flexible. It became a fun game for us to try and guess where the kids were when they logged in. One week a mom apologized that her daughter was in the car while they were picking up groceries J We were just glad she was there!
This was also nice for us because we were able to teach from wherever we found ourselves – our home, our parents’ home, our church office…and the only thing the kids could see was the wall behind us. (Another side perk was that our one-year-old daughter could crawl all around our feet and not distract a single child: an impossibility in person haha!)
Visuals were very visual. Having the kids sit in front of screens may not be ideal, but it was nice to put up a picture and know that everyone would be able to see it, and there would be no arguments about who’s head was in the way!
We got to see children in their “natural habitat” J. Each week we could see inside the kids homes, see parents and siblings floating through the background, even meet pets! It gave us a nice connection that we can’t get when we meet in a school setting.
Better communication with parents. Each week we had to send an email or text out to the parents, with that week’s login information. It was just a little thing, but as the year went on, that small contact helped build a connection.
We still got to teach the Bible to children. The goal of our afterschool clubs is to teach God’s Word to children, and see them grow in the knowledge of Him. It was a different style this year, but we trust the goal was still accomplished.
But…we hope we won’t have to teach this way again next year! 🙂 – The Tablantes
(Lakeshore Public Schools)

Chiavetta’s Fundraiser
For the second year in a row, we held a chicken barbecue drive-through in West Seneca. May 15 was a beautiful day, and we had many people stop in to purchase a barbecued half-chicken with potato salad and cole slaw diner. This was a great opportunity to get the CEF ministry out and more visible to the public. Over 450 chicken dinners were sold. And, with each dinner, information about CEF was given. Over $2,000 was made and many new contacts.

Graduation
On April 24, I graduated from Carolina University with an earned master’s degree in ministry. I enjoyed learning and the growth in my spiritual walk. I was asked by someone what was my one big take away for my time in learning. Well it is very difficult to narrow down my experience in learning to one item, I’ll keep it to keep it as it applies to the ministry and my walk with the Lord.
First, I tried to select my electives for my degree so they would apply to the CEF ministry. This would improve my ability to lead CEF Greater Buffalo. The courses that I selected were Evangelism, Mentored Internship, and Leadership/ Vision Casting.
The course that benefitted the ministry the most was Leadership and Vision Casting. The most important thing that I learned about leadership is to lead as Jesus led. Jesus said, “ Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28. In the book of John it is recorded that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. In the same way we need to be willing to “wash other’s feet.”
The most significant course I took in regards to my spiritual walk was Apologetics. In this course I learned how to answer some important questions that most people have. I grew from taking this class. This is not because I can now answer some questions, but I understand how research and find the answers I seek.

Summer/Future Plans
We hope to have some summer outreaches in the next few months, maybe some “Backyard Bible Clubs” in the areas where we had Good News Clubs this past school year. Please pray about this with us.
I am looking forward to next school year. I have been working to get new school systems and schools started with Good News Clubs. Among these are Buffalo public school 93, Pinehurst Elementary, and the entire Orchard Park School district. I also will be working to reopen the school districts where we have had Good News Clubs established. These are: Lake Shore Central School District, Eden Central School District, Frontier Central School District, and Buffalo School 43 and School 83. Please be in prayer that these schools and districts will be open for in-person Good News Club this coming fall.