We held our 4^th annual, in-person Children’s Ministry Conference on Sept. 25. We were excited to have over 70 people in attendance.  We ran two tracts – one for those wanting to start a new after-school Good News Club; the other, for seasoned teachers, who were interested in topics like Working with Children with Special Needs, Kids at Risk, Working with Preschoolers, Keeping Kids Right Side Up in an Upside Down World, and much more!  I’d like to share some testimonies with you from 2 conference participants:

 

“I was wonderfully blessed to be at this Children’s Ministry Conference.  Everything that was taught was so relevant for today.  And the speakers, so well prepared and with the Holy Spirit mightily working through them, were a great blessing to us all.

I gained wisdom, information I needed, encouragement, excitement, and left with a greater drive to carry on ministering to and teaching children.

And the ending – WOW – being able to worship and sing our hearts out to our precious Lord and Savior was WONDERFUL!!!  The presence of God was so evident I did not want to leave!   I always knew and still know that I am blessed to be a part of and connected with Child Evangelism Fellowship.😀.  Thank you for the time, prayers, effort, hard work and commitment you have given and still give to this ministry.”  – Marge from Syracuse

 

“All of our teachers from our church should have come to this conference. There was a wealth of information to be gleaned from the conference—vital information that is specific to the issues of today and pertinent to all involved in children’s ministries.

Thank you so much for organizing this wonderful event and for all the teachers and speakers who were involved.  The praise worship at the end of the conference was just the whip cream with the cherry on top.  What a beautiful way to wrap up the conference.  I left there rejoicing with a heart filled and overflowing!” – Nancy from Rochester

Welcome, Leroy Blair, our CEF summer director …

They share about themselves ..

Leroy is from Kings, NY formally known as Brooklyn. From the age of two, Leroy use to dress himself to go to church with his great-aunt. Leroy came to know the Lord in his pre-teens on an Easter Sunday at his home church, Evergreen Baptist Church.   In no time, Leroy started working with the babies in the nursery. As Leroy increased in faith so did the age group of the children he worked with stopping with the teens. Although Leroy spent many years working in ministry with children it wasn’t until he arrived in Syracuse that he became very active with CEF especially since his wife, Ruth, was no stranger to CEF.

Ruth grew up attending The Shekinah House of prayer and praise church back in her home country, India. There she learned about the Lord and accepted Him as Lord and Savior at the age of 9.  Ruth served within many ministries in the church and began working with CEF at the age of 18. It was very evident that Ruth felt a calling on her life since a youth.  Ruth was so instrumental with CEF in India that the director started grooming her to replace her until God led Ruth to come to the USA and here obtained a degree in theology from Davis College.

It was there at Davis that Ruth and Leroy met. It was evident to some of the professors that these two would end up together by the way they fought like an old married couple and yet the way they complemented each other. They tied the knot once they both heard from God in June of2018 and jumped in ministering together while wrapping up their studies. They both completed their college requirements May of 2020.   As a result of the pandemic, they will finally have college commencement this August 2021.

2020 has been quite a year…

I can hardly believe that we have almost come to the end of the year.   Christmas is almost here!  I want to thank you for your faithful prayers and giving to Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Your prayers have been what have carried us through.

In my 35 years with CEF, this year has been the most challenging!   Yet through it all, God has been faithful.  Let me share some of the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of ministry this year.

Back at the beginning of 2020 BC (before covid), I experienced something that I had not experienced before.  In one week, I received three phone calls from pastors responding to our ‘shout out’ for new churches to adopt a neighborhood elementary school for new after-school Good News Clubs!  WOW!  I couldn’t believe it.

I had the opportunity to visit with two pastors (with a follow-up call to the third pastor) within the next few weeks.  They were totally ‘on board’ to have their church adopt a neighborhood elementary school for a Bible club in the fall (2020).  Then another pastor contacted me and said that the school club his church adopted he would like to turn over to a church closer to that school, and his church would adopt another school closer to their church for a new Good News Club!  WOW!

Not only that, but this pastor is advocating for us with area pastors with a goal of having Good News Clubs in every elementary school in their school district!  Another WOW!  We already had 18 school-related clubs up and going … life was good …. and then covid hit.  We were having clubs with kids one week, and the next week everything shut down!  It really knocked the wind out of us.

CEF Home Office almost immediately came up with excellent online resources for children and their families.  Praise God!  While we here were catching our breath and praying as to what to do next … a couple of things happened:

We could do online Bible clubs or in-person clubs following many covid protocols.  Many of our club teachers are not ‘tech savvy’ so this was not an option for them. We do have one online club. There are so many ‘challenges’ with online clubs, besides the fact that the children have been online all day with school work so another online event isn’t that appealing.  Several are doing in-person clubs (at another location as no after-school programs are going on).  These clubs are small clubs in number to provide safe-distancing.

But what have we done…

Do You Wonder Why Booklets

Shortly after covid hit, CEF Syracuse provided the “Do You Wonder Why?” booklets to children and families.  This 15-page in-color booklet answered kids tough questions like: Has What’s Happened Made You Afraid? Does God Know and Care About Me? Why Do So Many Bad Things Happen in the World? How Could God Allow this to Happen?  How Can I Get Through This Terrible Time?

We gave out 2,260 of these booklets, free, to club children and churches/organizations/individuals requesting them!

Power Packs

A number of our club coordinators have been mailing out or hand delivering (with masks on) ‘power packs’ complete with Bible lessons, memory verse sheets, devotional books, gospel tracts, music CDs, Dollar Store gifts, etc…. to keep in touch!

Children’s Ministry Conference

In September, we had our third annual in-person Children’s Ministry Conference.  We had some excellent responses to the Conference, a time for training, fellowship, and encouraging one another that ‘soon we will be back in-person with the children!’

Prayer Walks

This fall, a number of prayer walks were held on Saturday mornings as folks gathered to pray around our schools. PRAYER is our best weapon!

We need your prayers!  Pray that soon we will be able to have after-school, in-person Good News Clubs!

Thank God for all the new churches interested in school clubs. Pray that their passion and enthusiasm does not wane.

PRAY for all our CEF club volunteers.  It’s been hard on them.  Pray that God would keep them encouraged and ‘ready to go’ when the school doors open to us.

THANK YOU for sticking with us during this ‘holding pattern’ of 2020!  Your prayers and giving have been a blessing!   Now, we want to bless you (and your family) … may God keep you all safe and well as we anticipate Christmas celebrations!

Merry Christmas!

Emily Ramsdell

Director, CEF Syracuse