Children's Ministry Specialist

Child Evangelism Fellowship® is a Bible-centered, worldwide organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, disciple them in the Word of God and establish them in a Bible believing church for Christian living.

Our ministry vision is to reach Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day.

EVERY CHILD: God has given His people a clear commission—to reach every creature with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our special mission in CEF is to evangelize every child. In the last ministry year our workers worldwide reached over 12 million children! CEF is committed to reaching 15 percent more each year. Strategic ministry choices such as Good News Across America, the Around the World in 80 Years project, Good News Club in public schools, the Truth Chasers Club and concentrating on high potential growth countries will help us reach this goal.

Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

EVERY NATION:  We are trusting God to open doors for CEF ministry in every nation by our 80th birthday in 2017.  Our goal for this year is to reach at least 10 more countries. Last year, we had active ministry to children in 176 countries. There are only 32 more to go!

Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”

EVERY DAY: We are committed to leading children to be in God’s Word every day. As children grow in their relationship with the Lord through meditating on His Word, they develop godly character, which produces much fruit to the glory of God, including spreading the Gospel to their peers. We now have over 800,000 Wonder Devotional Books in Africa. Right now we are working to reach 400,000 children in Latin America with the books. Next year we hope to reach 500,000 more in Asia.

Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.”

Only as we trust in God and call upon Him are we empowered to do His will. Programs come after prayer, never before it.

We have over 2,700 workers in over 179 countries led by eight regional directors.  There are also tens of thousands of volunteers worldwide. God works through His people, godly leaders, staff and volunteers in order to accomplish our goals. The sun never sets on CEF ministry.  We provide training, equip our workers with ministry tools and support them through fund raising and ministry development.

Our Values

The Importance of Godly Leadership at Every Level: Spiritual leadership is the highest form of authority. The men and women who lead must have a personal heart for God in order to be able to discern the will of God and lead the ministry effectively.  Regardless of the skill of a leader, if he or she lacks a heart for God, the work will be eroded at its very foundation.

The Importance of the Spiritual Welfare of our Workers: It is vital that we are never satisfied to simply teach our staff the methods of how to reach children and how to train others to do so, but we must purposefully invest in the spiritual lives of our staff. When CEF® staff are men and women who are primarily driven by passion for God and His glory and have a clear call from the Lord, the work will prosper. If we keep our focus on God and on His calling, then we will be sustained in times of challenge.

The Importance of Prayer as Our Foundation: It is not the work we do, the meetings we hold or the decisions we make that bring the greatest advances in the work; it is the time spent before the throne of God in prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings power, laborers and resources into the ministry.

The Importance of Evangelizing Children: There is no limit to the number of organizations that do many good things that are important to boys and girls in need.  We are thankful for them and believe that God uses them to help hurting children. CEF, however, has been called by God to make it our highest priority to present the Gospel so children may be saved and discipled in God’s Word. We must stay on point.

The Importance of a Clear and Biblical Presentation of the Gospel: The fact that a young child can comprehend the simple message of salvation and become a child of God is the foundational principle of CEF. Everything else that we do is based upon this fact. The good news of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. We must present it clearly and accurately.

The Importance of a Commitment to Excellence, for the Glory of God: Every aspect of the work, no matter how big or small, has significance. This includes the training we conduct, the materials we produce, the facilities we use and the way we present ourselves. In every area we must strive for excellence to the glory of God!

Our History

Child Evangelism Fellowship®, also known as CEF®, is a Bible-centered, worldwide organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the local church for Christian living. CEF has over 1,800 missionaries overseas, approximately 1,600 of whom are nationals. In the USA and Canada 700 full-time workers and an estimated 40,000 volunteers serve the ministry. CEFwas founded by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer in 1937.

Growing up in a religious family, Jesse at the age of 12 was convicted of his own sin and sought counsel from his mother. He was told, “Son, you are too young.” It wasn’t until Overholtzer was in college that he heard the Gospel and trusted Christ as his Savior.

Later as a pastor Mr. Overholtzer read one of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons which stated, “A child of five, if properly instructed can as truly believe and be regenerated as an adult.” The Lord used this statement in Mr. O’s life to lead him to begin the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship when he was 60 years old. The ministry has grown into the largest evangelistic outreach to children in the world. CEF is currently ministering in over 179 countries and in every state in the U.S.

Our Beliefs

1. That “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which we understand the whole book called THE BIBLE; that it is inerrant in the original writing and that its teaching and authority are absolute, supreme and final. That the Holy Spirit guided the holy men of old in all that they wrote. 2 Timothy 3:16; Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Peter 1:21.
2. The Godhead eternally exists in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having the same nature, attributes and perfection. Romans 1:20; Matthew 28:19; Deuteronomy 4:35; John 17:5.
3. In the Personality and Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly man. John 1:1,14; John 10:30; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:30-31; Philippians 2:5-7; 1 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 1:19.
4. In the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit, the source and power of all acceptable worship and service, the infallible interpreter of the infallible Word, who indwells every true believer, and is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy us with Him and not with ourselves or our experiences. John 15:26; Acts 5:3, 4; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 16:13, 14.
5. That man was created in the image of God, after His likeness, as stated in the Word of God, but the whole human race fell in the fall of the first Adam. Not only was his moral nature grievously injured by the fall but he totally lost all spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject to the power of the devil. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7, 8). Therefore, he cannot see nor enter the kingdom of God until he is born again by the Holy Spirit. That no degree of reformation however great, no attainment in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes and societies however useful, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner take even one step toward Heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word is absolutely essential to salvation. Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3; John 3:3, 6, 7; Titus 3:5.
6. That Jesus Christ became the sinner’s substitute before God, and died as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. That He was made a curse for the sinner, dying for his sins according to the Scriptures, that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church can add in the very least to the value of the precious blood or to the merit of that finished work wrought for us by Him, who tasted death for every man. 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 2:9; Galatians 3:13; Romans 3:25; Romans 4:4-5; Romans 5:8; Colossians 1:13, 14, 20, 21.
7. In the resurrection of the crucified body of Jesus Christ; that His body was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God as the believer’s high priest and advocate. Luke 24:39; Acts 1:10-11; Ephesians 4:10; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 2:1.
8. That Christ in the fullness of the blessings He has secured by His death and resurrection is received by faith alone and that the moment we trust Him as our Savior we pass out of death into everlasting life, justified from all things, accepted before the Father according to the measure of His acceptance, loved as He is loved and made one with Him. At the time of acceptance of Christ as Savior, He comes to dwell within the believer and to live out His life of holiness and power through him. Hebrews 9:15; John 5:24; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:3, 23-25; Ephesians 1:3; John 17:23; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 4:6-7; Galatians 5:16; Acts 1:8.
9. That the Church is composed of all those who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. It is the body and the bride of Christ. That every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, is baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, and having thus become members of one another we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry and loving one another with a pure heart fervently. Ephesians 1:22, 23; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 12:22-27; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Romans 12:4, 5; Ephesians 4:3-6; Ephesians 5:32; Philippians 2:1-5; Galatians 5:13-15.
10. That all believers in our Lord Jesus are called into a life of separation from worldly and sinful practices and should abstain from such amusements and habits as will cause others to stumble, or bring reproach upon the cross of Christ. Believers are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). 1 John 2:15, 16; Romans 13:14; Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 2:10.
11. In the evangelization of the world; that the supreme mission of the people of God in this age is to preach the Gospel to every creature. That special emphasis should be placed upon the evangelization of children. Mark 16:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; Matthew 18:14.
12. In the personal return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; that the coming again of Jesus Christ is the “Blessed Hope” set before us, for which we should be constantly looking. Our citizenship is in Heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; John 14:1-3; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20, 21.
13. That the souls of those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul and body re-united shall be with Him forever in glory. Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 16:22, 25; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
14. That the souls of the lost remain after death in misery until the final judgment of the great white throne, when soul and body reunited at the resurrection shall be cast “Into the lake of fire” which is “the second death,” to be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9). Luke 16:22-23, 27-28; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:5, 11-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.
15. In the reality and personality of Satan, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) Ephesians 6:11, 12; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10.