A question I am sometimes asked is, “Well, what is the Good News Club doing for the parents of these kids?” is the first. It should be noted that children are worth reaching, whether their parents ever hear the Gospel, but it is a question that is posed. And then periodically I run into church leadership who feel somewhat threatened by the ministry of CEF, expressing their concern that we are competing with their church’s children’s ministry. They, like us, are dependent on volunteers, and they don’t want to commit to an outside program that may or may not benefit their church directly. Last month I sat down with Pastor Mark Carson, who is also a Good News Club leader. He was excited to share with me two stories that address the parent question (What is GNC doing for the parents?) and gave insight on how the Good News Club is directly helping his church to grow: “The other day I was coming out of church and saw a new family. I couldn’t help but recognize him and walked up and introduced myself. As I talked to him, I asked him, ‘what brings you to church?’ and they said that their son from the Good News Club was actually talking to them and hounding them for months, to go to church! They had been invited to church, and so they had taken him. They really enjoyed the service, and they were looking forward to getting plugged in. It’s exciting to see how Good News Club not only reaches the children, but also touch the hearts of parents and families.” Spurgeon once shared that reaching children is the best way to get to the fathers, since they go directly back into the home. Mark’s story is proof of that. God is using GNC to reach parents and build His Church. Here is Mark’s other story about how the Good News Club is touching the hearts of families of the kids who attend one of the clubs that he teaches at: “One day right after a Good News Club session a dad came up to me and as we talked I asked him if he attended any local churches. He said that he didn’t, and so I invited him to come to our church. It was exciting to see him actually came that week and brought his daughter with him as well. Not only that, but he also asked that night if we had anything else going on for the parents? I was glad to show him the men’s group, he got plugged in, and after a few weeks he would up not only attending the church but deciding to turn his life over to Christ and be baptized. It’s so exciting to see God actually work in the lives of the parents as well as the children through the Good News Club.” From church to Good News Club, from children to parents, and back to the church, God is touching the hearts of entire families. (Joel Cripe – Director of Central Valley South Chapter) | 
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