I write about events and throw around numbers on a frequent basis. “39 reached in Denair…20 reached in Groveland…39 reached in West Point…1,905 children reached last ministry year.”

    We praise God for the number of children that He is allowing us to reach, but it is easy to forget that each of those numbers has a face, a name, a family, and a unique story all their own. Each number is a child that God made and loves. So let me remind myself, and you as well, about just a few of the children and their stories. I asked our Good News Club^® teachers last month if they had stories of children in their clubs whose lives were changed. I heard back from volunteers in Soulsbyville and Turlock.     

    “Yes!” said Sheree. “Last Tuesday four children individually accepted Christ as their Savior. Yesterday, one 4th grade boy tenderly asked Jesus to forgive his sins and live in his heart so that he would be able to talk to Him as his Savior anytime day or night. These five children grinned so sweetly when I told them that they were now

brothers and sisters in their new Christian family and we GNC^® teachers were their siblings too! God is so Good!” 

    “Hi Joel,” said Colleen from Turlock, “my daughter and her husband work with Young Life students at Pitman High. Our daughter had a Bible study with the girls this summer. She asked them who first told them about Jesus. Three of the girls said it was in an after-school Bible club called Good News Club!

    “And several years ago, we had a first or second grade boy who was very introverted and depressed. His grandmother stopped me on the sidewalk and told me how much she appreciated Good News Club, as his parents were getting a divorce, and this was a hard time for him. He has been coming faithfully and is now in the sixth grade. He has accepted the Lord and is a happy, confident young man.”

    Praise the Lord! Let’s never forget that each number, in every club and every outreach, is a child. Our prayer is that each one will have an encounter with Christ that will change their life!   

   Around the country and the state, our summer 5-Day Clubs^® and other outreaches are primarily taught by young teens, but we haven’t had that in our area in years…until this year. Ben Harrison became our first teen summer missionary in more than two decades to attend Christian Youth In Action^® (CYIA^®) training and then help us with 5-Day Clubs and other outreaches.

    At the end of the summer we gave Ben a Wordless Book carabiner, just as a thank you for helping, and then forgot that we had done so. Last month I received a text from his mother asking if he could get another one, because his had broken. 

   When she came over to pick it up, she told us that he was clipping the carabiner onto his backpack and bringing it to school as a witness. He also purchased strands of leather and colored beads and has been making bracelets for kids at school and sharing the Gospel. How cool is that!

    God has used two CEF^® programs to change Ben’s story. He accepted Christ as a child in a Turlock Good News Club, and his boldness to share was developed at CYIA^®. His story is now affecting the stories of other children, as well as friends at school. 

Praise God for the 20 children reached at the 49er Festival in Groveland on September 21.

Praise God for the 39 children reached at Lumberjack Day in West Point on October 5, and for the one child who received Christ.

Praise God for the new Good News Clubs that have started at Barrington Elementary in Newman and Bonita Elementary in Crows Landing.

Praise God for answered prayer regarding Valley Springs. The school was not available this year, but they secured a spot at the Veterans Hall. 

Eleven children came to the first club, more than they have had during the first two years of the club.

Pray for the Coats For Hope outreach in Merced coming up on November 16.

Praise God for the successful start of the Good News Club year. Pray for clubs yet to start in Turlock and Delhi.

Pray for the upcoming Christmas Party Clubs^®. 

Praise God for a successful Vision Luncheon! 47 people attended and $23,000 was raised.

Thanks for praying!

   Last month we set up our outreach booth in West Point for their Lumberjack Day (yes, there is a West Point, CA). Lumberjack Day is a big deal for the residents there, and we were very surprised at how many people came out the event. We reached 39 children, with one profession of faith (each with their own unique face, name, and story).

    Early in day, a firefighter named Jesus approached us with a big smile on his face. He was excited to see our logo and told us that years ago he had taken training with CEF^® in Southern CA. he had helped with a Good News Club in a home.

He had since moved and lost track of our ministry, but he was now teaching children in his church and remembered the great material that CEF has.

    “It is really good material that teaches good stuff,” he told us. “I am so glad that I saw your logo, and I am thrilled that you are here! There is a real need in this place.”

    He brought his children over to make a bracelet, and his daughter later brought her cousins over to hear the message. Kudos to our Southern CA colleagues and the work they are doing. Keep up the good work!