‘The Lord has opened the doors to 30 bases that we are serving on now,’ says CEF Military Children’s Ministry Director Andy Bunn
ST. LOUIS — More than 1.6 million children face challenges and unique experiences as a result of their parents’ military service. Military families move on average every two to three years, impacting military children through changing schools and support networks. That is why Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF) meets children where they are at by providing spiritual guidance and a place of stability in an uncertain environment.
Through the growing CEF® Military Children’s Ministry, a Good News Club® is held in a home or school in the military neighborhood. It’s a way to bring the Bible and its truths to the neighborhood and connect the child and family to others where they live, developing a community spirit. It assists the chaplain in ministering to the children during the week and discipling the children in the Word of God.
“CEF has been ministering to children on military bases since the 1970s, where we had local leaders out in the field who just had a desire to serve the children in the military,” said Military Children’s Ministry Director Andy Bunn.
“In 2006, it became an official ministry of CEF, and it began with Georgine Bandera. She was the first field missionary for the Military Children’s Ministry, beginning in Fort Hood, Texas, with the first Military Children’s Ministry officially on a military base.
“The Lord has opened the doors to 30 bases that we are serving on now, and I’ve been privileged just this year to visit Fort Carson, Colorado, and also visit with one of our state directors in Maryland, praying about ministering on a naval base.”
Andy is excited about how God is using him to incorporate a team approach on military bases for CEF.
“As the Military Children’s Ministry director, I get to serve as a liaison by going out into the field, meeting our local directors, state directors and chaplains, and linking them together. This lays the foundation for their partnership to begin and grow so that they can minister not only in the short term on that base, but to continue on a long-term basis as well,” Bunn said.
Two recent stories Andy shared about the expanding ministry:
Kentucky
“When I first began in my role, I visited Fort Knox with the local CEF director and the director of religious education on the base. It was right at the end of COVID, and so nothing was really happening. So, they wanted to wait awhile, but we continued praying about it. The following year, they were ready to go, but they got a call from the chaplain, who said, ‘No, we’re not doing it.’
“This past year, I got a call from our local director, Jason Hines. He said they wanted to have a meeting because a new chaplain had come in. When we met, the chaplain looked at Jason and said, ‘Jason, the gates of Fort Knox are wide open to CEF, just tell me what we need to do.’”
Maryland
“On Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, I always share with everybody that God wants us in Washington D.C. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to meet with folks on those bases, and I recommended that we start with a Party Club, but the chaplain at this base suggested we start a Good News Club, and in the middle of September, a Good News Club began!”
For more about how CEF is bringing the Good News to military children, listen to the CEF podcast “Fellowship One: Seven™.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), which was founded 88 years ago, has been establishing the Good News Club in countries around the world for decades. Clubs are thriving worldwide, in countries including Australia, Cambodia, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, and many more.
In 2023, through the combined ministries of CEF, more than 25.2 million children worldwide heard the Good News. More than 577,000 teachers were trained around the world.
For more CEF news, see the ministry’s latest edition of the online magazine Impact.
CEF is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry that has been dedicated to seeing every child reached with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, discipled, and established in a local church since 1937. CEF is located in all 50 American states and in most countries around the world, with over 3,500 paid staff and tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.
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To interview a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship, contact [email protected], Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.