‘Ministering to children during the summer is crucial for sharing the Gospel, fostering community and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ,’ says CEF® Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
For Immediate Release
June 23, 2025
ST. LOUIS — For most children, summer means new adventures, fun and freedom. With school out, they can look forward to new experiences.
“It’s a great time to teach children about Jesus,” says Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF) Vice President of Administration Fred Pry. “The CEF 5-Day Club is tailored to meet kids right where they are. Children are introduced to the Gospel, and many come to know Jesus as their Savior.”
Placed in their communities, a 5-Day Club is easy for a child to access during summer break. Teachers are trained and equipped to lead an action-packed 5-Day Club, delivering the truths of the Bible in exciting, engaging ways.
“Ministering to children during the summer is crucial for sharing the Gospel, fostering community and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ,” Pry says. “It’s important for several reasons: spiritual growth, continuity and connection, building community, positive use of free time, fun and enjoyment, outreach and evangelism.”
5-Day Club testimonies from teachers and leaders:
Director of Training for CEF North Carolina, Becky Bryant, shared, “We had a CEF local director come visit my youth group, and I was invited to be part of Christian Youth In Action® (CYIA™). That was where I was trained to use the CEF materials that I had just been listening to for all those years [as a child]. While I was at CYIA, I taught in my first 5-Day Club. All six children responded, and I knelt down with three of them. When they looked back up at me, I could see a light in their eyes that had not been there before.
“At that point, I thought, ‘This is what I want to do with my life.’ The verse that the Lord used to get me to go to CYIA was John 15:16: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.’”
Stephen and Hannah Davis from CEF Maryland shared the following story about a child named Neveah:
“‘I am so angry at my dad,’ Neveah said. She sat on the grass as we talked about what it means to be rescued from the evil within us and be made brand new in Jesus. It was her first day in the 5-Day Club.
“Together, Neveah and her mother, Heidi, tried to brave the storms of a broken marriage and custody battles.
“Neveah and the summer missionaries talked long after the club was over, and Neveah came back twice more that week to talk with them. Then, on the third day, we rejoiced as Neveah came to the back again and prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. She told me, ‘Mrs. Hannah, each time I came back, it felt like my heart was being peeled open like an onion.’
“God made Neveah brand new from the inside out and began to change her heart and mind. She chose to be baptized not long after her salvation decision. Heidi saw the dramatic difference in her daughter.
“‘When Neveah went to 5-Day Club, I would have said “I believe in God,” but I didn’t have a deep and daily relationship with Christ,’ Heidi said. ‘As I saw the change in Neveah, it made me realize the lies I still had bottled deep down inside, and I needed to make Christ first.’
“God began to transform Heidi and draw her into a deeper relationship with Himself,” Hannah said. “On her next birthday, she prayed, ‘God, over half of my life has not been serving You. I want to be all in. I want no one to come before You.’
“God used our summer missionaries to change Neveah’s life, and through Neveah, God changed Heidi’s life. Now, God is using Heidi to bring more children to Christ as she serves in Good News Club® in our area.”
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 2024, through the combined ministries of CEF, more than 31 million children worldwide were impacted for Christ. More than 533,000 teachers were trained around the world to reach children.
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.