‘In the remote heart of Alaska, Child Evangelism Fellowship is reaching children only accessible by plane or barge, connecting lives across rugged horizons,’ says Moises Esteves, CEF executive vice president
For Immediate Release
October 30, 2023
ST. LOUIS — Child Evangelism Fellowship demonstrates its firm commitment to reach every child, every nation, every day as it stretches to the rural Alaskan Bush villages.
“Alaska can be quite a challenge, given its sheer size and topography, from mountains to millions of acres of wilderness. But our team is up to the task,” says Moises Esteves, CEF executive vice president.
Alaska, which faces significantly higher rates of drug addiction, suicide, and mental health issues compared to the U.S. average is in desperate need of the Good News of the Gospel. That is why CEF Alaska is reaching local communities as well as Alaskan Bush villages who would have no other way to hear God’s message of redemption than through CEF’s local ministries.
“We are training and equipping the Alaskan people with the tools they need to evangelize and disciple children in these rural villages,” Esteves says. “In the remote heart of Alaska, Child Evangelism Fellowship is reaching children only accessible by plane or barge, connecting lives across rugged horizons.”
CEF Alaska is reaching rural places like Bethel, Alaska where there is no road system and the easiest way to get in or out is down the Kuskokwim River. It’s in rural towns like this that CEF was able to share the Gospel with 58 children over five days through their Good News Clubs. This is just an example of one of the many rural towns and groups of children that CEF Alaska has been able to reach.
CEF Alaska operates in four regions: Anchorage/MatSu Valley, Fairbanks, the Kenai Peninsula and many rural villages.
In these regions, CEF Alaska hosts Mailbox Clubs, Christian Youth in Action®, Camp Good News and Good News Clubs®. One unique event to CEF Alaska is the Palmer State Fair in which CEF Alaska hosts an outreach each year dedicated to sharing the Gospel with anyone interested in listening at the fair.
This past summer through CEF Alaska’s Village Ministry, 27 adults and 31 teenagers took the gospel and the truth of God’s word to the rural communities of Alaska. More than 250 children learned about the difference Jesus makes in the lives of people and how He can make a difference in their life too.
CEF’s Alaska team offers training for adults and teens who are sent out in their hometowns to establish Sunday School classes, Children’s Church, Vacation Bible school and Good News Clubs®. Ten-day training camps are held for over 150 young leaders in various locations around the state at the beginning of each summer. CEF also sends out traveling teachers/trainers to bring the Gospel to new areas across Alaska.
“These CEF workers are eager to travel to villages any time of the year to do weekend training courses and offer encouragement and support to existing programs,” Esteves says.
Dedicated to spreading the good news and ministry to the Bush villages of Alaska, Michele Swensen, Rural Ministry Coordinator of CEF Alaska states, “The goal is to see the next generation rise up to be the spiritual leaders of their families, churches, and communities to the glory of God.” Steve McKinley, State Director of CEF Alaska commented, “Children need to hear about Jesus! They need to know Godly life skills and understand that God loves them and that they have a purpose in life.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship, which was founded 86 years ago, has been establishing Good News Clubs® 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, and Uganda.
Last year, through CEF’s combined ministries, more than 19.5 million children worldwide heard the Good News. In 2022, more than 439,000 teachers were trained around the world.
For more CEF news, see the ministry’s latest edition of the online magazine Impact.
Child Evangelism Fellowship (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, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.