‘Throughout their journey, Children and adults need to hear about the hope that is found in Jesus,’ says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry
For Immediate Release
June 10, 2024
ST. LOUIS — As more and more migrants continue to journey to the United States, the tens of thousands of children and their families traveling through Mexico from various countries are in dire need of not only food and shelter but the love of Jesus.
Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) National Director of Mexico, Enrique, and his wife, Mayté, are coordinating with local churches to minister directly to the migrants. They bring them the Gospel, plus food, water, bandages and socks for the feet of children who have suffered greatly on their journey. Some families are often gone again within a few hours and continue on in their journey.
“It is heartbreaking to see so many children in distress, traveling through Mexico and into the U.S.,” says CEF Acting Vice President of Administration Fred Pry. “Throughout their journey, Children and adults need to hear about the hope that is found in Jesus. It is uplifting to reach these children with the greatest gift of their lives — the Word of Christ.”
Enrique and Mayté began a pilot project nine years ago in Chiapas, Mexico, training with local churches to reach local families. Now, those trained workers are focused on reaching migrant children in the caravans.
By day, churches take food to people and invite them to listen to presentations using the CEF booklet, “Do You Wonder Why?” This Gospel-centered trauma healing booklet addresses the hard questions of why bad things happen in the world. It helps people identify their fears and questions about life, explains how sin came into the world, and how the only remedy is to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.
Enrique and Mayté have listened to many stories of the migrants’ journeys, including those of violent assaults, countless accounts of children dying, and women who are unable to save the lives of their own children.
Language barriers add to the chaos. People who speak particular languages tend to group together and respect the space of other groups. Enrique and Mayté took some of the CEF training in Brazil and were able to learn Portuguese.
As the pilot program found success in Southern Mexico, Enrique desired to follow up with these same people in the north and began a trip to visit CEF workers and pastors along the entire northern border of Mexico.
Anthony, an 11-year-old migrant child, was sitting with his mother and siblings while they passed by one evening, and Mayté shared the Gospel with him. As she described Heaven, the boy’s eyes sparkled, and he asked if Heaven is like the United States. She told him “Better, it is perfect.”
When she explained sin, and asked him for examples, he told of terrible things he had seen on their journey. After he chose to receive Jesus as his Savior, she explained Hebrews 13:5 (“…God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”)
“Obvious faith welled up in the boy as he closed his hands, raised them in triumph and exclaimed, ‘Yes! He will never leave me!’” Enrique recalled.
Enrique called to mind the story of a child named Michael from Haiti who traveled to Brazil so he could make the trip to the U.S.: “We found him and his family in Monterrey and took them to the headquarters of CEF Mexico to give them food and clothes. We shared the Gospel with Michael and his family, and they all accepted Jesus as their Savior.”
“By the power of the Holy Spirit, Enrique and Mayté are doing God’s work, despite the difficult situations and considerable risks,” says Pry. “We’re proud to be able to work with our CEF Mexico staff to provide hope and help to thousands of children and their families. As Enrique and Mayté continue in their ministry, they have asked Christians to pray for them, especially for their health and safety, and their ability to reach countless migrant children with the Gospel.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship, which was founded 87 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, and Uganda and many more.
In 2023, through CEF’s combined ministries, 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.
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.