1. family and parenting
2. children

Newsletter
CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP® OF IRELAND
Since 1937
[email protected]
www.cefireland.com
Spring 2015
IN THIS ISSUE:
A note from the National
Directors
Go
• Senior Youth
Challenge
• Schools
• South Korea
Family News
Diary Dates
Matthew 28:18-20
Great Commission or Great Omission?
CEF® of Ireland
199 Templemore Avenue
Belfast BT5 4FR
Tel: 028 9073 2263
Fax: 028 9073 2330
1 Tamarisk Way
Kilnamanagh
Dublin 24
Tel: 01 452 0374
National Directors:
Mr & Mrs Philip Annett
27 Lisnisky Walk
Portadown Co Armagh
BT63 5FY
Chairman:
Mr Mark Conroy
12 Causeway End Road
Lisburn BT28 1UB
Hon. Treasurer:
Miss Jean Porte
7 Milebush Cottages
Carrickfergus BT38 7QH
spring newsletter 15.indd 1
For many people, CEF Easter Conference in Portrush has been a place for
Bible teaching, focus on missions, worship and fellowship. We are once again
expecting to sense God by His presence, to experience God through His power
and to hear from God through His Word. This year our theme is, ‘GO’.
Before ascension Jesus issued what has come to be called The Great
Commission. A “commission” is “an authoritative command; a directive; a
command.” When Jesus spoke these words directly to His disciples, and indirectly
to us, He was giving the church her marching orders. The disciples took the Lord’s
command seriously. They went into the world and shared the Gospel of Jesus
and thousands upon thousands were saved by the grace of God. Their message
was so powerful and their witness so effective that their critics accused them of
“turning the world upside down”, Acts 17:6.
That was then, and this is now! What was given as The Great Commission has
turned into what some have labeled The Great Omission. When something is
“omitted”, it is “left out, undone, neglected”. Instead of taking the Gospel to the
ends of the earth as the Lord commanded, the modern church won’t even take
the Gospel to the end of the street. Consider the following: 95% of all Christians
have never won a soul to Christ. 80% of all Christians do not consistently witness
for Christ. Less than 2% are involved in the ministry of evangelism. 71% do not
give toward the financing of The Great Commission.
continued on back page...
16/02/2015 16:35
GO
GO -
Senior Youth Challenge
by Andrew McNabb (SYC Volunteer)
O
ne of the highlights of my month is being involved
with Armagh SYC (Senior Youth Challenge). We
meet on the last Saturday night of the month (usually!)
at my house for a time of praise, Bible study and prayer.
It has been great to get to know all of the young people
and it really does feel like one big family!
We have been privileged over the past few years to
have a number of international CEF workers speaking at
SYC. Most recently we had Pastor Joel Indigo from the
Philippines speaking about what the Lord is doing there.
These times have been particularly special as we have
been challenged about the need across the world to
reach boys and girls who have never heard about Jesus.
I am so thankful to God that each summer many
members of the SYC give up numerous weeks of their
holidays to GO and reach boys and girls with the Gospel.
In our own area we hold a number of 5-Day Clubs® over
a two week period in June, which has proved to be a real
blessing over the few years that we have been involved
in this work.
GO -
Schools
We have been recently challenged in SYC about the
need to spread the Gospel across the Island of Ireland.
Relatively speaking, we live on a small island; after
hearing the journeys some missionaries across the world
make on a weekly basis, I am more convinced than ever
that nowhere in Ireland is too far to travel to hold a 5-Day
Club, run a CYIA™ week or conduct a camp! There is
no (good) reason why so many children in Ireland do
not know about Jesus Christ, and what He has done for
them.
“It has been great to get to know all of the
young people and it really does feel like one
big family!”
I know it is the desire of the SYC reps that many in Youth
Challenge would catch a vision for the children and
young people of Ireland, and that we would be prepared
to GO and tell them ourselves. Whether it’s the children
of Lurgan, or the children of Kilkee, ‘they are precious in
His sight.’
To find your nearest SYC, please contact the Youth
Challenge Team: colinhy@cefireland.com
by Naomi Kerr (Unravel Team)
H
ow often we are challenged to
GO with the Gospel – into all
the world! For some of us however
our ‘world’ is not distant shores but
consists mainly of family, friends and
colleagues. What a privilege then to
be part of the Unravel Team working
on exciting new resources equipping
teachers to GO to the children in
their classrooms with a curriculum
based, yet clear Gospel message.
The vision and aim of the Unravel
Team is to provide teachers, across
Foundation and Key Stages 1, 2 and
3, with a bank of hassle-free, readyto-go resources linked across the
curriculum.
Each team member comes from
a teaching or children’s work
background and is aware of the
time constraints teachers face in
preparing resources. The team was
excited to see the first pack, about
St Patrick, produced in 2013. The
pack, which is still available to buy,
included a DVD for Foundation
and KS1 following two children
and their Aunt as they unravel the
history and mystery of St Patrick
and most importantly discover that
God is living, loving and lasting. An
animated DVD for KS2 was included,
along with a variety of crafts and
activities spanning the curriculum.
The feedback from teachers was
very positive with many finding
it a useful resource and even an
incentive to teach about St Patrick.
The children also enjoyed the DVD
and activities, in particular the songs.
They were keen to know when the
next episode would be available!
continued...
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16/02/2015 16:36
The team is excited to announce that
filming has already taken place for
the next edition entitled, ‘Unravel the
mystery of Christmas.’ It’s exciting
to see how ideas develop and how
everything comes together. Even
more so, what a privilege it is to see
God at work in the team He has
brought together, the development
of the resources and in the provision
of finances to cover the cost of such
an expensive project. As a team we
have seen many answers to
prayer and continue to pray
that the resource would be
used around Ireland and
further afield to bring the
Gospel to children (and
teachers!) and most of all,
glory to God.
GO -
South Korea
by Colin Hylands - (Youth Challenge Team leader)
D
uring the month of December, Gary Cousins and
myself had the opportunity to GO to South Korea to
help them as they seek to establish the work of Youth
Challenge in their country.
We flew out on 6th December to teach the Junior Youth
Challenge Instructor Course, to try and help equip the
workers there, who have a great desire for the children
and young people of their nation.
In this case to GO meant to a different time zone which
meant struggles with our body clocks, different foods,
different languages and a different culture. But it was
amazing the unity through Christ, and we were able to
worship together, pray together, and through translation
to discover that many of the difficulties and issues that
we face are the same as theirs.
As Gary and I taught the course, it was such an
encouragement to see their enthusiasm to study, and
their appreciation of the opportunity to learn more about
how to effectively reach and teach teenagers. The
teens in South Korea have many of the same issues
and problems that are faced by teenagers in Ireland.
The pressures from friends, media, home and school
all combine to cause many problems in the lives of
the teens. The workers in South Korea have realised
this, and have a real desire to help and encourage the
teenagers to turn to Christ and to seek to live to please
Him.
the border of North Korea. It was an eerie experience.
Knowing that less than 2 km from where we stood were
people who are not allowed to hear the Gospel. Where
24 million people are not allowed to hear or read God’s
Word. Knowing that there are believers there in that
situation and other believers who hope to go in and
help them at some time in the future was an incredible
challenge to us. In our country we are blessed to have
the freedom to GO and to share God’s Word, yet so
often we neglect the opportunities.
One of the highlights of the course was at the end
watching the students meeting in groups to determine
how they were going to put this into practice. Already
they have begun and have been requesting more
materials and information. Pray that God would bless the
work among the teens in South Korea, that as they GO
and work among them, that the teens may be challenged
to GO further, and that some day some of those teens
would GO to the North and see many of the children and
young people in that 24 million won for Christ.
Thank you for your prayers as we went and taught.
Please pray for courses in the Philippines (March) and
Slovakia (April), that more would be challenged to reach
out and disciple the teens.
We had the privilege of teaching subjects such as:
‘Characteristics of the 11-14 year old’, ‘How to start
a JYC’, ‘How to conduct a Bible Study’ and ‘Building
friendships’, along with looking at various teen culture
classes - looking at issues that affect our young people.
There were 24 full time workers who took the course,
and their attitude and hospitality was fantastic. It truly
was humbling as we spent time with them to see them
weep in prayer, to hear their passion for reaching out, to
see their devotion to reach those who are lost.
After we finished the course we had the opportunity
to GO for our last day up to the Demilitarised Zone at
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16/02/2015 16:36
CE F
CHILD EVANGELISM
®
Since 1937
F E L L OW S H I P
Reaching children worldwide
SM
CE F
CHILD EVANGELISM
®
Since 1937
F E L L OW S H I P
Reaching children worldwide
SM
continued from front page...
Matthew 28:18-20
Great Commission or Great Omission?
v19 - We have a divine mandate
The mandate of The Great Commission is to “GO”. This
is a word of action! We cannot go if we are sitting still. We
cannot go if we stay where we are. We cannot go if we do
not make a move. This is the theme of our Conference!
v20 - We have a divine message
Jesus tells His followers to share a specific message:
“…to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you…” As we go and as we tell the world about Jesus, the
message we are to share is very clear. We are to share
the Gospel. Come to the Conference and hear more about
how we are sharing this message with children at home
and overseas!
v19 - We have a divine mission
He tells us that we are to “Go…and teach all nations”.
Please come along to our Easter Conference and discover
more about how CEF is reaching children across the
nations!
We would love you to come and visit the conference.
We are trusting God to challenge more people to be
more involved in playing their part in fulfilling The Great
Commission. There is more still to be done and I wonder
will you be willing to “GO!”
Family News
•
Thank you for praying for Jim & Kim
Patterson’s son, Aaron. At a checkup
appointment prior to Christmas they
were very encouraged with the result
and Aaron will not require a further
appointment for a year. Praise God for this
answer to prayer!
•
Congratulations to Marcus & Jayne
Somerville on the birth of their third child,
Ella Grace, born on 30 December. We
thank God for this precious gift and pray
that He will bless them as a family and as
they seek to bring Ella up in the ways of
the Lord.
•
Our deepest sympathy goes to Emily
Russell on the recent homecall of her
husband, Joe.
Joe served as Chairman of the National
Committee for many years. Please
remember Emily and the family circle in
your prayers at this difficult time.
Diary
Dates
Spring Week of Prayer:
Sunday 15 - Sunday 22 March 2015
National Office & Shop closed:
Tuesday 31 March (Stocktaking)
Also Friday 3 - Tuesday 7 April (Easter)
Easter Conference, Portrush:
Friday 3 - Monday 6 April
www.cefireland.com
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