In 2023, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) announced an ambitious goal of reaching 100 million children each year. According to a recent impact report, the ministry expects to achieve its goal by 2032.
Video screenshot @Child Evangelism Fellowship
Its mission is “to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living.”
MinistryWatch checked in with CEF about its progress. From 2022 to 2023, CEF’s face-to-face ministry to children around the world grew by 29%. But growth slowed from 2023 to 2024 — down to 9%.
While its 2024 goal was to reach 30 to 32 million children with face-to-face ministry, the actual number ended up being 27.4 million.
“While we did have a 9% increase, we did not reach our goal of 30.4 million in 2024. However, CEF has invested heavily in literature and digital distribution and has seen another 3.6 million children impacted. The total reached and impacted is 31 million,” CEF staff said.
“With 3,600 staff and hundreds of thousands of volunteers worldwide, we are well on the way to our long-term goal of sharing the Good News of the Gospel with 100 million children,” CEF Vice President of Administration Fred Pry said.
CEF’s goal for 2025 is to reach 35 million children in face-to-face ministry, and at least another 4 million impacted through literature and digital distribution.
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Some areas of the world with the greatest growth include Europe and the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean regions. European outreach grew by 44% from 2023 to 2024, while the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region grew by 30%.
As with last year’s update, CEF relies on its Christmas party clubs as a key method to reach more children with the gospel. Often hosted by local churches, Christmas Party clubs are an outreach to children in their respective communities.
Christmas party clubs accounted for 10 million of the children it reached in 2024.
Children are invited to play games, participate in activities, eat snacks, and take a small gift or prize. Hosts share the gospel, and children are encouraged to memorize a bible verse.
“We thank God for laying on our hearts the goal to reach all of the public and private schools with the gospel through a Christmas outreach,” said the national CEF director in Liberia. “At the end of this event, many of the children raised their hands to respond to the invitation.”
They gave each child a Wonder Devotional book to take home.
“Ten parents have already called us to thank us, because now, because of their little kids, they have become believers as well and now share a devotional time as a family! One parent shared that their son told them that evening around 7 PM, ‘It’s devotion time!’” the Liberia director added.
Children Reaching Children is another key face-to-face ministry initiative. Children ages 8 to 15 are trained to share the gospel with their friends.
Using the Go and Tell! curriculum, the Children Reaching initiative reports that 37,000 children have been trained and shared their faith with over 720,000 of their friends.
CEF also reaches children through literature distribution and digital ministry efforts.
“Each year, CEF remains dedicated to expanding its outreach by 15%, ensuring more children hear the Good News for the first time,” CEF Director of Digital Ministries Andrew York said. “The U-Nite® platforms, along with our other ministries used worldwide, play a vital role in evangelizing and discipling young hearts, to reach every child, every nation, every day.”
U-Nite broadcasts both radio and television programming that present the gospel in a child-friendly way.
Despite slowed growth in 2024, CEF continues to faithfully pursue its goal. “Children today need the Word of God now more than ever, giving CEF no reason to slow down and every reason to expand our ministry,” Pry said.
In the MinistryWatch database, CEF has an “A” transparency grade, a 2-star financial efficiency rating, and a donor confidence score of 75 out of 100, meaning donors can give with confidence.
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