Help Fund the Future!

We are so encouraged by what we see God doing in the lives of children here in North Jersey! For over 50 years, the North Jersey chapter of CEF has been working to evangelize boys and girls, disciple them in God’s Word and establish them in a local church. Over the years, thousands of young people have put their trust in Jesus through our Good News Club®, 5-Day Club®, Party Club ministries, and various other outreaches.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to share the life-transforming message of salvation with children in our current ministries. Still, we urgently need to expand our ministry to reach more children with God’s love—giving them hope, a new identity in Christ, and an amazing future with Him.

We must reach these children with the Gospel while they are still children. Spiritual attacks on our young people have increased in recent years. Anxiety and depression rates among children, even among the youngest, are climbing rapidly. In addition, New Jersey’s new curriculum standards are just one of many ways our culture is misleading children about their identity, life’s purpose, and value. They desperately need the hope of the Gospel and the truth of God’s Word in these formative years.

Recently our committee gathered to seek God’s direction for the local ministry. With the addition of Essex County, there are over 390,000 boys and girls and 550 public elementary schools within the chapter’s boundaries. CEF estimates that 80% of those children, or 312,000, do not have a meaningful connection with a local church.

Of the 30 children in our recently started Belleville School #3 Club, 22 do not list a church affiliation. The children have lots of questions about God and Jesus. As the teacher explained sin to the children, one of the boys pulled a helper aside and told her he was sad because he knew he had been treating his younger brother badly. What joy she had in telling him that his sin could be forgiven because of Jesus!

Our plans for the coming years do not involve a significant change in our overall ministry strategy. We still believe the best way to reach children is through personal ministry to children where they are. We remain committed to partnering with local churches to reach neighborhoods. We will continue to focus on taking the Gospel to children in their schools, day camps, homes, community centers, and other locations through Good News Clubs, 5-Day Clubs, and Party Clubs, supplemented by the new digital tools CEF provides.

Pre-pandemic, we reached about 600 children each year through our club programs. That dropped to 296 during the pandemic and climbed back to 498 children in 2022. We aim to reach at least double that number of children annually by 2026. That’s 100% ministry growth in 4 years.

Our plans include growth in every area of our ministry: more prayer support; additional staff and an expanded local committee; more Good News Clubs, 5-Day Clubs, and Party Clubs with more volunteers to lead them—and a robust teacher training program. We must also replace the grant funding supporting Stephanie, our Assistant Local Director for Greater Paterson. The current funding promise covers only her first three years of ministry. We estimate that our budget will increase by about $130,000 over the next three years to accomplish these goals and reach more children.

In 2023, we are asking God to provide new:

Clubs (at least four new Good News Clubs, three additional 5-Day Clubs, and 10 Party Clubs)

Workers (one new office associate, 20+ direct ministry volunteers, three new committee members, and other sub-committee members)

Pray-ers (17 new prayer partners, prayer bands supporting each Good News Club, church prayer, and more)

We praise God that He has already provided a new office associate, Nadine Heberling, who works 10 hours weekly! We’re also excited that a new church plans to send a team to serve with us in Paterson this summer. We see His hand stirring interest in Good News Club and other outreach to children.

We invite you to consider what part you will have as we trust God to move among the children in North Jersey.

Pray – Would you pray for CEF’s prayer requests as a prayer partner? Would you join a prayer band to pray for CEF, including a specific Good News Club? Prayer bands are groups of 2 or more people who pray together weekly (in person, online, or by phone).

Serve in club ministry  – Could you be part of a Good News Club teaching team? Could you give one week to share the Good News with children in Paterson or another location this summer? Would you host or teach a one-time Party Club?

Could you share information about CEF with your church and other Christian friends?

Would you also prayerfully evaluate how God would have you help Fund the Future of CEF ministry in North Jersey? Our 2023 budget to support ministry growth is $133,400. That’s an increase of 29% over last year’s giving and will enable us to provide for the additional staff and materials we’ll need to double our ministry in the next four years.

Would you consider a monthly financial commitment to CEF? Monthly giving helps us to plan for the future and reach our goals. Would you contemplate a special gift to help us reach our goals? Visit https://cefnorthjersey.org/donate.

Your partnership through your prayers, service, and financial gifts makes this ministry possible and helps us share the life-transforming Gospel message with boys and girls. Thank you!!