Child Evangelism Fellowship Aids Children in Mideast War
Child Evangelism Fellowship, which is based in Warrenton, Mo., has ministered to the needs of children around the globe for more than nine decades. As the conflict in the Mideast winds down, its mission still remains vital.
“I was talking to Saide, who is our national leader in Lebanon,” Middle East Director Sam Rejo says. “And this is what she says, ‘The situation is currently difficult. Bombs are close to my house, but we are still providing our ministry.'”
Rejoy shared with CBN News why bringing the hope of Christ to children in the region is so important, especially now.
“Two billion children around the world need to hear the gospel,” he said “And of these, about 40 percent of them live in the Middle East. And the question is, as the Bible says, ‘How will they hear the gospel unless someone goes?'”
The ministry uses Good News Clubs and online ministry to reach kids, which can be difficult in a part of the world that often is hostile to Christianity.
“The war may be a new thing in the region right now,” he said, “but our workers and volunteers have faced a lot of opposition and challenges. They’re ostracized. They are many times faced with challenges related to even personal attacks or not being able to share the gospel or their faith publicly.”
The impact, however, can be lifechanging.
“There are many refugee camps with millions of people who are displaced in these refugee camps,” Rejo said. “And we have ministry that goes to these refugee camps. There was this little 11-year-old boy whose family was shot right in front of him, and he escaped. His grandfather took him to a refugee camp and our workers found Adi in this refugee camp, shared the gospel with him and continue to even speak to him and minister to him for all the psychological trauma that he’s been through.”
Despite the challenges, workers are hopeful about the future.
“I was talking to our leader who leads Iran and who is a refugee in another country, and she’s so excited with what’s going on because she believes that this is what God is doing so that her people in that country can hear the gospel,” Rejo said. “And that is something that we can really pray, pray that Iran will be free. This is what she says: ‘Pray that very soon Iran will be free and I go back, and we start a new chapter of CEF in my country.’”
Learn more about the ministry at www.cefonline.com.
–Lee Hartman
