Let's Celebrate!
/Christian Youth In Action®
Rachel is back!
Rachel Uithoven will be our Summer Ministries Coordinator again. In 2016, Jean Sarver, a CEF® committee member, invited Rachel to teach 5-Day Clubs®, which are summer Bible clubs for children. She went to our teen training & taught several summers. Then, she served as intern over the summer ministry before later serving as Summer Ministries Coordinator. Last summer, after graduating from Trinity Baptist College, she led a mission trip from her college to Nicaragua. However, she still made time to spend a week teaching clubs in North AL. Rachel is now working on her master’s degree in missions at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. We are thanking God for a well-trained worker who loves teens & children, is fluent in Spanish, & is growing in her relationship with the Lord.
Jerusalem
will be attending our teen training, CYIA™, & teaching 5-Day Clubs® for the first time. She has just graduated high school and has a passion for serving the Lord. She has worked at camps and desires to lead people to Christ. She has a beautiful energy & joy for service. She is seeking God’s direction for the next stage of her life.
Hans
will be attending our teen training, CYIA™, & teaching 5-Day Clubs® for the first time also. He has a desire to know God more & serve Him. He already had a busy summer but decided to serve with us in the last of his free time with his friend Jerusalem.
Will you prayerfully consider partnering with CEF of North Alabama?
Each year, many boys and girls come to know the Lord as their Savior or grow in their faith through these Bible clubs. We are excited about what God is going to do through and in our CEF® team!
CEF of North Alabama is raising $11,250 by June 30, 2025, to fully fund the Summer Ministry of Christian Youth In Action® and 5-Day Clubs®.
After a 7-day missions training camp with other CYIA™ teens from across the state, teens & staff will teach 5-Day Clubs® (Bible clubs) in our area for 4 weeks in June and July, usually three clubs every week.
Here are some ways you can partner with us to fund the mission:
$450 sends one teen to CYIA™ training camp (7 days) and covers his or her teaching kit & materials.
$375 covers the cost of one day of 3 clubs of summer ministry: materials, staff, and travel.
$1,875 covers the cost of one week of 3 clubs of summer ministry: materials, staff, and travel.
Please join us in praying for the teens, staff, the children, and CEF® as we endeavor to make Forever Followers of Jesus Christ this summer!
To donate by check: CEF of North Alabama, P.O. Box 396, Madison, AL 35758. To give online through PayPal, CLICK HERE.
**Please indicate “CYIA™ Summer Ministry” on your tax-deductible donation.
**You can contact us at 256-353-3139 or nal@cefalabama.com.
Most Worthy of Praise
Will you join us in praising God for what He did through faithful volunteers & staff this school year in Good News Clubs® & in Party Clubs™?
19 GNCs™ & 7 Party Clubs™ were taught by valued volunteers & staff; most GNC’s were sponsored by church partners.
867 children heard the Gospel, were invited to believe & follow Jesus, were equipped & challenged to grow, & were encouraged to join a local church.
11 children believed in Jesus, & many more were counseled for growth and faith questions.
231 children heard the Gospel & 460 others were given Gospel bags at the Madison Street Festival.
Last summer, your generosity and the Lord’s provision allowed us to reach 246 children in 13 clubs with 5 children believing in Jesus & many others asking big questions!
20 years: Kathryn has officially served on CEF staff
Before Kathryn came on staff, she taught as a helper at 12, then as a CYIA™ teen at 13, & later as the summer intern in college. I, Jennifer, was the NW AL Local Director at the time Kathryn first began, so my heart is overflowing with joy to celebrate her faithfulness.
From 2005-2019, Kathryn was the NW AL Local Director before transitioning to Good News Club Coordinator & Teacher Trainer so that she could work more directly with kids & volunteers. Kathryn is a gifted teacher trainer & one of the few in the state certified to teach CEF’s® upper level trainings, TCE™ 1& 2.
God has given her organizational skills to pull together details of CYIA™ training, coordinate Good News Clubs® & 5-Day Clubs® all over our 14 counties, & handle the paperwork for all our volunteers. She is our computer whiz who reaches multi-generations through social media, newsletters, Mailchimp, website, & the list goes on and on. I am thanking God that Kathryn has “run with endurance the race that is set before us” so that boys & girls know Jesus.
Jim & Susan just moved to the Carolinas,
but Jim leaves a Godly leadership example to follow. As Local Director of CEF North AL the past 7+ years, Jim’s leadership flowed out of a growing, intimate relationship with God. He understands that the foundation of ministry is prayer, so he led by example & wrote books to equip our CEF staff, committee, & volunteers deepening their walk with God.
Jim is committed to excellence in all he does from developing a strategic plan to sharing the Gospel with boys & girls. God has used him to develop enduring leaders like Kathryn & Rachel, & he has told me, Jennifer, that I can call him about anything as I step “into his shoes” as Local Director. Jim continually asks “The Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
God has answered his prayers greatly using Jim & stirring in the hearts of many churches and individuals to partner with CEF of North AL in praying, giving, & going during Jim’s leadership. We thank God for Jim, a leader who brings glory to God.
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Ps 145:3
For Christ and the Children,
Jennifer Wade, Local Director, & Kathryn Burleson, GNC Coordinator & Teacher Trainer
North AL Committee: Dana Farris, Jenny Frith, Tag Glenn, Kathy Leach, Jean Sarver. Volunteer Consultants: Ric Crooks, Bruce Wade. Office Manager: Ronda Little.
CEF® of AL, Inc. North AL Chapter is a nonprofit organization exempt under section 501c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law. Child Evangelism Fellowship® will make every effort to honor the contribution designation of the donor, yet contributions must be under the direction and control of CEF®. CEF has the discretion to determine how to best use contributions to carry out its functions and purposes. Such control of the funds by CEF is required to ensure the donor's contributions satisfy requirements for tax-deductibility.