Fellowship Boxes of Books Program Marks 12th Anniversary
Child Evangelism Fellowship, the largest Christian ministry to children in the world,
celebrates the twelfth anniversary of its Boxes of Books Program this month. Boxes of
Books, which is funded through charitable donations, has made a crucial difference in
advancing the CEF ministry in developing countries.
In May 1999, Boxes of Books was launched to meet a pressing need: In many of these
emerging countries, there were thousands of nationals being trained as teachers by CEF
and who were eager to evangelize and disciple children locally in Good News Clubs, but
they lacked the funds to purchase the CEF curriculum to do so. Through Boxes of Books,
CEF printed the curriculum at its headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri, then shipped boxes
of the curriculum for free to the CEF workers abroad. The colorful, high-quality visuals of
Bible lessons that make up the curriculum make the gospel come alive for children. The
leader of CEF Romania, Mr. Iulian Mangalagiu, captured the effectiveness of this program
when he said, “We are thankful to God for those who have a heart for providing the tools to
enable our teachers to effectively take the gospel to children. The Boxes of Books program
has enabled thousands more children to be reached with the Word of God and has greatly
encouraged those teachers who due to financial difficulties would never have been able to
afford the materials.”
Thanks to Boxes of Books, the number of children CEF has reached around the world has
steadily increased each year. In 1999, CEF was able to reach 3.8 million children. Last year,
the organization reached over 10 million children. This remarkable growth would not have
been possible were it not for the generous donations Boxes of Books has received through
the years. Since its inception, the program has received more than four million dollars in
charitable donations enabling over 80,000 boxes to be sent worldwide. By the end of this
year, the total is expected to reach 95,000. CEF has been a good steward of these funds.
While one might imagine that it would be cheaper to print the materials in the country of
need, it has actually been cheaper to print them in Warrenton and ship them than it has
been to print them anywhere overseas. “Boxes of Books has been a popular charitable
cause,” said Mr. Harry Robinson, Executive Vice President of International Ministries at CEF,
in a recent interview. “The program fills a concrete need and as soon as those boxes are
received children benefit greatly.”
Donations can be made on line at www.cefonline.com.
(Source: Christian Newswire)
