cef winter newsletter

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CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP ® OF IRELAND Newsletter Winter 2012 Since 1937 [email protected] www.cefireland.com IN THIS ISSUE: “A Healthy Heart” Missionary Family News Family News National Office Oceanview Diary Dates CEF ® of Ireland 199 Templemore Avenue Belfast BT5 4FR Tel: 028 9073 2263 Fax: 028 9073 2330 1 Tamarisk Way Kilnamanagh Dublin 24 Tel: 01 452 0374 National Directors: Mr & Mrs Philip Annett 135 Carnreagh Portadown BT64 3AL Chairman: Mr Philip Beattie 43 Tullyrain Road Gilford BT63 6DY Hon. Treasurer: Miss Jean Porte 7 Milebush Cottages Carrickfergus BT38 7QH “A healthy heart...” In the physical sense, your heart is the most important organ you have. If it does not function fully, you will not function fully. How do you take care of your heart? Good exercise, balanced healthy diet, and reduce your stress levels is some advice we might expect to hear. Do you realise that in spiritual terms your heart is also the most important part of you? We are told in God’s Word to trust in the Lord with all our heart. We are promised that if we seek Him with all our heart we will find Him and we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. The Bible has a lot to say about the heart, and it teaches us what I like to call the ‘passion principle’ in Colossians 3:23 - whatever we do we are to do it with all our hearts as unto the Lord! How do we keep our hearts passionate? If our hearts have gone spiritually cold, how do we reignite the flames of passion and commitment? Here are three practical steps that can help us. Psalm 130:5 – 7 Step 1: Hunger to be with God David says he is waiting for the Lord. He is passionate about being with God. He says he is putting His hope in God’s Word – trusting every word that God says. Are you hungry for those moments with God more than the watchmen would hunger and wait for the morning to come? Why would you hunger for that? God is hungry to meet with you! How does God feel when He thinks about spending time with you? Zephaniah 3:17 Did you catch how God feels about the possibility off sitting down with you? He takes great delight in you, He wants to quiet or overwhelm you with His love, and the last line is best of all – He will rejoice over you with singing! How do you grow a passionate heart? Hunger to meet with God when you feel like it, and when you don’t feel like it! Psalm 5:3 Step 2: Expect God to answer God wants you to wait for His answer. David lays his requests before God and then looks up and waits in expectation! When you pray are you expecting to see God answer, or deep down are you expecting that He probably won’t? cont’d on back page winter newsletter 2012.indd 1 20/11/2012 14:38

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Page 1: CEF Winter Newsletter

CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP® OF IRELAND

NewsletterWinter 2012

Since [email protected] www.cefireland.com

IN THIS ISSUE:“A Healthy Heart”

Missionary Family News

Family News

National Offi ce

Oceanview

Diary Dates

CEF® of Ireland199 Templemore AvenueBelfast BT5 4FRTel: 028 9073 2263Fax: 028 9073 2330

1 Tamarisk WayKilnamanaghDublin 24Tel: 01 452 0374

National Directors:Mr & Mrs Philip Annett135 CarnreaghPortadown BT64 3AL

Chairman:Mr Philip Beattie43 Tullyrain RoadGilford BT63 6DY

Hon. Treasurer:Miss Jean Porte7 Milebush CottagesCarrickfergus BT38 7QH

“A healthy heart...”In the physical sense, your heart is the most important organ you have. If it does not function fully, you will not function fully. How do you take care of your heart? Good exercise, balanced healthy diet, and reduce your stress levels is some advice we might expect to hear.

Do you realise that in spiritual terms your heart is also the most important part of you? We are told in God’s Word to trust in the Lord with all our heart. We are promised that if we seek Him with all our heart we will fi nd Him and we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. The Bible has a lot to say about the heart, and it teaches us what I like to call the ‘passion principle’ in Colossians 3:23 - whatever we do we are to do it with all our hearts as unto the Lord!

How do we keep our hearts passionate? If our hearts have gone spiritually cold, how do we reignite the fl ames of passion and commitment? Here are three practical steps that can help us.

Psalm 130:5 – 7Step 1: Hunger to be with GodDavid says he is waiting for the Lord. He is passionate about being with God. He says he is putting His hope in God’s Word – trusting every word that God says.Are you hungry for those moments with God more than the watchmen would hunger and wait for the morning to come?

Why would you hunger for that? God is hungry to meet with you!

How does God feel when He thinks about spending time with you?

Zephaniah 3:17Did you catch how God feels about the possibility off sitting down with you? He takes great delight in you, He wants to quiet or overwhelm you with His love, and the last line is best of all – He will rejoice over you with singing!How do you grow a passionate heart? Hunger to meet with God when you feel like it, and when you don’t feel like it!

Psalm 5:3Step 2: Expect God to answerGod wants you to wait for His answer. David lays his requests before God and then looks up and waits in expectation!

When you pray are you expecting to see God answer, or deep down are you expecting that He probably won’t?

cont’d on back page

If it does not function fully, you will not function fully. How do you take care of your heart? Good exercise, balanced

Do you realise that in spiritual terms your heart is also the most important part of you? We are told in God’s Word to trust in the Lord with all our heart. We are promised that if we seek Him with all our heart we will fi nd Him and we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. The Bible has a lot to say about the heart, and it teaches us what I like to call the ‘passion principle’ in Colossians 3:23 - whatever we do we are

winter newsletter 2012.indd 1 20/11/2012 14:38

Page 2: CEF Winter Newsletter

Missionarynews

At CEF Ireland we are passionate and dedicated to reaching boys and girls with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This doesn’t stop in the Island of Ireland. God has called many from Ireland to reach boys and

girls all over the world. We thank God for His calling on the lives of these missionaries. This month we are sharing a little bit about some of these missionaries who are spread around the world, involved in many different ministries to children. Be inspired, encouraged and challenged by their stories and continue to pray for our missionary family.

We rejoice in open doors for the Gospel in Zimbabwe. We met a school principal a number of years ago in a school, he welcomed us with open arms and we became a huge part of the school programme and changed the whole ethos of the school. The head moved school a few years ago and again invited us to be part of the new school which we became fully integrated into, now he has moved again and...you’ve guessed it, we have been asked to go to the new school. All together we will have reached over 2500 children as a result of this man! Praise the Lord!

Last week I was up in Kautokeino, a small Lapp mountain village where I had a week of Children’s Mission. I and many others were praying that I would be allowed into the school to give out the invitations. I got permission to go round all the classes and over 120 children and up to 25 adults came each day. The children listened well and a number trusted the Lord. One day they cancelled handball training at the school because they reckoned that most of the children would be at the Children’s Mission in the church. Praise God for answered prayer. Many thanks for your prayers.

We are so thankful for the Lord’s blessing on our recent trip to the CEF of Nations meetings in Kilchzimmer – there was great discussion as to how the stronger countries can be an effective support, as internationally we seek to reach Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day. The highlight of the trip came at the end, as we were able to travel with a group of our international leaders to Ireland. They were able to visit the national offi ce and also Revival Movement – to say a personal thank you to them for the literature they continue to send around the world, to help us reach the children with the Gospel! This was a very encouraging trip and we are thankful!

Family

In 1992, not long after the fall of communism, Roy Harrison and Ulle Käärik taught the fi rst TCE Level 1 course in Lithuania. There were few believers in the country; the Old Testament was not yet in Lithuanian. One student began the fi rst Good News Club in the country and is now serving full-time with CEF. Another became a key translator of CEF materials and an Instructor of Teachers. Another became a key Christian leader in the country. As a result of that one training course, many children have come to Christ and become key members of local churches; 70 Good News Clubs are now being held weekly in Lithuania; CEF is a fully indigenous work, much appreciated by churches. It is worthwhile training others!

Harry & Wendy Robinson - Vice-President of International Ministries, HQ USA

Alan & Dorothy Graham - Zimbabwe

Ida Johnston - Lapland

Roy & Ruth Harrison - Area Directors for NW Europe

winter newsletter 2012.indd 2 20/11/2012 14:38

Page 3: CEF Winter Newsletter

news

Last Saturday (20th October) we had a training day in Madrid. One of the ladies who attended said: “Thank you so much for the training you are giving us. I was asked to teach in the Sunday School and have been doing that for a couple of years, but I had no idea what to do or how to do it. You have helped me realise that teaching the children was very important and that I should give them the Gospel clearly.”God bless

Since coming to the Isle of Man in 1998 the main focus of our ministry has been on the Primary Schools - Assemblies, Good News Clubs and RE Classes. There are 34 primary schools with over 6,500 children and it has been our prayer that we would be able to get into each of these schools. In October for the fi rst time we were able to get into St Mary’s school to take an assembly so we give praise to God for this answer to prayer. Please pray that we will be able to get in on a regular basis. We are in 31 of the schools on a regular basis, so please pray that St John’s and Scoill yn Jubilee will also open up to us. Thank you for your support.

It was a challenge. How would it ever be done? It became the subject of much earnest prayer. God did it. He answered prayer. Summer was ending, autumn was around the corner and still the shelves at the Specialized Book Ministry were full of titles. The objective was to have those thousands of books packed, and on the high seas, heading for CEF International Headquarters, Warrenton, USA by early October. This was part of the integration arrangement. God raised up a band of hardworking volunteers, under the leadership of Ed Bell our Dispatch Manager. The shelves are now empty and by the time you read this paragraph the containers should have reached Warrenton. If you have been praying – thank you!

Timothy Kim’s church in South Wales faced a huge challenge – it had no children. He was familiar with CEF work in Korea, so he asked for help. We spent a Saturday training eager, yet fearful, church members how to conduct a Holiday Bible Club. They prayed and prepared and then held the club. Up to 17 children came, and 14 were in the church service the following Sunday. Sunday School was restarted in September, they plan another club next year and “we think we may have inspired others to do the same.” Timothy Kim sees that many churches in Wales are in a similar dilemma. It is his vision to get CEF involved in helping them to evangelise children. Please pray that this will become a reality.

Kenny & Mary Martin - Specialized Book Ministry

Chris & Jennifer Haaijer - National Directors, CEF of Britain

Geoffrey & Lily Weir - Isle of Man

Paul & Audrey Reid - Spain

“Thank you so much for the training you are giving us. I was asked to teach in the Sunday School and have been doing that for a couple of years, but I had no idea what to do or how to do it. You have helped me realise that teaching the children was very important and that I should give them

It was a challenge. How would it ever be done? It became the subject of much earnest prayer. God did it. He answered prayer. Summer was ending, autumn was around the corner and still the shelves at the Specialized Book Ministry were full of titles. The objective was to have those thousands of books packed, and on the high seas, heading for CEF International Headquarters, Warrenton, USA by early October. This was part

containers should have reached Warrenton. If you have been praying – thank you!

Kenny & Mary Martin - Specialized Book Ministry

winter newsletter 2012.indd 3 20/11/2012 14:39

Page 4: CEF Winter Newsletter

Diary Dates

Family News

www.cefireland.com

24 December to 2 JanuaryNational Offi ce Christmas Closing

29 March to 1 April 2013CEF Easter Conference

Perhaps you are retired, free at times through the month and would like to give some time to serve

the Lord in a practical way. We would love to be able to have someone come and do odd jobs around the CEF National Offi ce to help maintain and keep the building in good repair. If you would be interested in giving a little time in this way please contact Mark at National Offi ce.

Offi ceNationalcont’d from front page

We extend our congratulations to Claire (Lamberton) and

Eugen Peters on their marriage in September. Please

remember them in your prayers as they begin their married

life and settle in to the ministry in Donegal.

The following new appointments were made recently:

Steven Condy – Team Leader for the Multimedia

Department, Stephen & Pamela Garrett – Belfast Team

Leaders and Angie McKee – leading the Education

Department. We pray for God’s richest blessing upon their

ministry. Please especially pray for Steven and Stephen

& Pam as they commence deputation to raise prayer and

fi nancial support.

A special evening was held during the All Ireland Staff

Conference to mark the retirement after many years’

service of Jennifer Evans and Joe & Mabel Kennedy. We

enjoyed a lovely meal together and a great evening of fun

and memories. We wish Joe, Mabel and Jennifer many

more years to enjoy a slower pace of life!

OceanviewPerhaps you have a church retreat

coming up, a youth weekend, school SU trip or are looking to take the prayer group on a weekend. Oceanview would be the ideal place. We have availability coming up for weekends from February to May. We would love to see you at our modern and welcoming centre. For pic-tures and more details please visit www.cefi reland.com.

God wants you to have an expectant spirit. Think about an expectant mother. Even though she cannot see the baby, she believes that inside it is growing and at the right time she expects to give birth to a new baby.We should have the same expectant spirit in prayer. When we pray, we know that God is working and that His answer is growing and developing because we are praying about it. Very often we don’t see the answer immediately but at the right time we should expect to see it!

How do you grow a passionate heart? Expect to see God work!

Joshua 23:14“All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.”

Psalm 103:1Step 3: Praise God with all you have got!

Who is David talking to in this verse? Himself!! His own soul, or his inmost being! You can almost imagine what he means here...“Hey body listen up, I want your attention here. Every section of my body, we are going to work together to praise God’s name.”How can you praise God with all you’ve got? Be thankful for what God has done in your life, be content with what God has given you and choose to worship Him all the time. If we are living thankful and contented lives and worshipping God all the time, then the complaining, criticising and grumbling disappears.

God wants to grow a passionate heart in you and me, let’s allow Him to do His work.

Joe & Mabel Kennedy Jennifer Evans

Philip AnnettNational Director CEF Ireland

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