Author: CEF of Montana, INC.

This weekend, September 6-8, the Big Sky Celebration with Will Graham is a huge event in Helena, Montana. There’s going to be speakers and concerts, and a lot of family-friendly fun.

CEF of Montana will be there too! Saturday, September 7, is the weekend’s KidzFest. There will be all kinds of activities just for the kids to have fun. CEF of Montana will be there painting faces, just like we did at the fair.

Come to the Lewis and Clark county fairgrounds and enjoy the fun activities and get your face painted by one of our CYIAers!

If you want to know more you can visit the official site here.

Getting to be a part of a ministry is always an incredible experience, especially if that ministry is focused on sharing the gospel and telling people about Jesus.

The ministry of CEF of Montana does just that and it has been an awesome experience to be a part of.

The summer started off with a lot of planning and preparation. It was enjoyable watching the leaders come together and come up with ideas or have sudden bursts of inspiration. Even the tedious work of putting materials together for training had an element of excitement to it.

Intern training was filled with a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. The interns came and learned together, but they also enjoyed each other’s company. They encouraged one another and even pushed each other to grow in their relationship with God.

 

CYIA came quickly afterward and was a fun, crazy, tiring, and encouraging two weeks. Each of the teens had a passion to share the gospel and pushed through the hard work in their own way. They all had their own personal struggles to overcome, but each one left the training a slightly different person than when they came.

The rest of the summer passed quickly as the staff, teens, and interns did clubs each week. Everyone worked hard at teaching the kids each day, bringing the importance of believing in Jesus with each story, lesson, verse, and song. It was tiring, hot, hard work, and took a lot of energy and trust in God. But they all pushed through, knowing the importance of the work they did.

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There were 46 clubs put on this summer and 4 VBSs.

880 kids came to those clubs or VBSs. 1140 people came to the rallies at the end of each week.

Kids all over Montana heard the good news about Jesus. Several asked Jesus to be their savior.

God did some amazing work through the teens and interns this summer!

As soon as the last cubs were over many of the teens came to the Billings Fair where they worked all week, painting faces and sharing the gospel with hundreds of kids each day.

3,468 faces were painted at the fair. Each of those kids was given a chance to hear the gospel. If the parents or grandparents came in with the kids, they also heard the gospel.

It was a long and exhausting week, but it was worth the effort.

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Jesus told us to go into all the world and share the gospel. This command isn’t just limited to a few people. It is for everyone who follows Jesus. CEF of Montana’s goal is to share the gospel and to equip others to do so as well.

Hundreds of kids have come into CEF’s caboose at the Billings Fair. Hundreds of kids have had their faces painted. Hundreds of kids have heard the gospel.

The CYIAers have been working hard, but have enjoyed getting to work with the kids.

Whether they are painting faces, opening doors, or calling the kids in the teens have all played an important role in the work God has been doing here at the fair.

We’ve had thunderstorms, hail, tornado warnings, sunshine, heat, cool nights, and lots of fun.

We sang songs together in the caboose during the thunderstorms, and we’ve sung songs out front to draw the kids in.

Everyone has been safe though and we’ve all enjoyed the adventure together.

The week isn’t over, and we’ll paint a lot more faces before the week is out.

Please pray that everyone stays healthy and continues to rely on God for each kid that they talk to.

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The week of August 5-9 was definitely packed for the CEF team.

Josiah led a team that went to Helena. Dave and his team went to Billings. Jennifer took a team to Deer Lodge. Chris led a team in Butte. Ayla led a team in Gardiner.

And to top it all off on Friday, August 9th the Billings Fair began. Some of us went straight from our rallies from the clubs to the fair and immediately started painting faces.

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We’ve had a couple of big storms come through at the fair, but that hasn’t stopped the kids from coming! Reinforcements cam on Sunday afternoon and now we have a full team ready to share the gospel with hundreds of children this week.

 

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This week Chris took a team to Montana City, Dave took a team to Drummond, Jennifer and Sheylah were in Anaconda and Doug, Josiah, and Ayla has a team in Billings!

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The week of July 22-26 has been a big week!

One large team went with Dave and Josiah to do a VBS in Malta. There were 120 kids that registered for that VBS! That team also did a 5 Day Club that week in Dodson as well.

A second team went to Bozeman with Chris to do clubs

A third team was in Helena led by Ayla and Jennifer.

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Not only are kids all over Montana hearing the gospel, but the adults who come to the rallies are hearing as well. We may not see the end result all the time, but we are planting the seeds.

We have seen kids receive Jesus as this summer though. It brings a kind of excitement nothing else can produce.

Please continue to pray for the clubs. There are two more weeks of clubs for the CYIAers as well as the Billings Fair. The same amount of work and energy is still needed even though everyone is getting tired. Pray that the teens and leaders will rely on God’s power to give the same quality of 5 Day Club that they gave at the beginning of the summer.

 

 

CEF of Montana has passed the halfway point of the summer and nothing has slowed down at all!

I had the privilege of joining the team doing a VBS in Cardwell last week and had so much fun with the kids. I enjoyed getting to see Megan, Keeley, and Angela grow in their teaching throughout the week. They even let me teach a couple of verses and songs!

Dave took a team over to Plentywood last week as well and Chris, Jennifer, and Josiah led several clubs over in Manhattan. However, due to the business of the weekend, I wasn’t able to find out how those clubs went. Though it looks like there were over 30 kids that came to clubs in Plenty wood and over 90 kids at the clubs in Manhattan!

The next week of clubs started almost immediately as Dave left Sunday morning with a large group going to Malta for the week. We also have clubs in Helena and Bozman going on this week.

The work won’t stop until the summer is over as the CYIAers continue to share the gospel with kids all over Montana. Please continue to pray for them as they trust God for each day and moment of each club.

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