Our family values are easily seen by outsiders. The choices and actions of parents declare what they hold most dear – God, family, truthfulness, kindness, faith, and integrity, for example. Children learn what they experience at home; friends and neighbors are watching, too.
In the same way, an organization is defined by the core values its members agree to uphold. Child Evangelism has articulated six culture points of primary importance to this ministry¹. Not least of these is this:
The Importance of a Commitment to Excellence, for the Glory of God
Every aspect of the work, no matter how big or small, has significance. This includes the training we conduct, the materials we produce, the facilities we use and the way we present ourselves.
In every area we must strive for excellence to the glory of God.
If you are like me, you may have thought at one time,
“How can I give glory to God, when He encompasses all glory by virtue of who He is?”
It helped me to learn that the Greek word for glory – doxa (dox’-ah) in the English transliteration – means “a proper estimate or opinion [of value].”²
Like the assayer who is consulted as to the purity of a precious metal, you and I are expressing an opinion of who God is and our estimate of His value is to those around us.
Child Evangelism Fellowship Intl has taken this commitment to excellence seriously.
- Training for Good News Club volunteers is a well-organized 8 hours of how-to’s on teaching a memory verse, weaving the Gospel into the Bible Lesson, counseling for salvation, and using high energy to keep the kids’ attention.
- Colorful and kid-friendly CEF curriculum gives volunteers everything they need to plan, prepare and execute Good News Clubs, 5 Day Clubs and Party Clubs. CEF literature is printed in North Ireland. In 2017 over 20 million individual pieces of literature were printed and distributed.³
- CEF Headquarters in Warrenton, MO is open to visitors and used extensively by U.S. Ministries for training, including their Children’s Ministries Institute.
Striving for excellence is not perfectionism. Like an Amish quilter who inserts a “mistake” into an otherwise glorious quilt, we know only God Himself is perfect.
CEF asks all staff and volunteers to strive for excellence because our actions, words, and love for others will be expressing an opinion of who God is. We want to represent His glory to the best of our ability.
The Lord is then faithful to take our offering and use all to draw children and adults to Himself! What an awesome, glorious God we serve!
Article by Martha Clouse, volunteer staff, CEF of VA Peninsula
¹The Culture of Child Evangelism Fellowship®, https://www.cefonline.com/about/culture/
² The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/doxa.html
³ 2017 Ministry Results, available upon request.
