North Valley News

Ministry Newsletter of Joel Cripe,

Child Evangelism Fellowship

September 2022

Less Than Half

Last month I ran into this news headline: “Study reveals rapid decline of Christianity in America.” Intrigued I read on, and the article asserted that in the 1990s approximately 90% of Americans identified as Christians. In the 2000s it had dropped to 64%. If this drop continues at the same pace, Christianity will be a minority by the year 2045. Keep in mind that these are only the people who “identify” as Christians, not those who are truly born again, so the number of true believers in the year 2045 will be a minority of the minority.

2045 is a little less than 23 years from now. 23 years ago our 30-year-olds were only 7 years old, and today’s college graduates were not even born yet. In the year 2045, today’s 7-year-olds will be 30, and those not yet born will be the college graduates. The 9-year-old in the picture above will be 32. Time goes so fast! What is the solution for a problem so big?

The solution lies in reaching today’s children for Christ so that tomorrow they can pass it on their children. Psalm 78:5-6 says that God “command our fathers that they should teach…their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they might put their confidence in God…”

This generational passing on of faith in God has been broken in America but all hope has not been lost. We need to step into the role of the Psalm 78 “fathers” and share Christ with the children of today. Then they will arise and teach their children who will teach their children.

We might be tempted to look at today’s newborns and think that there is plenty of time to reach them for Christ. But the only time given to us is now. Only revival among the next generation will reverse the trend, and only Jesus can bring revival.

The boy in this picture (taken in 2017) is now a freshman in high school.

Praise & Prayer

- Praise God for the 472 children reached during the last ministry year (September-August). 117 Professions of faith were made for Christ!

- Praise God for the Good News Clubs^® that have started already this year. We are on track to have 20 clubs going before Thanksgiving!

- Pray for the three new clubs that will be starting soon. Denair Elementary (October 5), Le Grand Elementary (October), Valley Springs Elementary (October 18).

- Pray for a Good News Club to start up at Flora Arca Mata Elementary in Stockton.

- Pray for parents to sign their children up. More and more schools are going to the use of electronic sign up forms. Many parents ignore these, so pray that they will see it and respond and sign their children up.

- Praise God for our new committee member, Gloria Paredes of Modesto. Pray now for two more members to join our group before the end of the year.

- Pray for a full room at our fundraising banquet on the 15^th, and for God to supply needed funds.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT!

Year-End Stats

The 2021-22 (September-August) ministry year was a bounce back year! After two slow Covid years, here is what God did.

- Good News Clubs - 13 clubs, 277 enrolled, 99 professions of faith

- 5-Day Clubs - 7 clubs, 152 enrolled, 12 professions of faith

- Party Clubs - 2 clubs, 20 enrolled, 6 professions

- Outreaches - 3 outreaches, 23 reached, 0 professions

- Total Children Reached (472)

- Total Professions of Faith (117)

Praise the Lord!

GIFT OF STOCK

About half of all Americans invest in the stock market, but only a small fraction ever consider making gifts of appreciated stock to their favorite ministries.

When giving appreciated assets, such as public stock, you not only receive a tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock, but you also avoid capital gains tax.

This can be much better plan of stewardship than giving cash.

Maximize your giving through the CEF partnership with the Barnabas Foundation for stock gifts. No commission is taken from the gift to reach more children with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For more information on how to best give a gift of stock to CEF, click HERE. Simply fill out your contact information, choose "donation information" from the drop down menu, and type "gift of stock" in the "Other" box. We will get back to you promptly with the next steps to take.

You can also email Joel Cripe at joel.cripe@cefnorcal.org, or call our office

(209) 250-2561.