The History of Child Evangelism Fellowship®

Child Evangelism Fellowship®, also known as CEF, was established in 1937 and is a Bible-centered organization that ministers in every state in the U.S. and is on the threshold of being in every nation of the world.   

CEF was founded by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer in 1937 (pictured on right). Growing up in a religious family, Jesse at the age of 12 was convicted by his own sin and sought counsel from his mother. He was told, “Son, you are too young.” It wasn’t until Mr. Overholtzer was in college that he heard the Gospel and trusted Christ as his Savior.

Later as a pastor, Mr. Overholtzer read one of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons which stated, “A child of five, if properly instructed can truly believe and be regenerated as an adult.” The Lord used this statement in Mr. Overholtzer’s life to lead him to begin the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship® when he was 60 years old. The ministry has grown into the largest evangelistic outreach to children in the world. CEF is a Bible-centered worldwide organization that is dedicated to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living.

Since the ministry began, CEF has reached well over 220 million children worldwide with the good news of the gospel. In 2022, we reached 19,575,136 children, with hundreds of thousands of these being children in the United States. 

Our goal is to have Good News Clubs® and JYC Clubs® in every elementary and middle school in every school district!  Schools are open and the mission field is ready for harvest. Yes, we truly have great mission fields right here in our own neighborhoods!  You can make a difference for eternity!

We would love to partner with you to bring the Good News of Jesus to kids to your neighborhood. The doors are wide open right now. Let’s reach those children that may never enter a church. We may be the only Jesus they ever see!