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When God's People Pray

We're not going to lie. The first session of the Lockland Good News Cllub was difficult, to say the least. There were many children and many of them came from homes characterized by neglect and lack of discipline. While we praised the Lord for sending these children to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, we were simultaneously challenged to address their needs and keep order in club.

Phyllis Null presents the gospel.

Singing songs with actions

So what happened? The Lockland club is sponsored by Faith Bible Church on Kemper Road and most of the volunteers are from the church. The club reached out to many prayer groups in the church and beyond and very intentional and passionate prayer went into the club as the third session was beginning with the expectation of a totally different club. Club leader, Cindi Kostanty, analyzed every detail of what they were doing and made changes and she plus a number of volunteers attended the February workshop on club management and discipline and picked up tips. One decision was to not include younger students which helped greatly. Another significant change was that parts of club were run with stations similar to Vacation Bible Schools where groups of children were small and manageable and moved around the room from Bible lesson to review game to small groups. Smaller groups of children allowed more time for personal interaction and less chance of discipline issues. The children needed the attention of caring, loving adults and Lockland volunteers were able to demonstrate the love of Christ in tangible ways through smaller groups.

Row 1: Miss Cindi introduces the Bible lesson and gets their attention; Tim and Cindi Kostanty lead songs.
Row 2: Miss Lola and her small group; Action-packed review game

Lockland's administration has wholeheartedly supported Good News Club in their school and commented how some of the most undisciplined children have found both joy and learning in an orderly setting. We know it can only the Lord blessing our work and the prayers of the saints.

Did You Know?
CEF's 2018 worldwide statistics are in: 25.5 million children reached and 98,618 Good News Clubs worldwide

Where the Lord Is at Work
You may be familiar with author Henry T. Blackaby's quote, "Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work." Our CEF chapter prays and plans for the future but we know it's the Lord's will for the chapter, not ours.
As we watch where He is working we are seeing doors open in urban areas. John P Parker Elementary School had a Good News Club for a number of years but has not had a club when its leader moved out of state. A group of committed believers are planning to start club again this school year. Taft Elementary School has never hosted a club but a student at God's Bible School and College in Clifton was involved with CEF as a youth and is planning to start a club this year with classmates and a teacher.

Left: John P Parker Elementary School in Madisonville; Right: William H Taft Elementary School in Clifton

Lincoln Heights is located north of downtown and next to Lockland. There are two volunteers who would like to start a club at Lincoln Heights and we are looking for others to join them. Please consider serving the children in this urban school and passing along the word to others. In fact, other urban schools would like to host Good News Clubs so we need volunteers.

Please petition our Lord for inner-city and urban Good News Clubs. Cincinnati Public Schools want us there but we need volunteers to give these children hope. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. " Luke 10:2.

Good News Club volunteers - please mark your calendars for the 2019 Fall Kickoff training on Saturday, September 14th. More information will follow.