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CEF Centre, Kilchzimmer • 4438 Langenbruck, Switzerland • Tel: +41 62 387 30 10 • www.kilchzimmer.com

echoN e w s f r o m t h e E u r o p e a n H e a d q u a r t e r s o f C h i l d E v a n g e l i s m Fe l l o w s h i p ® S p r i n g 2 0 1 2

Kilchzimmer

a word fromFelix Dürrenbergerkilchzimmer house Leader

It all began 75 years ago this year. Our founder, J.I. Overholtzer, read this statement by Charles Spurgeon: “A child of five, if properly instructed, can as readily believe and be regenerated as anyone.” Mr. O. believed that too and became burdened for the souls of boys and girls. He would pray over the globe for children in each country of the world. He was aware of his own limitations, so he prayed that God would raise up an army of child evangelists that would encircle the globe.

Today an active and ongoing ministry has been established in 180 countries. God has given tremendous growth to the work in Europe too, but at times it seems like a drop in the ocean when we think of the 157 million children, most of whom have yet to hear. Even with almost 600 full-time workers, we know that we don’t have enough to do this alone. So we are praying and asking “... the Lord of the harvest to

send out labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).

As an answer to prayer God is not only raising up full-time workers but also people like you – men and women with a love for boys and girls and a deep desire to be involved in bringing the Gospel to them.

But we continue to ask the question, “How can we reach even more children?” The answer is through training!

training75 years since the birth of CEF,

we continue to be convinced of the importance to “properly instruct” children from the Bible. We take this seriously and that is why in each country we offer teacher-training programmes for volunteers and full-time workers. Each year more than 30,000 people in Europe attend one of our training events. Some attend an evening training class for Good News Club® teachers,

Dear friends,

The verse from Genesis 50:20

“you meant evil against me;

but god meant it for good …”

encouraged me once more to

look at God’s leading. Sometimes

we only see the negative side

of a certain event or personal

experience, because we only see

what lies immediately before us.

But we also often remember the

negative in hindsight, instead of

seeing what God has done and

given us. Due to this, our view is

often clouded and our thoughts go

round in circles.

Let’s take Joseph as an

example. How did he react when

he had to suffer injustices, was

sold by his brothers, seduced by

a woman, wrongly put in prison

for many years. Did Joseph whine

and complain? On the contrary, he

brought everything before God

and could therefore look forward.

Would it not also do us good to

behave like Joseph? We would be a

better light for those around us.

God bless you.

Yours,

we can’t do it alone!

J.i. overholtzer

LegaciesPlease consider CEF as you write your will and leave a lasting gift that will work on for eternity in the hearts of precious children who respond to God’s loving message.

Take the 12-week Children’s Ministry Leadership Course in beautiful Switzerland this summer or autumn.

30 June–21 sept. 2012 (English and Italian)

29 sept.–21 Dec. 2012 (English and German)

Find out more:

www.cefeurope.comApply today for early bird reduction

evangeliseget equipped to

children!

or a church training day, or a 30-hour Teaching Children Effectively™ (TCE™) course taught over several weekends. Others want to learn about working with the older children and attend a Junior Youth Challenge (JYC) course.

The centrepiece of our training however is our 3-month Children’s Ministry Leadership Course (CMLC). This summer we are offering places in Kilchzimmer for English and Italian speakers, with German and English in the autumn. Extension CMLCs will be held in Lithuania (with interpretation into other Baltic languages), in Romania (with Polish interpretation) and in Georgia.

How do teachers benefit from CEF courses? “I had a passion to reach children but I had no idea how to do it. This course has giving me what I needed

… I’m just buzzing … I can’t wait to get back to the mission-field” (Penny, missionary to Ghana). – “In Sunday school I always struggled with teaching the memory verse. I just repeated it a few times. But now I know how to really

‘teach’ it! This is one of the first things I am going to change when I go back”(Daniel, Germany). – “This course has equipped us and given us the confidence we need to reach the lost children of our country”

(Metush and Nora, CEF Kosovo). Training is just the first part of

the effective and simple CEF strategy that God has blessed over many years:

Training – Equipping – Supporting!

equippingAs soon as they have been trained we

equip them with good quality teaching materials in their own language.

supportingMany of those who have been

trained and equipped desire to begin full-time ministry. But the lack of support is often an obstacle. Therefore we support many national workers in Europe through our newly launched SPAN (sponsor a national) programme.

Mr. O. had a burden and a vision but he was also realistic. That is why he prayed for an army of child evangelists that would encircle the globe. Today, trained, equipped and supported workers not only reach children but also train other workers – who then train yet more workers – who then reach even more children than you or I could reach in a lifetime.

Gary Cousins, Education Coordinator for Western Europe

Continued ❭❭

W A n t e D : v o L u N t e e r s !

We are constantly on the lookout for volunteers to help in practical ways in the house, kitchen and grounds. The work involved ranges from cleaning rooms and helping prepare meals to mowing lawns and

driving guests to/from the station or airport. If you feel you would like to invest time for God in this way, or know someone else who would, then contact us at kilchzimmer@cefeurope.org. EU25/EFTA nationals are welcome to work in Switzerland.

e u r o N e w s

moldovaLast summer two of our full-time

workers were getting ready to leave for camp. They had about 60 children and leaders on board the bus when they were stopped by the mayor of their town, warning them that if they left the police would be waiting for them at the campsite. They prayed with the children and decided to go on. As they arrived at the camp sure enough the police were waiting. A little worried, Serghi and Masa went to talk with the policeman in charge. He told them, “You cannot bring these children here and teach them from the Bible. It is not allowed.” After some discussion they went to talk with the chief police officer. When he and Masa met they immediately recognised each other. He had been a child in one of the first Good News Clubs she had opened years before. He not only gave permission for the camp to go ahead as planned, but also guaranteed his protection for the whole time they were there. God’s ways and plans are perfect!

Linda Corry

irelandIt is exciting to see children reached

and impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Ireland we understand that CEF workers can’t reach them all!

It is vital that local evangelical churches reach out to their communi-ties and passionately communicate the Gospel with children and families.

The Church to Children project will give us an amazing opportunity to partner with these churches and help to train, equip and inspire them to get out and share the Gospel with children.

We have developed a children’s book called The Fixer’s Detective Agency, fun characters, a fun story but also with a clear Gospel message. These books will be distributed into homes by the nearest local church, giving the church an oppor-tunity to build stronger relationships in their own communities.

It is our hope and prayer that this project will both inspire and challenge

churches to get more involved in evange-lising children and that many children’s lives will be transformed by the Gospel and a desire to attend their local church might develop. Will you pray with us?

Philip Annett

eastern europeHanna (name has been changed)

is very shy and she lives in a difficult country. Most children she is only able to see very seldom. Others are a day’s journey away by public transport. She would only be able to talk with them briefly and with the fear in the back of her mind, that she might be “caught”.

But she loves these children. She constantly wondered what to do to bring Christ closer to them. Then a thought came to her: “I’ll build a new house with a few pieces of playground equipment as well as a water basin in the garden. Then the children would love to come, and I can explain to them about God.”

She has no money. She formed bricks from the earth in her own garden – there, where the water basin should stand later. She also wants us to deduct 100 dollars from her salary per month, even though she gets only 140! How will she manage to live on the remaining money? “It will be OK,” says Hanna, “the Lord will take care of it!”

Jakob Wiebe

switzerlandEven though attendance had been

poor the last three years, we planned another Christmas club this past year in our village of Holderbank. We thought all the details had been worked out until 15 minutes before the club was supposed to start, when the teacher realised he had the wrong date written down. With no way to get there in time, Jürgen Platzen, who was teaching at Kilchzimmer that week, and three CMLC students quickly came together and raced down to Holderbank, praying and planning the whole way down. It just happened that Jürgen had been practising for his Christmas club that morning and had all the material on hand. They arrived 10 minutes late to find 14 children patiently waiting! During the next 45 minutes the children sang and learned John 8:12 and the Gospel was shared through the story of the candy cane. And what a Gospel! We celebrate the birth of God the Son who came to die for our sins. We couldn’t have planned the club better.

Brent and Jennifer Hautle

switzerland

k i l c h z i m m e r N e w s

The Kilchzimmer Echo is distributed three times a year free-of-charge by the European Headquarters of Child Evangelism Fellowship®.

Please designate your gifts “European Headquarters”, quoting any specific project for which you wish your gifts to be used. Your gifts may be sent to any of the addresses mentioned. Thank you!

Bank transfer information: UBS AG, 8098 Zurich, Switzerland Account: KEB ZentrumIBAN: CH97 0024 5245 9257 2141 CBIC Nr. UBSWCHZH80Aor Post Office Account: 46-4843-2

Our Address: CEF European Centre, Kilchzimmer, 4438 Langenbruck, Switzerland Tel.: + 41 62 387 30 10 Fax: + 41 62 387 30 40Email: kilchzimmer@cefeurope.orgWeb-site: www.cefeurope.com

USA: CEF, PO Box 348, Warrenton, Missouri 63383

Canada: CEF, PO Box 165, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 2G9

Ireland: CEF, 199 Templemore Avenue, Belfast BT5 4FR

Britain: CEF, 73 West Coats Road, Cambuslang, Glasgow G72 8AW

The Kilchzimmer Echo is available by e-mail as a PDF. To receive it electronically, send an e-mail to echo@cefeurope.org, along with your full name and address in the message text. Your information will remain confidential.

Editorial/layout: Gerd-Walter Buskies, Felix and Diane Dürrenberger, Brent Hautle

ruth lockhart has been a full-time worker in Kilchzimmer since summer 2011. For many she is not an unknown face. After she completed the CMLC in 2008, God led her to help here in Kilchzimmer for a year. From that first year we are now in the fourth, during which time she has served with the dedication and zeal of God. With

endurance, Ruth has overcome many hurdles along the way: deputation in Ireland, building prayer and financial support, taking care of reception and at the moment she is attending a three-month language course in Germany. At the end of 2011, she applied to be the housekeeper and will take over the full responsibility for this after her return. We wish her God’s blessings for her work and service with Philippians 4:6.

We are thankful for our volunteers, who have spent time working with us and we pray that they have been encouraged in their lives of faith during their time here.

Alexandra Wagner from Canada and Switzerland, was a great help with the housekeeping for three weeks and an encouragement for the whole team.

Fritz und Bärbel Dellenbach, an older couple from Germany helped us for a month. Bärbel untiringly polished every

corner of our kitchen, so that it now sparkles and shines. As well as this, she helped with the cooking. Fritz, as a carpenter, repaired doors and was useful in and around the house.

s i g N i f i c a N t c h A n g eWith modern technology, the work

of a graphic designer can be done from just about anywhere. Most of the meetings of the Multimedia Department already take place through conference calls or video chats. Files are transferred over the Internet. In light of the above Brent Hautle, our European CEF Graphic Designer, is moving the location of his ministry.

Following nine years of service in Europe, the Lord is leading Brent, Jen, Amy (seven years old) and Christopher

(four) back to their home country. Brent’s gifts were used in so many projects during his time in Europe. It has been a pleasure to work with him and see how he improved the layout of our materials, giving them a professional look. He also trained nearly 40 people around Europe who are now benefiting from being able to work easily with templates he prepared. Above all it was always so clear in whatever Brent did, that he believed in the words: children deserve the best! And the Lord has used him greatly! I want to say THANK YOU to Brent on behalf of the many co-workers and children who were blessed by his ministry.

We are glad Brent will continue to help us develop the European projects from USA, as most of his time will be spent on European projects. However, he no longer will focus solely on Europe, but will also help with the

CEF international literature ministry. The Hautles are leaving Europe in April. Please remember to pray for them during this time of transition.

God has blessed CEF with such a

gifted designer and we are so glad that it will be possible to continue to utilise his gifts, not only in Europe but in other parts of the world too.

Bogdan BassaraCEF International Literature Director

t h a N k s t o o u r v o l u n t e e r s

m a y w e i n t r o D u c e … ?