Our Programs
CEF Chicago offers programs for children, teens, and adults who want to make a difference. Every dollar donated goes directly toward training volunteers, providing free materials, and bringing these programs into neighborhoods that need them most.
Weekly, September through May
Good News Club
Good News Club is a weekly after-school Bible club for boys and girls ages 5 through 12. Each week during the school year, trained volunteers gather children in public schools, community centers, churches, and homes for an exciting 60 to 90 minute session.
Every session follows a format that keeps kids engaged from start to finish: energetic songs with motions, a Bible lesson taught with colorful visuals and age-appropriate storytelling, a memory verse learned through creative games, a missionary story that opens their eyes to God's work around the world, and review games that leave them eager to come back.
Why it matters
Good News Club is not a one-time event. It is a weekly presence in a child's life, building trust and real relationships between caring adults and the kids in their neighborhood. Many of these children have never heard the Gospel before.
Where your gift goes
Donations fund teaching materials, visual aids, Bible curriculum from CEF Press, volunteer training, and the coordination needed to run clubs in schools and community centers across Chicagoland. Children attend for free.
How you can help
Volunteer as a teacher, host a club at your church or community center, pray for the children and volunteers, or give a gift to keep clubs running. Every role matters.
Summer, five consecutive days
5-Day Club
For five consecutive days during the summer, children ages 5 through 12 gather for a fast-paced, 90-minute program that brings the Bible to life right where kids live and play. Clubs happen in backyards, parks, community centers, and churches.
Each day includes songs, a Bible verse learned through interactive games, a Bible story told with vivid teaching materials, a missionary story, and snacks and prizes that keep the energy high all week long.
A family can host a club right in their own backyard, and a trained team of summer missionaries will come with everything needed. There is no cost for children to attend and nothing the host family needs to provide except the space and an invitation to the neighbors.
Why it matters
5-Day Club goes where the kids are, especially into neighborhoods that might not have easy access to a church or after-school program. For many children, this is their very first time hearing the Gospel, and it happens in a setting that feels safe and familiar.
Where your gift goes
Your donation covers teaching materials, game equipment, verse tokens, prizes, snacks, and the training and transportation of summer missionaries who lead these clubs across Chicagoland.
How you can help
Host a club in your backyard or church. Spread the word to families in your neighborhood. Give a gift to send a team into a community that needs it. Contact us starting in April to book your week.
Summer training for teens 13+
Christian Youth In Action
CYIA is an 11-day residential training program that takes teenagers ages 13 and up and equips them to become summer missionaries. Over 100 hours of instruction, teens learn to present the Gospel on a child's level, prepare and teach Bible lessons, counsel children, lead songs and games, and tell missionary stories.
After training, participants fan out across Chicago in teams, leading 5-Day Clubs in backyards, parks, and community centers all summer long. For many teens, this is their first real experience of hands-on ministry, and it changes them.
The cost is $400, which covers housing, meals, materials, and all activities during the residential program.
Why it matters
CYIA does two things at once: it trains the next generation of Christian leaders and it multiplies the number of children reached each summer. One trained teen can lead clubs that reach dozens of kids in a single week.
Where your gift goes
Donations help cover the training facility, instructor costs, curriculum materials, and scholarships for teens who cannot afford the full registration fee. Many families rely on financial support to send their teens.
How you can help
Register your teen, sponsor a teen who needs financial help, pray for the program, or spread the word to families and youth groups in your church or community.
Training for volunteers and church workers
Teaching Children Effectively
TCE is CEF's training course for anyone who wants to get better at reaching children with God's Word. Sunday school teachers, parents, youth leaders, church workers: this course was built for you.
Level 1 focuses on evangelism: how to prepare and present a Bible lesson, lead a child to Christ, counseling, Scripture memorization, classroom management, and starting a neighborhood outreach.
Level 2 shifts to discipleship: practical methods for guiding a saved child in spiritual growth. Both levels run about 30 hours of instruction each.
Available through local CEF chapters at over 280 locations nationwide, and online through CEF's Children's Ministries Institute.
One-time or seasonal events
Party Clubs
A Party Club is a one-time (or several-times-a-year) event where children hear the Gospel, grow closer to God, and play games while learning Bible verses and other Biblical lessons. Party Clubs take place in churches, neighborhoods, or public schools — and they're free for children to attend.
Each club focuses on a theme, often tied to a holiday or season: Christmas, Valentine's Day, Black History Month, and more. Lessons may be a Bible story — like our Christmas lesson “Joy to the World” — or weave the Gospel into the story of a notable Christian, like George Washington Carver in our Black History Month lesson “Discovering With God.”
If you'd like to host a Party Club, contact us and we'll help facilitate. In some cases we can provide teachers.
Summer Camping Opportunities
Camp Beechpoint
CEF Chicago works closely with a partnering camp in Allegan, Michigan and seeks to help children from Chicago have a Christ-centered camping experience. Camp Beechpoint has been transforming lives through Christ-centered camping since 1959.
Camp Beechpoint serves youth from hard places through outdoor adventure, biblical teaching, and relationships that point to the hope found in Christ.
Every Child Deserves to Hear
Your generosity funds the volunteers, materials, and training that bring these programs into schools, backyards, and neighborhoods across Chicago. Every gift reaches a child.