About CEF
Child Evangelism Fellowship® is a Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is 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.
Local Staff
Jennifer Simon, Local Director
[Contact Jennifer]Maria Meyers
Rhiete Marais
Sydney Andrews, Intern
Local Committee
- Jeff Noah (Chair)
- Philip Bailey (Vice Chair)
- Maggie Patterson (Secretary)
- Trudy Bothum (Treasurer)
- Mary Vinkemulder
The Portland Westside local committee is a fellowship of Christians who have the responsibility and privilege in providing vision and leadership to the ministry in areas of prayer, finance/development, personnel and ministry.
The local committee helps to ensure the ministry is spiritually strong before God and legally strong before men and work with the local director to establish the annual strategic plan that is rooted in the goal and purpose of the ministry.
The local committee is broken down into sub-committees that are specialized leadership teams of individuals utilizing their gifts and abilities to set goals and recommendations to the full committee on which they serve. The sub-committees are as follows:
- Prayer Sub-Committee
The prayer sub-committee focuses on overseeing the foundation of prayer in every aspect of the ministry. - Finance and Development Sub-Committee
The finance and development sub-committee focuses on overseeing the financial aspects of the ministry, such as, the overall budget, fundraising, organization and administration of funds, and oversight of financial and legal forms and processes. - Personnel Sub-Committee
The personnel subcommittee focuses on pursuing additional board/committee members and staff and overseeing the training and guidelines/laws by which they function. - Ministry Sub-Committee
The ministry subcommittee focuses on overseeing the growth, effectiveness, and coordination of the various CEF Ministries.
Interested in finding out how you can use your gifts and abilities to reach children with the Gospel? Click here for more information.
CEF Headquarters
The Child Evangelism Fellowship International Headquarters is located in Warrenton, Missouri. It is the hub of ministry to children around the world and includes the leadership offices of International Ministries and USA Ministries. The International headquarters is also the home of Children's Ministries Institute® and CEF Press®, where the CEF literature that is used all around the world is produced.
Our History
CEF has over 2,900 missionaries overseas, approximately 2,200 of whom are nationals. In the USA and Canada 700 full-time workers and an estimated 40,000 volunteers serve the ministry. CEF was founded by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer in 1937.
Growing up in a religious family, Jesse at the age of 12 was convicted of his own sin and sought counsel from his mother. He was told, "Son, you are too young." It wasn't until 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 as truly believe and be regenerated as an adult." The Lord used this statement in Mr. O'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 currently ministering in countries around the world and in every state in the U.S.