Stories from CEF

Nine year old Lydia says her favorite part of Good News Club is the games. “We play games like dodgeball, catch marbles, and a lot of things that are like that.” After games, she says, “we go into our prayer spot and do memory verse things.” She says the most important part is “the Bible stories. We are learning about the family that Jesus was in.” Lydia knows many of the children from her neighborhood who are attending, and is excited to name them off! Over the past five years of attending, she has heard many Bible stories and had many opportunities to hear about God. We hope she is a familiar face for years to come!

Emily started helping out with Neighborhood House activities with her brother just this past year, and is now helping out with the Merrill Church Good News Club “We got introduced to it by our neighbor, who is Milton Higgins’ mom. It was a good option for me, so the Lord opened the doors for us to start helping here. I think it’s neat how they have so many kids coming, and how they reach out to the needy kids in Belfast specifically. I think it’s great we can try to reach so many kids, local kids, in a large group like this. It’s definitely always different every week, and there’s always something fun and challenging each week. It’s great getting to know the kids, too. Seeing the love from others that they’re getting, and getting a listening ear from leaders. I think that’s important, hearing about Jesus and His love, and that there’s hope for them.”

Valerie first came to Blueberry 6 years ago. “I worked with a teen ministry in the Oxford area. We came up for a winter retreat. About three years ago I contacted [Eliza] and asked if they needed any help.” Through that contact, she became a staple in the kitchen, and is a wonderful head cook. “ I’ve done it for the past… I think this will be my fourth summer.” She says what she loves most is “the staff that’s here. Working with the staff. And just… I don’t have the direct contact with the kids, but they have to fed to stay and hear about God. I know i’m in a way ministering to those kids. I really love the way they conduct the ministry here. The way they present the Gospel to the kids. It’s done in a really loving way.”

We get parents and staff who are just blown away that there's a camp on the side of a mountain!

We only have 4 weeks of camp but I think that promotes more of a family atmosphere. With a limited number of weeks, you see the same people summer after summer and that leads to lifelong friendship. But there are challenges too. We had a few years that were really sparse for volunteers. Only in that last few years have we seen steady growth. This can be a challenge in programming and we count it a blessing that the Lord continues to bring us the much needed help!