The shoes were piled into a jumbled heap inside the front door. Loud laughter and excited chatter filled the living room as the neighborhood children settled into their spots on the living room floor, waiting for their weekly Good News Club to begin. As the weeks flew by and the seasons changed, the children continued to come, piling their shoes by the door as they entered and leaving each night with their hearts more softened by the wonderful love of their Savior Jesus. The best moments on those nights included children raising their hands in enthusiasm to answer a question about God’s love for them or something they had learned from the lesson, and the quiet conversations held one on one with a child in the home’s bungalow hallway as the child received the free gift of eternal life. These moments happened many weeks in the neighborhood home where the children met for Good News Club. While their local school might have been closed to the Gospel, the hearts of the children were not closed to the Gospel message. As the club continued each week, many children in the neighborhood trusted Jesus as their Savior from sin. One young boy who attended the neighborhood club each week was asked about why he came back to his neighbor’s house each week for GNC. He replied,
“When I come to Good News Club it makes me want to be better.” The same Holy Spirit that indwells each adult believer also indwells each young believer. God the Holy Spirit was prompting this boy to live differently, and his Good News Club helped him live for Christ.
The Gospel made a difference in the lives of these children in their Chicagoland neighborhood. As Chicago CEF prayerful pursues the purchase of a ministry outreach building in a neighborhood of need, we look forward to more stories of hope like this one that comes from a neighborhood Good News Club. Our goal and desire is to reach children where they are at, whether in their local school, a park in the summer, or in a neighbor’s home or apartment building.
