Contact: Melody Bentley, 571-274-6058

WARRENTON, Mo., July 16, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- Child Evangelism Fellowship, the largest Christian ministry to children in the world, has begun a mass distribution of one million books to children in the Philippines as part of its larger campaign to reach two million Filipino children with the gospel this school year. This goal exceeds last year's success when an impressive 1.6 million children heard the gospel.

Photo: Filipino children holding "Meet the King" translated into Tagalog

Success in reaching this group of twelve-year-olds and under is the result of the evangelistic and discipleship ministries which the book distribution buttresses. The evangelistic ministry includes open air evangelism in communities, as well as the Elementary School Evangelistic Campaign which has been warmly welcomed into 190 of the Filipino public schools. The discipleship ministry takes the form of an Elementary School Values Class and a Character Education Class, which are Bible classes meeting in the schools; and Good News Clubs, Bible clubs that meet in communities.

The books which are translated into the local languages of the Philippines have been enthusiastically received by CEF volunteers and children alike. Said CEF volunteer Lilian Ramos, "The books have truly been a big help for me in teaching children...They [the children] really appreciated the book they received." Evangelistic Team Leader Oro Hael commented, "Seeing the smile on their faces after they pray to receive Jesus and get a copy of these books always touches my heart. A Grade II pupil from one of the schools we went to, ran to me happily exclaiming, 'Thank you, Sir, now I have a book of Jesus!'"

CEF is distributing Meet the King to pupils in grades I-III and the Gospel of John to students in grades IV-VII as part of its evangelistic ministry. Every Day with God is a devotional given to students participating in the discipleship ministry, who number around 350,000. These engaging books were written by CEF and have been distributed all over the world.

"We are grateful for the outreach we have had in the Philippines so far and someday hope to teach in all 92,000 public schools and share the gospel with all of the 34 million Filipino children," said Mr. Harry Robinson, vice president of International Ministries for Child Evangelism Fellowship.

For more information on CEF or to obtain CEF literature, visit cefonline.com.