It is sad for me to say goodbye to friends like Alan Wimbish! In his short time here in New Mexico he and his family had a great impact on many for our Lord Jesus Christ. I asked Alan to post his goodbye here at FGGAM.
Farewell by Alan Wimbish, former Director of CEF in New Mexico
“A man’s most important ministry is his family.” – Unknown. I don’t know who said this first, but the truth behind it remains. As men, leaders of our homes, if we fail at raising our children and loving our wives, then we have failed at ministry. I have had to make the hard decision of leaving full time ministry with Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Mexico. Of my four children, three have special needs. Ten specialist are needed between the three children. Only one of those specialist is in New Mexico. The healthcare system in New Mexico is woefully lacking. I am thankful for the doctors that we have seen, but, my children’s medical needs cannot be met here. We have moved back east in order to get the kids the medical treatment that they need. The New Years holiday was spent traveling east and arriving in North Carolina on New Year’s Eve. My wife and children are so resilient and I am so thankful for them.
Even though I am gone from CEF of New Mexico, CEF of New Mexico is still thriving and reaching boys and girls with the Gospel. God has brought together a strong State Board and a full-time worker that is picking up where I left off. The ministry is greater than one man. The Bible makes it very clear that God desires for children to come to know Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Matthew 18). As a matter of fact, the Bible says, “Even so, it is not the will of the Father that one of these little ones should perish.” If it is God’s will that children be saved, then God will accomplish His will and He chooses to do it through His people. While in New Mexico, I met a lot of great Christians who saw the vision of reaching boys and girls with the Gospel, rolled their sleeves up, and got to work evangelizing children. I also met some who scoffed at the idea of children being saved and considered the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship outdated and ineffective. Working with other Christians in ministry requires patience and lots and lots of love. To those who caught the vision of child evangelism and actually put feet to their faith, I say, “Thank you”. To those that scoff at child evangelism, well, if the oldest and largest world-wide children’s ministry that reached 20 million children with the Gospel last year, isn’t enough to sway your mind that God is in this ministry, I don’t know what will. How many children did your church reach last year with the Gospel? Remember, 85% of people who get saved do so between the ages of 4-14. Why is the church declining? I think that there are three reasons, Christians who do not love each other, Christians who fail to recognize the power and holiness of God, and failure to evangelize children on a large scale. When the church fails to evangelize children with the Gospel, truly telling them about God, their sin, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, then the church signs its own death warrant. It is saying, “We want to spend the bulk of our money and resources reaching the 15% of the population that MAY get saved; adults. We’re not interested in reaching the 85% of the population that will most likely get saved; children” But, there are many, many churches that are catching the vision of reaching the children in their community in New Mexico. Many churches are realizing that our enemy, Satan, is doing his best to reach the children with his lies and filth. Our enemy recognizes the value of children. Why doesn’t the church? I don’t know. Many churches are waking up to this realization and taking action. If you are in New Mexico and you want to do something to help reach boys and girls with the Gospel, contact Matthew Buddrius at the CEF State Office 505-881-9848 or contact via email cefofnewmexico@gmail.com. If you live outside of New Mexico, you’re in luck! Child Evangelism Fellowship has chapters in EVERY state and in 200 countries. There is something that you can do in CEF. You don’t have to be a children’s worker/teacher to be involved. You can serve, give money, volunteer, pray. If you can’t do any of those things, you can still pick up a phone or email the local CEF staff and encourage them. Please let them know that you are praying for them and the children in your community. The biggest thing that missionaries struggle with is discouragement. Please contact your local CEF missionary by phone, card, letter, or go by the CEF office and just encourage him/her…..they need it more than anything.
God bless,
Alan Wimbish
God Bless you and yours Alan! We love you all, we will be praying for all of you!
