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that God would instruct them, or anyone today, to commit genocide". And yet the CEF's lesson plan on the
Amalekites tells children that God wanted Saul "to go and completely destroy the Amalekites – people, animals, every living thing". It also repeatedly tells children that the Amalekites deserved punishment for their "sinful unbelief". To be precise, the thrust of the CEF's lesson is to teach obedience – that if God tells you to kill unbelievers, or do anything else for that matter, you must do exactly as he says. "King Saul should have been willing to seek God for strength to obey completely," the lesson plan on the Amalekites reads, and in three separate places it instructs teachers, "Have children shout 'God will help you obey!'"
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Evangelism
Fellowship is the proper teaching of this passage, which is not an instruction in genocide. Though truly many brutal acts appear in both the Old and New Testaments, including the torture and crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans, nothing could be more un-Christian than the promotion of genocide of any group of human beings under the New Covenant introduced to the world by Jesus Christ. CEF and the Good News Clubs would never teach children that God would instruct them, or anyone today, to commit genocide.
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Though I welcome Mr
Kauffman's comments, I regret to note that he seems to be unfamiliar with his group's teaching materials. Nowhere in the lesson plan on the Amalekites does the CEF mention the "New Covenant" and its prohibition on genocide. Mr Kauffman claims the CEF "would never teach children
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to children and encouraging children's involvement in local
Christian churches. It has programs established in all US states and in 192 countries, with 733 full-time workers in the US, an estimated 40,000 volunteers in the US and Canada, and over 1,200 missionaries overseas, approximately 1,000 of
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The story of Saul and the
Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3) is found in any version or edition of the Bibles of the Jewish, Catholic and Protestant faiths since the first manuscripts were inscribed. Only a misinterpretation of the cited passage could be used to buttress genocide. The goal of Child
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them national workers, individuals trained with CEF but local to the country of their service. During the reporting year ending
December 2014, CEF reported teaching more than 19.9 million children, mostly through face-to-face ministry. CEF is a charter member of the
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after-school Bible study program, including young participants being rewarded for recruiting friends of other faiths and denominations whose parents have not enrolled them in the program. She also claimed in an article in
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rights. She went on to say that the school district could still prevent the group from distributing materials if it adopted a policy of closing the schools to all such groups, which the school district did in March 2009.
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367:, Sweden. CEF soon spread across Europe, most notably in (Northern) Ireland from 1950. The headquarters of CEF Europe are in Germany, with its missionaries trained at different centers across Europe.
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379:'s board of education prohibited Child Evangelism Fellowship from distributing materials during open houses in that district's schools. CEF took the matter to the
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organization founded by Jesse Irvin
Overholtzer (1877-1955) in 1937 at Berachah Church in Cheltenham, PA, which, after a split, one moved and headquartered in
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that the lesson plan for the Old
Testament narrative in 1 Samuel 15, describing the divinely ordered slaughter of the Amalekites, is used to justify
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CEF branched to Europe in 1947 when
Bernard and Harriet Swanson (from USA) began work in
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Building Strong
Congregations: Attracting, Serving, and Developing Your Membership
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The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children
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351:, United States. The organization lists its purpose as teaching the Christian
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652:"How Christian fundamentalists plan to teach genocide to schoolchildren"
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by Sally Stuart, Random House Digital, Inc., Feb 25, 2009, page 443
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ruled that the school district's order deprived CEF of its
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Wrenn, Bruce, Philip Kotler, Norman Shawchuck (2009).
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Kauffman's response elicited the following rebuttal:
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724:. B&H Publishing Group. pp. 136–158.
722:Perspectives on Children's Spiritual Formation
601:"Backpack mail getting curtailed in Elk River"
762:. Autumn House Publishing. pp. 102–104.
510:"Member Profile: Child Evangelism Fellowship"
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782:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
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823:Christian organizations established in 1937
701:Rusten, E. Michael & Sharon O. (2005).
50:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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159:reliable, independent, third-party sources
720:Anthony, Michael J.; et al. (2007).
195:Learn how and when to remove this message
177:Learn how and when to remove this message
107:Learn how and when to remove this message
743:. Baylor University Press. p. 153.
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153:by replacing them with more appropriate
70:This article includes a list of general
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136:too closely associated with the subject
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476:, by Helen Edds Frazier, 2004, page 45
818:Youth organizations based in Missouri
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486:Christian Writers' Market Guide 2008
410:criticizes various practices of the
703:The Complete Book of When and Where
76:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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650:Stewart, Katherine (2012-05-30).
383:, where in February, 2009, Judge
31:This article has multiple issues.
739:Balmer, Randall Herbert (2004).
134:may rely excessively on sources
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828:1937 establishments in Missouri
572:Bassara, Bogdan (Autumn 2010).
39:or discuss these issues on the
741:Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism
705:. Tyndale House. p. 434.
675:Kauffman, Reese (2012-06-11).
625:David: A Man After God's Heart
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242:501(c)3 non-profit religious
679:. London: The Guardian (UK)
654:. London: The Guardian (UK)
628:. CEF Press. Archived from
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208:Child Evangelism Fellowship
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284:Reese Kauffman, president
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622:Pongracz, Linda (2011).
349:Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
304:40,000 (US & Canada)
233:Jesse Irvin Overholtzer
91:more precise citations.
605:Minneapolis, Minnesota
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333:) is an international
574:"Ministering by mail"
474:The Journey Continues
798:CEF official website
523:"CEF Europe History"
377:Elk River, Minnesota
381:U.S. District Court
345:Warrenton, Missouri
335:interdenominational
255:Warrenton, Missouri
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498:"Supporting"
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167:January 2014
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149:Please help
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33:Please help
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584:21 February
557:21 February
552:CEF Ireland
548:"Our Story"
532:21 February
290:Employees
89:introducing
833:Evangelism
807:Categories
683:2012-06-11
658:2012-06-13
636:2012-05-15
527:CEF Europe
461:References
365:Gothenburg
316:.cefonline
280:Key people
261:(World HQ)
151:improve it
141:verifiable
97:April 2009
72:references
36:improve it
778:cite book
396:Criticism
341:nonprofit
338:Christian
155:citations
42:talk page
444:See also
423:genocide
360:(ECFA).
248:Location
309:Website
230:Founder
222:Founded
145:neutral
85:improve
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353:Gospel
74:, but
450:Awana
784:link
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586:2021
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318:.com
238:Type
225:1937
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314:www
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