April 8, 2026
Equipping young teens: CEF® helps them in a uniquely challenging season
Dr. Faith Dugan, CMI Online™ Director & Leadership Training Instructor: ‘As students engage in the environment of middle school, it’s vital that they continue to grow in their faith’
ST. LOUIS — The middle school years are a uniquely challenging season, marked by rising academic demands, social pressures and emotional strain. Studies show that key developmental skills — such as confidence, self-management and social awareness — often decline in middle school before rebounding later, making it a critical time of vulnerability and for growth. All of which underscores a key reality: these years offer a crucial opportunity to reach students with the hope, truth and help found in the Bible.
Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®), a trusted leader in global youth ministry, views middle school as a strategic mission field; a space where students will benefit greatly from a ministry focus, while confronting new pressures and questions around their own identity.
According to Dr. Faith Dugan, Online Director & Leadership Training Instructor for CEF’s Children’s Ministries Institute®, “The middle school age group is sometimes overlooked. They may feel they don’t fit in children’s programs, or they may feel unaccepted by the older members of a youth group.”
CEF helps middle schoolers navigate this season through its Junior Youth Challenge® (JYCTM), which is built on three pillars:
- Knowing: helping young people know Jesus as their Savior, and grow in grace and the knowledge of Him
- Living: helping young people to understand the importance of living in a way that is glorifying to God; teaching them the means of grace; helping them through the difficulties they face
- Serving: helping young people recognize the value of service; training them to serve in their church, communities and beyond; giving them opportunities to use what they have learned
Designed specifically for students ages 11–15, JYC bridges the transitional gap between CEF’s Good News Club® for elementary students and the Christian Youth In Action® program for older teens.
Dr. Dugan remarked, “Children who attend an after-school Good News Club at their elementary school experience a sense of loss when they discover that there is no similar club for them when they move on to middle school. As students engage in the environment of middle school, it’s vital that they continue to grow in their faith, build quality relationships with other believers their age and together stand firm in the truth of God’s Word in today’s culture. JYC clubs can help meet that need.”
JYC clubs meet weekly in schools, churches, homes and other community spaces, where trained leaders guide students through Bible study, discussion and activities, equipping them to live out their faith in every area of life.During a season marked by change and uncertainty, JYC provides a safe and engaging environment where middle school students can grow in their faith, discover their identity in Christ and learn to share that faith with others.
Dr. Dugan recalls three students who exemplified this holistic approach of Knowing, Living and Serving.
“Three JYC students at Black Hawk Middle School in Warrenton, Missouri, accepted the challenge to lead a Christmas Party Club®,” shared Dr. Dugan. “They studied, prepared and taught their first club, reaching neighborhood children, two of whom had never attended a CEF club or church. Now both of those children are enrolled in a weekly Good News Club and one of them trusted Christ as Savior! God used these JYC girls to plant the seed of the Gospel, while others watered it and He gave the increase.”
“CEF has embraced a God-sized goal of increasing the number of children reached by 18% annually,” summarized Dr. Dugan. “That means moving beyond the 27 million children reached in 2024 to reaching 100 million children by 2032. The JYC age group is one of the groups that will help us move forward toward this goal. Not only will thousands of young people be reached, but they will be equipped and encouraged to share the Gospel with their peers.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), founded in 1937, has been establishing ministry to children in countries around the world for decades.
In 2024, more than 31 million children worldwide heard or read the Good News through CEF ministries.
For more CEF news, see the ministry’s latest edition of the online magazine Impact.
CEF is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry that has been dedicated to seeing every child reached with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, discipled and established in a local church since 1937. CEF is located in all 50 American states and in most countries around the world, with over 3,500 paid staff and tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.
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To interview a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship, contact Hamilton Strategies, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.
