very concerned couple. Because of their deep love, great burden and spiritual vision for the souls of boys and girls, these folks made a real sacrifice. In March of 1968, they set aside $500.00 for the purpose o f taking a trip on their fiftieth wedding anni versary. But when they heard o f the need for a bus for Child Evan gelism, they gave this money to purchase one. Then they set about to find it and were rewarded! A Baptist church in Santa Barbara sold them a bus at a greatly re duced price when it was learned for what purpose the bus was to be used. The bus is serving more than Good News Clubs. Last summer when Camp Good News was over crowded, the Child Evangelism Committee in San Luis Obispo, fixed it up for sleeping quarters. Four of the staff slept in it! “ I’ll tell you — it was quite an experi ence!” said Mary Ellis, who was one of the four. “ But we had to use it to get by.” Another ministry of the bus is for Five-day clubs. This is a new project by Child Ev ang e l i sm called “ Youth On The March.” High school students come to meetings once a month on their own to learn how to win children for Christ. These clubs are simi lar to Daily Vacation Bible School except they work mostly out-of- doors in the summer time. The young people go out with a flash- card kit to beaches, back yards, mobile and recreational parks or wherever they’re allowed. They set up their easels and teach, using the bus for classrooms. If eight Child Evangelism mis sionaries can penetrate the iron curtain of Czechoslovakia with Good News Clubs to teach boys and girls about Christ — as they have recently — we in the United States should double our efforts! Maybe the Lord is speaking to you about Pied Pipers for other communities. Jfl *The New Scofield Reference Bi ble, Mark 10:14.
church is supporting the work by teaching and accommodating a Good News Club in the church. “ For a while we took the seats out o f the bus in order to get the more than sixty children in at Santa Maria. We got them all in — even if some o f them had to sit on one another’s feet. How ever, they put up with each other very nicely,” Marj Ellis says. The seats are back in the bus now and it works much better. The doors have to be closed when attendance hits at about fifty. It breaks one’s heart to have to close doors to children because there aren’t enough homes or places to hold these classes. “ There’s no place to put wet clothing and we have no heat. So we can’t operate on rainy days. But we’ve been fortunate — we haven’t had to keep the bus off the road very often,” Mrs. Ellis, who not only teaches but also drives the bus most of the time, comments thankfully. “A very interesting incident happened during the Christmas holidays,” she continues, “ A thir teen-year-old girl, who has at tended Good News Clubs for sev eral years, and her girl friend, were shopping in a large market in Morro Bay. While thumbing through magazines at the rack, they spotted an envelope. It had someone’s cashed pay check in it along with the check stub. The girls, having come from low- salaried homes, toyed with the idea of spending it on Christmas presents for themselves and fami lies. But, after talking it over, they decided it would be better if they prayed about it. They did and their decision was to talk it over with one o f their mothers. The mother happened to know the people who lost the money and she contacted them, who showed their appreciation by rewarding the girls for their honesty. It was a timely lesson! We had been teaching the class how to ‘grow the Bible way.’ ” The Good News Piper was born when the Holy Spirit spoke to a
him. We both feel that this is a terrific work!” she says with en thusiasm. Some of the children do come for treats and prizes, as one little boy, who lined up to get his name on the “paper,” expressed it: “Are we going to get cookies to day?” Because the bus is too crowded or parents object to their going in, sometimes children stand out side or sit on the cement and lis ten to the music and stories of the Child Evangelism workers. But in spite of these seeming ob stacles, the children are soaking up the Word of God. The Ellises believe Jesus meant it when He said, “ Permit the lit tle children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” * Mrs. Ellis says, “ One might think that the follow-up of these children would be hard, but we get about as much contact as we would in Sunday school classes. These children bring in their friends and about half of them stay through the entire year. In our church, we have a young woman who is a junior in high school. She was reached in Good News Clubs before she came to church. Now she’s thinking of go ing into full-time service. So we believe the contact is worth while.” Child Evangelism emblems dec orating the windows of the bus invite onlookers to stop a moment before going on. An occasional teenager will sneer a little or peek into the rear window, but no one has molested the bus in any way so far. No one has ever asked that the bus leave. Superinten dents of each housing area are contacted for permission before conducting services. They are al ways real happy to have the bus come in. The only adult who has ever visited the bus out o f curiosity is Rev. Alva Conner, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church o f Santa Maria. Mr. Ellis talked with the pastor that day and now this
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NOVEMBER, 1969
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