He had a burning passion for the salvation of the children. The "spiritual neglect of the world's children" drove him to pray and plan to reach boys and girls with the Gospel in foreign lands.    Of him, Norman Rohrer  wrote, he would be remembered "…for staking out a spiritual claim for the hearts of children in every corner of the world".

This man was  Mr Jesse Irvin Overholtzer, founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc.  In answer to his prayers, the  Lord called two ladies to pioneer CEF  in the Philippines.Miss  Ana Danielson  (from Canada) and Miss Mary Dayton (from USA)  arrived in Manila in March  1952. Settling in Davao, they  started Good News Clubs® (GNC™) and teacher trainings.

Miss Dayton received instructions  from Mr Overholtzer  to return to Manila for Filipino language study. Miss Danielson remained in Davao and  organized an office,  the local committee as well as  teacher training  classes,  faithfully serving until  the  Lord called her home.

Rev and Mrs Ira Hovey arrived in the country in December  1955. The following month, January 1956,  Miss  Juanita Patrick  came proceeding to Iloilo City to start   ministries there. Seeing the need for teaching materials in Filipino, Miss Dayton initiated  the translation of CEF  lessons.  Organizing local branches was the urgent goal  and so was  recruitment of workers.  This prompted the   first Leadership Training Institute (LTI) in 1957,  an intensive training for full time CEF workers. In 1958, five years after CEF was established in the Philippines,  a Local  Committee was organized for Luzon. Eventually,  Rev Evangelista Siodora was appointed  Director for Luzon,   then for a brief time, Mr Art Pimentel. By 1967, CEF was operating in the three main islands of the country – Luzon Visayas and Mindanao.

A 5-Day Club in Davao City in the early 1970s

The Ministries in Capsule:

1969	Appointment of first Missionary Director Mr & Mrs Ira Hovey which marked the setting up of the National Board. Among its pioneer members were Mrs Natividad Sycip and Mrs Valeria Young.  A newer set of membership is faithfully carrying on, presently led by Mr Samuel Dy taking on the responsibility from Mr Aurelio Llenado who has chaired the Board  for quite some time.
1970	It was overwhelming yet very encouraging to know that CEF Philippines was privileged to host the first Pacific/Orient Regional Conference.
1973	With the formal setting up of the National Board, CEF was incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). God continued to bless the ministry marked by increasing commitments of faithful workers as well as sponsors.
1981	Atty Alfredo Soberano became the first Filipino National Director after receiving the LTI training (with his wife) at the World Headquarters in Warrenton. Gaining momentum, new CEF branches were established in Luzon, Visayas and  Mindanao.
1984	Mr Rod Corgado took on the leadership with the resignation of Atty. Soberano.  Additional workers and committee members were recruited to cater to the growing need of the ministry.
1986	On second occasion, CEF Philippines hosted the Regional Conference at the Admiral Hotel, another wonderful experience of God’s mighty working.
1988	First overseas missionary, Ms Zenaida Magat left   to serve in Cyprus having been challenged for children's work in a  Missions Conference.
1989	Directorship was turned-over  to Miss Norma Hindap, Local Director of Davao City when Mr Corgado assumed Pacific/Orient Region directorship.
1991	Mr Eric Manalastas became Officer In Charge when Miss Hindap relinquished her post to go back to Mindanao for health reasons.
1993	The Lord continued to call dedicated men and women in the National Board.  The late Mrs Elizabeth Co had it in her heart to find a home for CEF to house the offices and training center.   With the full support of her family especially her husband the late Mr Henry Co, ACHIM Foundation was founded.  It was instrumental in putting up a two-storey building in a 1,800 square-meter lot inside Valley Golf Subd, Antipolo. CEF Inc President Mr and Mrs Reese Kauffman and former Vice President for Overseas Ministries, Rev and Mrs John Cook were guests from the World  Headquarters during the inauguration. Mrs Perlita Ibe became Officer in Charge, as  Miss Ma Theresa Llorente (second  overseas missionary)  left to serve in Tonga.
1995	Miss Zenaida Magat became National Director serving until December 2002.
2003 up to the present	At the beginning of year 2003, Rev. Joel  Indico  assumed directorship of the  ministry. Exciting years followed  as we saw the  steady increase in the number of children reached with the gospel and the professions of faith in Jesus as shown in the figures below:  Year           Children Reached             Profession of Faith 2003              221,779                                     333,403 2004              563,954                                     367,185 2005           1,096,585                                     874,120 2006           1,716,063                                  1,338,610 2007           2,337,687                                  1,998,178 2008          1,920,929                                  1,605,001  A significant increase between the year 2003 and the year 2008  is also noteworthy in terms of the number of  Local Areas from 26  to 53 and   Full time Workers from 60  to 120.