Dozens of Bob Jones students plan to volunteer at the Good News Spectacular event tomorrow at the Greenville Convention Center.
The Good News Spectacular is an event put on by the Child Evangelism Fellowship. CEF is a program that strives to share the Gospel with children in public schools across the country, including Greenville, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties.
In 2018, over 8,000 children attended the program and 590 of them made a profession of faith. CEF is the only opportunity that many of the children have to hear the Gospel.
After school, CEF takes buses to local public schools, picks up children with signed parental permission slips and drives them to nearby churches for games, activities and Bible teaching.
The Good News Spectacular is a celebration festival for children who regularly attend CEF programs as well as any friends or parents they may invite. The Good News Spectacular is put on as a fun event free to Greenville families where children and parents alike can enjoy themselves and be exposed to the Gospel.
A large portion of the staff for the Good News Spectacular are volunteers. For three years, CEF has partnered with Bob Jones University to give students the opportunity to volunteer. This partnership operates through the Center for Global Opportunities.
In 2017, over 300 Bob Jones University students volunteered. The Good News Spectacular will be broken up into two shifts for volunteers, with a morning shift going from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and an afternoon shift going from 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Bob Jones University will provide bus transportation to and from the event for volunteers. Prior to the event, all first-time volunteers must go to one of two training sessions or watch a training video to prepare them for their responsibilities.
Once they arrive, students are assigned to stations such as bounce house monitoring, face painting or helping kids make silent Gospel bracelets.
Students receive additional training for their job assignments from a CEF worker before the children arrive.
Ashley Lowery, a senior health sciences major, is planning to volunteer this year. “I think it’s a good opportunity for simple community service as well as reaching people for Jesus,” Lowery said.
Paula Jones, a junior elementary education major, volunteered last year. “I’m looking forward to getting to see how happy the kids are and just how I can be a part of that,” Jones said.
