Interview ~ Gary Cousins (CEF Child Evangelsim Fellowship) Part 2

Continued from Part 1

Again, can i thank Gary Cousins for taking the time to answer a few questions and to bring the work of CEF before us in what i have found, a very challenging and motivational way.


Can you tell us about Youth Challenge?

The JYC (Junior Youth Challenge) ministry exists specifically for 11-15 year olds who have become too old for the Good News Clubs (4-11 years). We want to keep the contact with them, evangelise them, disciple them, see them integrated into local churches and see them become involved in direct ministries to children. We have almost 500 JYC groups in 34 European countries, reaching around 5,300 junior teens. More at http://www.cefyc.com/



What would be the main challenges that you see serving the youth?
As I visit various countries and listen to our workers, I would say that the main problems for young people are internet pornography and alcohol abuse which often encourages sexual activity. The Psalmist asked a good question “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” Psalm 119:9

I believe the key to survival in this world is to be living in the Word of God. The biggest challenge for us, is to teach the Word of God in an interesting way that is true to the text and applicable to the lives of the young people. They also need role models and everyone involved in a public ministry needs to be asking themselves if their lives are consistent with what they teach. If not, the young people will stop listening.



Do you find that Youth Challenge primarily serves to evangelize or to disciple?
Our teaching material is careful to have a mixture of both, however there is an emphasis on discipling the saved teen. The reason for this is that most JYCs exist to cater for those who have become to old for GNC rather than as an outreach.


Much of your life has been & is spent in ministry to others, so who ministers to Gary Cousins?

I am very aware of the need to be spiritually fed myself and I try to spend every free minute wisely. I got an iPod connection fitted to the car which has enabled me to listen to 100’s of hours of sermons while travelling. I would listen to conference downloads such as EMA, Desiring God, Resolved, Sovereign Grace, NIMA, T4G, Basics... Some of the other podcasts I subscribe to are: Albert Mohler, Alistair Begg, John Piper, John MacArthur, Denis Lyle, David Legg and Mark Driscoll (although sometimes I think he crosses the line with his choice of language).

I also am thankful to be a member of a local church in Germany http://www.cgd-steinen.de/ that has a number of brothers who are gifted preachers. These men minister to me and about every 2 months I would have the opportunity to preach myself.

I am a slow reader but I love to read both systematic and practical theology. I also keep an eye on the blogs and the current trends that are being discussed in the evangelical world.
The music of Keith Getty and Stuart Townend has also been a great source of spiritual refreshment. I would also listen a lot to the music produced by Bob Kauflin and the Sovereign Grace Music people.



Where’s nicer to live – Binzen or Ulster? (Haha, most of us can probably guess your answer)
There is no doubt about it, that where we live has some beautiful scenery. Yes Ireland is a beautiful place too but all the wind and rain does get you down a bit. The part of Germany we live in is officially the sunniest part of the country. Whereas Ireland tends to have all seasons in one day, in German the seasons are much more clearly defined.

As my work involves sometimes travelling to other European countries, it is definitely a big advantage to be living 15 minutes from Basel airport which has good connections to almost anywhere.
The downside is that friends and family are far away. Being a family in another country is often hardest on the parents/grandparents who are deprived of quality time with their children/grandchildren.



There are many people who serve the children / youth of their Churches but never get training, what advice or encouragement would you give to them?

I would say, give serious consideration to attending our twelve week Children’s Ministry Leadership Course at Kilchzimmer in Switzerland. Many people think that it is just for those who want to become full-time workers but actually most of our students go back to serve God among the children of their home church. More information about the course can be found at www.cefeurope.org/training.

No matter how good a teacher you think you are (or otherwise), there is always some way that you can sharpen your skills. Why not invite a CEF worker to come and hold a training seminar so that you and your co-workers can become more effective in communicating the Gospel message? The CEF workers can also offer JYC training courses and TCE (Teaching Children Effectively) courses. In Ireland, contact details are available at http://www.cefireland.com/



What would you say to Christian parents about their responsibility to train, lead & teach their children, verses the opinion that we’d better leave it to the professional (you)?

We are still a few years away from having teenage children of our own, so I want to be careful in what I say. Many of the principles I teach when training our workers are really in the first instance the responsibilities of the parents and not the youth leaders. If you are a parent, don’t leave the Biblical instruction of your children to the church. You have the God given responsibility to train them up in the ways of the Lord. The church and organisations like CEF can assist you in this task but the primary responsibility lies with you.

Sometimes a parent will come and basically say “fix my teen”. What they mean is that their teenager has no interest in the things of God and that we should seek to speak to them and convince them that they are on a destructive path. While it would be wise to speak to such a young person about the hurt they are causing their parents and the consequences of continuing in this way, the reality is that no youth worker, no matter how much experience he has, is able to put the desire for the pursuit of holiness into that young person. We need to pray for them that God would call them to Himself and give them the desire to follow Him.

I believe the best situation is for the children’s/youth worker to keep the communication lines open with both the parents and the young people. This means that the worker has a far better idea of the issues that need to be dealt with and the parent is aware of what the young person is being taught in the meetings. Working hand-in-hand with the parents for the good of the young people is the key.



What does Gary Cousins do when he’s not working?

Reading blogs (or is that still work?), reading books, getting into the great outdoors with the family, swimming, mountain biking, hill-walking, geocaching, visiting places of interest.
I’m a self-confessed news addict but apart from that I watch very little TV, hardly ever watch a movie, have very little interest in sport, although I like to watch F1, skiing and the Tour de France.

I really should exercise more than I do.



And finally, every CEF worker I know is up for a laugh, what is the funniest CEF moment that stands out in your mind?

(Something really funny comes to mind but I’m not sure everyone of you would appreciate the funny side so how about this one instead?) Once a visitor in the car on the way to Kilchzimmer asked me why there were so many black sheep in Switzerland. I told him that they were actually white sheep but because of all the snow, the farmers spray them black so they are easier to find. He seemed to think it was a good idea until I quickly told him that I was only joking.






In hind sight i really should have asked for some Billy French stories! But alas . . . that's what the comment section is for.
Thank you Gary for not only telling us about yourself and the work of CEF but for challenging us.

I know that as a parent i came away from this with a renewed zeal, and fresh reminder of the weight that is on 'my' shoulder for the upbringing of my children in the learning and admonition of the LORD.