It’s the kind of question that stops you in your tracks. In the middle of a lively club session — children talking, laughing, raising their hands — a young girl looked up and asked simply: “Why do you keep coming to us so regularly, for so many years? What makes you do it?”

It was, as it happened, exactly the right day to ask.

The workers were teaching a verse from 2 Corinthians that morning: the love of God compels us. Not obligation. Not routine. Love — the kind that keeps showing up, week after week, year after year. That verse became the answer. And hearing it, another girl in the group — one who often brings her two younger sisters along — offered something that left the room quietly moved: “We don’t come to the club just to play and have fun. What matters more is that we learn about God so we can grow closer to Him.” She paused, then added, “That’s really important.”

Out of the mouths of children.

Easter brought a different kind of moment. At the invitation of a local priest, a team travelled to a village to put on a puppet show for children — many of whom they had never met before. The children gathered in front of the church, curious, expectant. The programme unfolded. And when it ended, before anyone could move, a boy stood up in the crowd and called out: “I don’t want it to be over! I want to hear more about Jesus!”

One child’s voice. One moment. And yet it said everything.

These are the moments that remind workers why they serve — not just the planned lessons or the prepared programmes, but the unscripted ones. A question from a child who genuinely wants to understand. A confession of faith disguised as a comment. A boy who doesn’t want the story to end.

The love of God compels us. And sometimes, it speaks back to us through the very children we came to reach.

-Testimony from a worker in CEF of Serbia (Neven)

(Image: CEF of Europe)