By Julia Swain
Four days. That is how long a group of young girls had been in the U.S. before crossing paths with King’s Kids–a ministry dedicated to serving refugee children in the Dayton area since its founding in 2012.
With the girls not speaking any English, the students volunteering that night were not sure how they would get through to the girls.
Then, something beautiful happened. The girls’ sisters and friends, who spoke both Swahili and English, began to translate the parable they taught that night, and slowly, the girls began to understand.
“Sharing the story of the Bible with them and the story of God’s grace and forgiveness that he has for us, even though we are unforgiving to others and the great debt that we’ve been forgiven was just really beautiful,” said Caroline Yoder, a junior computer science major and leader for King’s Kids.
This moment brought the organization’s mission statement to life: “We exist to love refugee children in the Dayton area by building bridges for the gospel and a humble commitment to forming lasting relationships.”
Every Sunday evening, a group of Cedarville students, including Yoder and Elliot Bostel, a junior physics major, another leader for the ministry. They gather at various churches in the Dayton area, and spend time playing games like basketball and soccer with them, and then enjoying a snack together as a group.
“We break down walls between us and the kids just to build relationships with them and become their friends and people that they can trust and ask questions to and feel safe with,” Yoder said. “That prepares us for the Bible study time that we have after that.”
Bostel shared the motive behind the Bible study time.
“Just giving the kids opportunities to ask really good and sometimes really difficult questions, and being able to open the Word with them and help them to understand,” Bostel said. “It’s a really encouraging thing.”
Yoder’s journey to King’s Kids is more unique than most.
“King’s Kids is honestly part of the reason I came to Cedarville,” Yoder said. “I have a friend from my home church who came to King’s Kids, and I remember hearing so much about the kids that she worked with and the organization. I was like, ‘That sounds pretty cool, maybe I’ll go to that college.’ And now I’m here, and I’ve loved it a lot.”
Bostel decided to join based on another organization he was involved with on campus.
“I was in my first semester and I was in the missions org, and so one of the guys who helped out with it was trying to recruit guys because they had very few guys involved,” Bostel said. “He was like, here’s an opportunity to actually invest in kids from Africa from different parts of the world and fulfill The Great Commission.”
While Yoder oversees all of the different groups, Bostel can interact directly with middle school boys. He describes them as a more unique group, saying that for them it is not cool to enjoy reading and talking about the Bible.
“My freshman and sophomore year, I found myself being really frustrated with a lot of the guys,” Bostel said. “Just because there’s sometimes when they’re not the most respectful and just where it’s like, ‘Lord, we are coming here and we want them so badly to believe and to be changed and to know you,’And then we’re going week after week, and sometimes it just seems like, ‘Man, is there any fruit that’s coming as a result of this?’”
Then, in an interaction with one of the middle school guys, Bostel’s perspective changed.
In the last week of King’s Kids last semester, Bostel had the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with one of the boys following a discussion on Jesus’ death and resurrection in the book of Mark. Bostel encouraged the student by sharing the Gospel and how it is filled with grace and mercy. He also asked the student questions to see where their heart was at in their walk with Christ.
“And so we were able to have a really good conversation about what sin is,” Bostel said. “We still struggle with sin every day and we will for the rest of our lives, but it becomes different in the sense that it’s not something that we want to do anymore. And the most precious thing I think of that entire conversation was at the very end, he looked at me after we had had that conversation, and he was like, ‘So are you coming back next year’?”
From that, Bostel saw the fruit that had come in the two years he had worked with the ministry.
“Last year, towards the end of the year, the Lord was really gracious in allowing us to see that fruit,” Bostel said.
If students are interested in joining King’s Kids, they can reach out to any current member of the ministry, including Elliot and Caroline, and get additional information.
Julia Swain is a junior Journalism student and the off-campus news editor for Cedars. She enjoys concerts, coffee, and watching and analyzing any Cleveland sports team.
Photos provided by Elliot Bostel
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