CU Relief: Turning mourning into dancing

By Sam Sofio

“I’m going to braid my hair tomorrow,” five-year-old Everly said. “We’re going to church with them, Daddy! We’re going to church with them!” 

Everly’s dad, Jamie, looked down at his daughter, who was pulling his hand in excitement. That evening, with Cedarville University’s CU Relief team, Jamie made one of the biggest decisions of his life – “All right.” 

During fall break, CU Relief, a Cedarville University student-led organization, made the seven-hour trip to Asheville, North Carolina, to serve amidst the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The hurricane produced massive flash floods engulfing victims in their homes, cutting buildings in two and contributing to mudslides that buried roads and houses. A year later, victims who have lost everything are still hurting, hungry and homeless. Students from CU Relief have recognized this need and chosen to go on mission for the gospel. 

CU Relief had its beginnings in the fall of 2024 when Emma Biehn, a senior International Studies major, returned home for Labor Day weekend. In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, Biehn’s mom asked her if she had planned to serve in North Carolina. Biehn said, “Yes.” When she returned to campus, she recruited 10 of her friends who would serve alongside her, and they drove the long trip to North Carolina. 

While serving under a relief organization in North Carolina, Biehn and her friends delivered bagged meals to the community and asked if they could support and pray for them in any way. Biehn’s heart broke as she heard the horrific stories and saw the brokenness of the area. When she returned to campus, she struggled with the fact that she enjoyed hot water while some people in North Carolina hadn’t showered in weeks. Biehn desired to return with more students. After trusting in God to provide, He provided 36 new students, $5,000 in three weeks, housing, food and gas.

Over their most recent trip, during fall break, while their practical objective was to demolish houses to make room for new houses, God worked through the students to bring new life to hurting people. 

Biehn’s encounter with a five-year-old girl named Everly ultimately ended in new life for her father. When Biehn was working, she found a little angel pendant. Biehn showed Everly, who had put on gloves to help carry sticks to a burn pile. 

“Everly, look! It’s an angel!” Biehn said. “It’s a heavenly being that worships God! Do you know Jesus?” 

Everly did not know Jesus. Biehn then proceeded to share with her about Christ and gave her the little angel. Later on, the CU Relief team heard Everly say that she had never danced before, so the students had a dance party with Everly to the song “Goodbye Yesterday.” 

“When the part ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’ [played], I was like, ‘Emily, do you remember Jesus?” Biehn said. 

Everly responded with a “yes!” And with smiles on their faces, they all danced together. 

When a prayer request came up for a man who was struggling to rehab after a long coma, CU Relief members, along with Jamie and Everly, gathered in a circle to pray. Jamie put his arms around the people beside him, and Everly didn’t pick up her dropped scrunchie so as not to disrupt the prayer. 

After the prayer, the group began to talk about church. Jamie revealed that until 12 years ago, he had never heard about religion. After a teammate shared the gospel with him, he invited him to church. 

Everly and Jamie were not the only victims the CU Relief team ministered to. During the same trip, the team met a 20-year-old woman and her boyfriend who had an unexpected pregnancy. Isabella Booth, a sophomore Nursing major specializing in Labor and Delivery, and Piper Dee, a sophomore Vocal Performance major who worked at a non-profit helping single mothers deal with trauma, tried to get her to open up. After multiple attempts failed, they continued to ask God for an open door – and He did.

“We just started to love on her,” Booth said. “We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, congratulations on your baby! This is so exciting! This is something that you’re in now, and we’re going to support you.’”

She was excited to have her child, and both she and her boyfriend were committed to taking care of their child. When she explained to Booth and Dee that she felt sad because she had never heard her child’s heartbeat, Dee remembered that one of the nursing students had brought their stethoscope.

“We were able to find the heartbeat, and she and her boyfriend were both able to hear it for the first time!” Dee said. “She walked around for the rest of the afternoon with a stethoscope, showing her family and continuously listening to it. It was such an amazing opportunity to share the gospel with her by discussing how the baby’s heartbeat inside of her is a miracle.” 

When they spoke about church, she expressed her hesitancy. Dee and Booth learned that one of the local churches caused her sister, who was in a similar situation, to feel ashamed. She felt scared that she wouldn’t be received well. Dee and Booth shared the gospel and the love of Christ with her in hopes that she would draw near to Christ. Dee also planned to send her a box full of Christian resources for her baby. They left the trip not knowing if they would attend a church, but they knew that God could take the seeds planted and turn it into new life. 

To end the trip, Jamie and Everly went to church with the CU Relief team on Sunday. When the pastor gave an altar call, the CU Relief team was pleading that the Lord would bring him to Himself. Jamie did not move. However, after the service, one of the students who was broken over Jamie went over and spoke with him. 

“They’re having a 15-minute conversation, and all the rest of our team are in the chapel praying with one another,” Biehn said. “‘Lord, would you just guide his words, and would you move in this space?”

After Jamie and the CU Relief teammate finished praying, the CU Relief team heard something that made the trip worth it.

“This is the first day of your new life!”

During MLK weekend, on Jan. 16-19, CU Relief will take another trip down to North Carolina to serve people in their physical and spiritual needs. For only $100, CU Relief is one of the least expensive GO trips, and sign-ups are happening now. 

Instagram: @cu_relief

GroupMe: https://groupme.com/join_group/107096108/qDuw5zlG 

Sam Sofio is a junior Professional Writing and Information Design major. He enjoys spending time with his brothers and sisters in Christ and aspires to write for a Christian organization.