Cedars, April 2018

April 2018 6 THE GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS: KIDS MINISTRY King’s Kids Ministry Invests in the Future by Breanna Beers R ather than “going into all the na- tions,” some Cedarville students are making disciples as the nations come to them. King’s Kids, an outreach of Christ the King Anglican Church led primarily by Ce- darville students, offers games, snacks, ac- tivities and Bible studies for refugee chil- dren near the Dayton area. Since its beginning in 2012, King’s Kids has grown from a few neighborhood families to nearly 60 children between the ages of 5 and 18 who attend the program on Sunday evenings. Janelle Thompson, a senior nurs- ing major who has been helping lead King’s Kids since her freshman year, said that the ministry has several different components. “On Sundays we’ll bring all the kids to the church, and there are games and stuff at the church that they can play,” Thompson said. “If it’s warm, then they will play out- side. Then we’ll divide into our groups and do more Bible study. That looks different for each group, depending on their age. The older girls do more discussion, [but with] the younger kids it’s more like teaching.” According to the Dayton Daily News, over 70 refugees have settled in Dayton in the last six months, more than three-quar- ters of whom are coming from the Demo- cratic Republic of Congo fleeing widespread political and ethnic violence. Pam Laughlin, the volunteer head of Christ the King’s refu- gee ministry, explained why refugee children are a particularly vulnerable demographic. “Right now we feel really led and com- pelled to work with young kids, because they really are the future,” Laughlin said. “Their parents are out working really hard, and we support them [...] but we were noticing that the kids are kind of losing out. Sometimes they’re home alone, they’re far behind in school, and then when they get into middle school and high school, you just kind of lose them spiritually. You see them making real- ly poor decisions. We feel that’s such an im- portant age, and we want to get them linked in. We want them to feel like they’re part of a group, a larger support.” In addition to the Sunday program, King’s Kids also provides tutoring opportu- nities during Monday and Wednesday after- noons. Thompson described some of the chal- lenges students new to the country often face. “If they were in refugee camps, they may not have had the opportunity to go to school,” Thompson said. “When they come to the United States, a lot of the kids don’t speak English, or at least not very well. Then if they get put in fourth grade because they’re 9, but they’re still at a first grade reading level, they need a lot of help with their homework. So it can be frustrating for them, because they’re doing this homework, but it’s not actually helping them learn.” This year, Cedarville University’s sci- ence education department started an additional, more individualized program on Thursdays, in addition to the regular Monday and Wednesday tutoring sessions. According to Laughlin, this smaller setting allows attendees to develop deeper relation- ships with the Cedarville students who lead the program. “It’s more one-on-one, and so they’re really building relationships,” Laughlin said. “And my kids just love that. It’s hard to get high school kids involved and commit- ted, but this group that’s coming for the tu- toring, they seem more committed. They’re not with a different person every week, so I think they feel more comfortable and are more committed to it.” Laughlin pointed out that while many children come for fun games and for home- work help, they are also receiving something at King’s Kids that they can’t find anywhere else. “It’s because it’s a safe environment,” Laughlin said. “I don’t think they know why Photo provided by No Longer Strangers Cedarville student Renee Pace is involved in King’s Kids’ Thursday night ministry, which focuses on tutoring in math and science.