From Lizards to the Lord: How God Uses It All

My wife and I have been serving at Refugee Resources since January 2025. We were connected to the ministry through a friend of my wife's from work and were immediately drawn in. Since moving to Dallas, we had been looking for ways to serve our community and share the gospel, and Refugee Resources has provided a way to do both.

Since becoming a mentor, I've had the privilege of working with two students, Kofi*and Salai*. I mentored Kofi during my first year at Reading Circle before his family moved to a different neighborhood. Near the beginning of this year, I began teaching Salai.

At first I was nervous about becoming a mentor. I had no previous experience teaching English or reading and worried I would not be the teacher my students needed. I quickly realized that all I needed to do was be a supportive friend and show Christ's love.

One of my favorite examples of Christ's love at Reading Circle is our prayer request time. After we read the day's Bible story and talk about what it means for us, I pray with my students. For both Kofi and Salai, the idea of prayer was very new — they seemed almost embarrassed to ask God for help, guidance, or forgiveness. Over the weeks, I talked about the importance of prayer and how privileged we are to speak with our Savior and the Creator of the universe. By sharing my own requests and consistently asking about their lives, I began to see Kofi and Salai openly bring their struggles, their family life, and their school concerns to the Lord. It has been so encouraging to see Christ's love work through prayer and spiritual community.

I've also seen Christ move in my students' desire to learn — not just reading, but in their faith as well. I expected motivation to be a challenge, but that hasn't been the case. Salai comes to Reading Circle each week as a humble learner, which I find both impressive and a blessing from God, especially after his long days at school. I love his curiosity and the questions he asks — everything from word definitions and memory verse explanations to whether I eat lizards.

Over time, I've seen Salai's questions deepen as his hunger for knowledge grows. Questions about spelling and definitions have given way to questions about reading comprehension. I am seeing him not only read the stories, but also understand their themes and lessons. The same growth is taking place in our Bible reading and memory verse work. I love seeing Salai eager to read the Bible story aloud and excited to explain how he can apply it to his life.

My favorite example of this happened recently during the story of Pentecost and the disciples being given the ability to speak in tongues. It's a difficult topic to unpack with a 7th grader, and I did my best to explain the Trinity and spiritual gifts. Salai did not shy away — we spent nearly the entire Reading Circle session that week talking about how God wants us to use our gifts to tell others about him.

Reading Circle has quickly become one of the highlights of my week. Serving alongside these students has deepened my own faith and reminded me of God's love, patience, and determination. I am so grateful for the chance I had to walk alongside Kofi and now Salai, to pray with them, and to watch God work in their lives and learning.

Written by: Owen Eldersveld
Edited by: Emily Thompson

*Names have been changed to protect privacy.