2021 is the Platinum Anniversary of CEF of South Carolina!
One way we’re celebrating is to highlight one of our staff members each week. (You can read more about our 70th Anniversary on our blog here.)
This week, meet Kinley Prince! He is a ministry coordinator here at CEF Greenville and actually started working here at age 16 with CYIA. He joined the staff in 2013. He was already familiar with CEF, as he had attended Good News Club in 5th grade at Buena Vista Elementary! His favorite part of working for CEF Greenville is serving with the volunteers and seeing their hearts for the children—”It is such a blessing!”
He said he absolutely LOVES our August Back-to-School workshops. Seeing everyone after the summer and getting to connect, learn, and pray together are some of his favorite memories.
He shared this story of getting to connect with a child in club:
“A few years ago, I was helping start a Good News Club at a school that had never had a club before. When the children started coming in, I saw a group of children and I could tell that they thought they ran the school. The ringleader was a little red headed third grader. And lucky me, I was grade shepherding the third grade group. This boy, whose name I found out was Harrison, proceeded to walk up to me and say, “My mom signed me up for Good News Club but she did it without my permission.” He did NOT want to be there and his actions showed it. He did not participate during club and was disrespectful to the volunteers. He would distract other children and was mean to some of the younger ones. He often said, “I hate coming to Good News Club.” So you can imagine my surprise when Harrison responded to the invitation one week. When I asked him if he had ever sinned, he began to cry and replied, “Yes, especially in Good News Club.” That afternoon, Harrison accepted Jesus as his savior. The next week, Harrison was the first one in Good News Club. He came running up to me and said, “I am so excited to be here! I’ve been waiting for you to come back all week!” And he really was. As club went on, and he grew in his knowledge of God, he began to treat the other children with kindness. He was always so excited to see the volunteers and told his teachers how much he loved coming to Good News Club and learning about God. He even started helping out in club with the review games and the songs. The more he learned about who God really was, the more his behavior changed. More and more parts of his life were aligning with God’s will for him. This is God’s desire for his children. What a blessing to witness!”
