Club devotes time to children
By Catherine Pillsbury
Staff Reporter

As a small group of TCU students arrives at the Marine Park apartment complex children rush to let them in so they can immediately start playing with their grown-up playmates.

The group plays volleyball, jumps rope and listens to the story of Noah’s Ark as some of the children look over the reader’s shoulder to see the pictures.

The TCU students and the children meet every Tuesday as part of Kids’ Club, which is organized through Baptist Student Ministries. The goal is to share the word of God with children who might otherwise not hear it, said Jason Monarch, a senior finance major and Kids’ Club leader.

“We share the story of Christ, but more than that, we show them love, which they don’t all get at home,” he said. “I’m taking the responsibility to say I’ll be there each week for these kids.”

On any given week, two to eight volunteers play with up to 20 children, between the ages of 2 and 16, said Marna Jane Williams, a senior biology major.

Some parents encourage their children to participate and others don’t care, said Williams, last year’s leader.

“I’m able to be something stable in their lives when some children don’t have that,” Williams said.

She said it is a great experience to build relationships with the children. Williams said the children call the TCU students the “church people” and look forward to their visits.

“It’s really neat to go and have them run out because they know we’re coming,” Williams said.

When the TCU students arrive at the complex, they play with the children and talk to them about what’s going on in their lives — everything from crushes on boys to troubles in school. The playtime is followed by a Bible story that the children are asked questions about afterwards.

“The kids are usually receptive to the Bible story and sometimes ask questions, but more than anything, they just enjoy spending time with us,” sophomore premajor Allison Stevens said.

She said the children are very open-minded and trusting.

“These kids are so open to anyone around them and so open to listen to what we have to say,” Stevens said.

Kids’ Club started in the spring of 2002 after Baptist Student Ministries students did a missions project for Arlington children, said Emily Quesenberry, director of Baptist Student Ministries. They realized they could do this on a weekly basis, she said.

“It makes you step back and realize how much you take for granted,” Stevens said. “There is so much I have that doesn’t even matter to them; they’re just so happy with what they have."