For college students, money is a scarce commodity. So when CSU students Ashley Williams and Katie Young shared their passion to raise $2,000 for “One Verse,” it seemed a tall order.
Ashley Williams, left, and Katie Young hold a poster displaying the 100 verses to be translated into the Rikou language. A verse was highlighted for every $20 received.In January, the two girls attended the Passion conference in Atlanta. During the event, a speaker shared about One Verse, an organization that translates the New Testament into the native language of unreached people groups for $20 a verse. Holding up what appeared to be a Bible, he flipped through the blank pages, explaining that many people do not have a Bible they can read. The empty pages spoke volumes to Ashley and Katie. “They haven’t heard the gospel at all,” said Ashley, a junior church music major and member at Rehoboth Baptist Church in North Charleston. “They have no idea it even exists.”
Excited about the challenge, the girls joined with Campus Ministries to raise funds to translate 100 verses – John 5:7-6:59 – into the Rikou (rye-koo) language. The students cited a key verse from the passage they chose: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 NIV).
Students consistently carried partially filled containers around campus, petitioning other students, faculty and staff to give and pray that they would reach the goal. By Jan. 31, $211.57 had been collected with Feb. 14 as a tentative date to reach the goal. Feb. 14 came and went, and the goal was not met. A second deadline of Feb. 28 was set. Again, the goal was not met, but the girls did not give up. They believed God had asked them to take this challenge, and they trusted him to raise the funds needed.
Over the next few months, more than half of the $2,000 was collected. The day the money was to be sent to the One Verse organization, a student walked into campus minister Clark Carter’s office with several hundred dollars in hand. Carter was stunned by the amount of cash. The student had received a refund check from the business office and wanted to donate it to One Verse. The generous gift and funds collected over the spring semester met the goal needed to translate the 100 verses.
“We said that we were not going to quit until we met the goal,” said Ashley. “God will provide.”