Chelsea DeVille has spent the last two years developing the Bemidji State women’s basketball program from the sidelines of the hometown BSU Gymnasium. But, for two weeks in Eldoret, Kenya, it was on another court where she made a world of difference.

DeVille and 12 others — including Tatum Sheley, a former standout guard for the Beavers — braved more than 8,500 miles of travel for a primary school in eastern Africa as part of a mission trip through Simba Educational Ministries from May 9-22. And the team used their most effective tool as a way to minister to the children: sports.

“It was just absolutely throwing all differences aside and using the gift that God gave you of sports and how fun sports can be,” said DeVille, who is entering into her third year as head coach of the BSU women’s basketball team. “It was a time when you could just play. You didn’t have to worry about anything. We could just let loose and have fun.”

Between basketball, volleyball and soccer, the mission team — comprised mostly of coaches and athletes who represent seven universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska — ran various sports clinics at St. Jacob’s Primary School to give the local children a chance to practice their fundamentals and their faith.

“Basketball-wise was really cool because they’ve never really played it too much. Teaching them the basics was so fun,” Sheley said. “And we would pray afterwards, which was just the coolest thing. We’d hold hands in a circle, and we’d ask them if anyone wanted to pray… And they’d just start. The prayers they prayed were amazing. They’re amazing little Christ followers who became role models to me.”

Last year’s team set the foundation for DeVille and Sheley’s first ministry in Eldoret by setting up a permanent basketball court, volleyball court and soccer pitch.

Tom Goehle, vice president of Simba Ministries and an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Nebraska, has already seen the impact of the new resources.

“When I went there three years ago, we met kids who had never dribbled a basketball,” said Goehle, whose third visit to St. Jacob’s was only his latest of more than 15 mission trips spanning five different continents. “These skills, especially basketball, they’re just learning. A lot of our days were filled with just loving on the kids and teaching them.”

But the work wasn’t meant to end when the ball went through the hoop.

“Our whole mission was to be at this school, love on those kids and spread the Gospel to them,” DeVille said. “It was something where this wasn’t just a trip or a vacation, it was something where God put us there for a reason, and good things are happening.”

In addition to the sports clinics, the team also had the opportunity to visit a rescue center for orphaned children, serve through foot-washing ceremonies and go on home visits in the community. DeVille and Sheley did it all as partners — not as a player-coach tandem, which had been the norm during the past two seasons at BSU. But it wasn’t a difficult transition.

“It was easy,” Sheley said. “DeVille is a good person, and I knew she was a strong Christian. We’ve always connected on that part of life even when we were a coach and a player, so it came really easy becoming teammates on this team.”

“It was awesome because I’ve grown in my faith with Tatum, even as her coach. But now, not being her coach, I can kinda put my guard down a little bit and just grow with her,” DeVille added. “It was really cool to experience that with her. To see another side of each other was really good.”

Goehle witnessed it firsthand, too.

“It’s amazing to see how God would take something that, on the surface just looks like a player and coach, and make so much more of it,” he said. “It’s a joy for me seeing coach DeVille and Tatum as an extension of God’s grace poured out on other people. Seeing the joy that they get from that, and the joy they give because of that, is phenomenal.”

And despite the trip only being two weeks long, even their relationships with the Kenyans flourished in a divine way.

“The kids in general are just the happiest, most joyful kids I’ve ever met in my life,” Sheley said. “These people halfway across the world, we pray to the same God. We love him the same way they do. It was cool that we’re connected by that bond, and it just came so easy. There wasn’t a learning period where we had to figure each other out. We all love God, and we were all connected by it instantly.”

That strong fellowship is largely due to Simba Ministries’ continued involvement in Eldoret. This being the third visit to Kenya in the last three years, the bonds are only continuing to develop through the overseas trips and the organization’s child sponsorship program.

“It’s an ongoing relationship with the people in Kenya,” Goehle said. “And when you come back, it’s not ‘out of sight, out of mind’ because you have deeper relationships built with the children, with the staff, with the people of the village.”

DeVille returned to Bemidji on Monday, where she’s back to the competitiveness of college basketball. But if she ever needs any extra help, there’s one court in Kenya where she’s already clinched home-court advantage.

“These kids, some of them are taken off the streets. Some are there and their parents are giving everything they can just to get their kids in school. There were so many different stories,” said DeVille. “(And when they met us) they were latched on right away. They couldn’t stop grabbing your skin and touching your hair and comparing hands. It was just immediate love… That place became family pretty quick.”