by Tessa Landrum, Student Public Relations Writer
When Kasey Pot, a sophomore at Cedarville University from Lebanon, Ohio, found herself singing a capella and reading a children’s book in an impromptu interview, she knew the job would be unusual. She just didn’t expect to trade her college dorm room for a tour bus.
As a worship major, Pot had musical ambitions walking into her freshman year. But when she didn’t make Cedarville’s HeartSong Ministries as a potential vocalist, her hopes were met with disappointment.
Instead, Pot was selected for the all-girl band Rekindle, a part of the department of music and worship. When her team led worship in Cedarville’s daily chapel service, Pot caught the attention of that day’s speaker, Dannah Gresh, founder of Pure Freedom Ministries and True Girl.
Gresh offered Pot a chance to work with True Girl, touring North America for 9½ months and sharing about having faith in Jesus Christ with moms and their 7- to 12-year-old daughters.
“I really did not see myself leaving school, leaving my roommate and leaving my family to do this,” said Pot. “A gap year in the middle of freshman and sophomore year made zero sense to me.”
Pot dismissed the opportunity until a convicting conversation with her dad. “He looked at me and asked, ‘Did you tell her you were willing to do whatever God has planned for your life?’” said Pot. “Immediately I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit press upon me.”
Frantically, Pot emailed Gresh’s assistants to communicate she was willing to go where God called her. Shortly thereafter, she was hired as a cast member.
The tour was physically and spiritually demanding. On show days, cast members would view the venue at 9 a.m., unload and set up marketing materials and stage sets, conduct sound checks, interact with hundreds of attendees, tear everything down, load up and sleep on the bus as it transported them to their next location overnight. At one point, they did six shows in one week.
“It looked like waking up at 8 a.m. and going to bed at 2 a.m. and still finding a way to make quiet time with the Lord a priority,” said Pot.
Working with True Girl Ministries was a growing experience for Pot. “I recognized very quickly that if I was not setting aside time to get into the Bible every day, there was no way that what I was preaching to these girls would be genuine,” said Pot.
By the time COVID-19 canceled the tour, more than 400 moms and daughters had made decisions to put their faith in Jesus Christ. “It was incredible!” said Pot.
Even a pandemic could not stop the momentum of their ministry; Pot and her castmates continued to serve moms and daughters during quarantine.
“My team and I created a YouTube channel called True Girl Live, where every single day we did an activity, like a science experiment or singalong, with girls all over the country,” said Pot. “For one event, we had over 5,000 girls watching and over 300 claimed to give their lives to Christ.”
Though a gap year cut short by COVID-19 was unexpected for Pot, she would do it again.
"The truth is that if we’re living in what God wants for us, he will satisfy us,” said Pot. “There is so much freedom and sweetness in dwelling in the will of the Lord. We can trust him because he knows our hearts and he desires such goodness for us.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including the Bachelor of Arts in Worship program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.