Grace Flint, left, and Goshen native Kayla Casaletto are teaching missionary kids with Mercy Ships. Photo provided by Cedarville University.

News Release

CEDARVILLE, OHIO — After graduation, many college friends get jobs close to each other or even share an apartment. But it’s not every day that two Cedarville University graduates join forces to board a ship to teach missionary kids for two years.

Grace Flint and Kayla Casaletto, both 2019 graduates from Indiana, are doing just that.

Flint has a degree in early childhood education, and Casaletto has a degree in sport business management.

They met on Cedarville’s cross-country team.

Several years after graduation, the women went together to serve with Mercy Ships, a missions organization that provides hope and healing to the people of African countries by giving life-saving surgeries. Though the organization’s ministry is medical-based, both Flint and Casaletto work as teachers for the missionary kids on the ship.

Mercy Ships wasn’t originally the plan for either of them.

Flint’s first job after graduation was at New Song Mission, a children’s home near her hometown of Columbus, but she always felt the tug to overseas missions.

“I started praying and asking God where I should go,” Flint said. “And then one day, the Lord put Mercy Ships in my mind out of nowhere. I hadn’t thought about it for years. I had heard about it first from my dad because growing up in a Navy family, I was always around ships.”

She found that a new ship had just been built, and they were hiring teachers for the kids whose parents work on the ship. When she had the opportunity to teach second grade, she jumped on board.

“It was really just the timing of the Lord in how a bunch of small things came together,” Flint said. She teaches core subjects like math, language arts, spelling, penmanship, history and science.

Casaletto’s path was a bit similar to Flint’s, with the right doors opening at the right time.

Pictured is the running team that Flint and Casaletto (first in the second row) started.

After graduation, Casaletto coached cross country and track at Goshen College in her hometown of Goshen. However, she knew her friend would be working aboard Mercy Ships, and she was conflicted about whether to stay as a coach or join Flint as a teacher. Again, with the timing of the Lord, the doors closed on the coaching opportunity, so Casaletto joined Flint on the ship.

Casaletto was hired to teach physical education based on her experience as a coach, but she also teaches life skills, Bible and student life.

The families on the ship have made big sacrifices to work there, completely uprooting their lifestyles to volunteer on the ship for at least two years.

Flint and Casaletto wanted to help the kids feel integrated and connected to one another, so they did what was close to their hearts: They started a running club.

“A team like this is a really great way to get to know people and bond together over experiences,” Casaletto said. “I wanted to give that opportunity to the kids. I prayed all summer about it because people don’t always like running, but it’s been very important for me my whole life.”

The kids have loved the experience, practicing, getting jerseys and racing on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where the ship is docked for maintenance.

“Being able to help make their experience better by organizing sports for the kids is where I think the biggest impact is for me,” Flint said. “I’m building relationships with the kids because of our proximity to one another.”

Flint and Casaletto both signed two-year contracts with Mercy Ships that will be up in June.

“I think the impact we’re having is creating an awesome and godly environment for the kids for the couple years that they’re here,” Casaletto said. “I want them to have the best experiences that they can in order to be well-rounded, whether that’s rock climbing, meeting locals from the island or a good education.”

Flint said, “Honestly, being part of a running team here reminds me of being on the team at Cedarville. We are able to share the intentional community we found at Cedarville with the kids on the ship.”