We have established our first endowed children's ministry scholarship at Moody Bible Institute, and have a vision to establish such scholarships at Bible colleges across the country. This grant is being offered by Kidology, Inc. to Moody students who are currently involved in ministry to children and who are considering a full time Children's Ministry degree.

Karl Bastian, an alumni of Moody Bible Institute as well as the former Pastor of Children at Moody Church, is the founder of Kidology, Inc. He is currently the Children's Pastor at the Village Church of Barrington in Barrington, Illinois. As the Kidology ministry has grown, one of his goals has been to provide financial assistance to students who are interested in working with children. As a student at Moody, Karl was very appreciative of the financial assistance he received which enabled him to complete his education. He is very excited about the opportunity he now has to be able to encourage and help others, just as he was, in return.

Pastor Karl Bastian has a strong desire to reach out to children with the Gospel of Christ and to train and equip others to do the same. He knows the power of the Word of God in the life of a child and the fruitfulness of a faithful servant, not only from his own relationship with the Lord, which began at age four, but also from the example of the work of God in the life of his mother, Patti Bastian. The following is excerpted from a pamphlet entitled The Conversion of Patti Bastian:

"Then, one year her world widened. Once a week she could actually depart the school building during the day and march in the care of patrol boys to a local site of religious instruction. Her particular released-time class was held at a Mennonite church that drew upon young, devoted Moody Bible Institute students to teach. Sometimes these marvelous bringers of illustrated stories would be marching along on the other side of the street toting their flannel graph boards, big picture stories, puppets and Bibles and things beyond imagination. It got to be as exciting as Christmas every week. … She heard about how the books were opened, the Book of Life, and of the judgment. She heard about the New Heaven and New Earth and descriptions of a place filled with things like jasper and crystal and every kind of jewel in a city made of pure gold. The place was so wonderful that the gates of the city were never shut. Oh, did she ever want to get her name in that book. … The director called her teacher, Jerry, over to the side for a chat that they thought velvet curtains would contain. But, Patti's ears were hearing a discussion of her immediate destiny. Jerry was being asked if he wanted a different assignment since he had only this solitary student, Patti. After a near eternity of silence, Jerry answered that he believed God wanted him to disciple this one little lady. And that was the beginning of a life-changing course of teaching that would bring Patti to understand the Cross and to love the Savior and His promises. Each Wednesday Patti would be filled with visions of the Kingdom before returning to doors that rusted and were carefully locked and to the unredeemable back yard… Week by week knowledge of God's Word and His grace was measured into an open heart. …On one of those magical Wednesdays, quietly and confidently, Patti responded to God's grace through His Son on the Cross. Through the faithfulness of a young man to a little girl lost and hidden away in a Chicago neighborhood, that one little girl now knew that another name, her very own, had been written in the Book of Life.

Patti (Leibforth) Bastian also was an alumni of Moody Bible Institute. She graduated in 1964 with a Christian Education degree, married classmate Doug Bastian, and served the Lord as a pastor's wife, enjoying ministry to children, youth and women throughout her life. She instilled her love of the Savior into her four children. She was called home to be with the Savior on Christmas Day 1996. It was a dream of hers, as well as her son's, to see students equipped to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to children everywhere.

A mother's dream is now a son's reality....

This is Patti's son, Karl Bastian, presenting a check for $15,000
to MBI's Daniel Ward at Kid U 2002, March 8th, 2002.

Ryan Yoder, our first recipient
of the Patti Bastian Memorial
Children's Ministry Scholarship at MBI.

James Bachelder was the second recipient
of the Patti Bastian Scholarship.
He is pictured here with Matias,
a young boy in Chicago whom James is ministering to.

Mindy Kay Downey is our most recent
recipient of the Patti Bastian Scholarship.

For information on applying for a Kidology Scholarship,
or donating to help provide more scholarships like this,
contact Dave Norbeck, the Kidology Foundation Director.