Wilson, 64, said 20 to 25 hours make up a typical week of tutoring. Right now, he has six students he tutors regularly. Three of them are from Ethiopia, one is from Honduras, one is from Sudan and one is from Korea. 

He also tutors the eight-year-old daughter of a waitress at Theio’s Restaurant in Lansing, a place he frequently meets with his other students. Although he has been tutoring since he was in college, he didn’t start teaching refugee students until 2001. 

Since then, he has taught between 40 and 50 students from nearly every continent, including Africa, Europe and South America. He said he will teach everything from English to math, to learning with the students as they go through their Sociology textbooks.

“I lost my father, and it made me sensitive to kids without parents or who had parents that they didn’t get along with,” Wilson said. “Sometimes it’s nice to have an older, adult friend to smooth things out.”

His first students in 2001 were from Sudan and struggled with speaking English, something Wilson believes is vital to know when studying at an American school. He learned to teach English so he could tutor his students in it as well, making it easier for them to learn other subjects once they understood the language it was being taught in.

One of his first students ended up graduating second in his class. 

“His foster parents and teachers gave me credit, but I thought it was undeserved,” he said. “I was part of it, but not all of it.” 

Wilson also started working with Student Exchange during the past year, when he started taking international and refugee students into his home until they could find more permanent ones. Instead of being a tutor, he said he became a father. 

He has acted as a host to four students personally, and also works to find host homes for other students as well. 

One of his foster sons, Deom, came from Korea. Deom spent a year living with Wilson before returning to Korea in January 2014. 

Wilson has kept in touch with Deom, who has also found his own place in Wilson’s family — he said his four nieces regularly exchange Snapchats with Deom and keep in touch with him over Facebook. Wilson has even been trying to save enough money to bring Deom back to Michigan for a visit. 

“I feel like God wanted me to work with these kids,” Wilson said. “Some of them still come to ask me for advice. ... By the time I’m finished teaching them, I’m more of a mentor or surrogate parent.”