Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The World on Our Doorstep

My wonderful wife and I are going to volunteer again with a group serving international students. At the training of the local ministry, we learned the statistic we'd heard years ago has slightly improved. It used to be 80% of international students come to the U.S. and leave (1-6 years later) never having seen the inside of an American home. It's still 70% of the 700,000 students who are here.

What an opportunity to establish friendship, and love and serve individuals from all over God's world -- and also to then answer their questions -- about family, work, and what we believe about Christ. Many students come assuming all Americans are "Christians". No wonder they so often leave our country deeply disappointed at reactions they've received to their presence here.

....go and make disciples of all nations [all people groups].... (Matthew 28:19)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We deeply enjoyed our time with our international students, although it was very draining. It takes a lot of effort to speak slowly and think carefully about what you're saying, if it will be clear; and then to listen carefully, try to figure out what they are trying to say, etc. But neat memories were made. I look forward to the next time our life opens up so we can commit to new international friends.

My wife Patty and I

My wife Patty and I
My best friend