The World in our backyard!

Did you know? According to the International Student Inc, 75% of international students will never enter into an American home during their time in the States. 

A staggering 80% of international students will never enter a Church while they attend universities and college campuses across the U.S. 

These statistics are even more sad when you think of all the church members living near collage campuses who could literally change a life from around the world for eternity, simply by driving across town. 

We've always been intrigued to meet the international students who attend our home church up the road from Illinois State University. John and Linda do such an exceptional job of welcoming international students to America... they drive up to Chicago countless times to pick up and drop off students, arrange for host families and apartment furnishings, and see to student's needs throughout the semester.

I first met Linda at a quilt/crafting afternoon at our church. Spending afternoons listening to some of her stories about events they've held and various students they've helped was interesting. A window into a world I was so unfamiliar and uneducated about.

"Hey; let's take the kids up to ITT some Friday!" I told Luke. We'd never attended, though Linda had encouraged us to try it out. International Talk Time (ITT) is a Friday night event they host with Amy and Tofig. Volunteers provide a free meal for students and they always have a meet and greet time with activity scheduled.

Sometimes the activities are strictly American pastimes to familiarize students with our culture. (Square dance lessons, Bunko and Bingo nights, karaoke and harvest parties, for example.) The events serve as English immersion for the students; a chance to meet Americans and hopefully build relationships among other international students that will last throughout the semesters and beyond. 

While ITT is a welcoming safe place for students from all religious backgrounds,   they always offer a prayer before the meals and the opportunity for students to get involved in a Bible Study. It's incredible to think of the opportunities that lie for Christian outreach to the nations - right in our own backyard!

Friday nights at Talk Time is English immersion for the international students, but we love the culture immersion it gives us and our children! We learn so much from international students! Unlike most American college students, (warning: stereotyping to follow) instead of being focused on materialism and surface topics, international students are eager to share their uniqueness and cultural differences. These kids are brilliant! I mean serious students; most hold masters degrees and higher. They all have well-thought-out plans for their future and are determined and dedicated to work hard and achieve those goals.

Where American students tend to go to 4 year colleges "just because that's what everybody does", international students count it a real privilege to study abroad in higher academia. They are intent on their studies and work harder than most college students I've met. They have family pride and honor behind them in their countries and strive to live up to the expectations and sacrifices made for them. They are an inspiring group of young people. We love chatting it up with them and playing hilarious games with inter-cultural spin-offs.

The boys love to goof around with students. 

Singing Christmas carols... yes; we fed our children cake and then handed them fire.

We love that we can take our entire family to ITT and serve together. Kids tend to be great ice breakers! While an international student may initially be a bit shy to try out their English with us, they engage our children almost immediately upon walking in the room. This leads to fun interaction between our kids that leads inevitably to us into a lengthy conversation or an invitation to have them over for dinner.

Karaoke night was great fun!

It has been a complete honor this past year to host several international students for a meal in our home. They enjoy seeing our kids in their own environment and learning about how American families live.

Some chat nights lead to students talking about what they think of America and Americans in general. It's been eye-opening (and sometimes embarrassing) for us to hear what impressions our country has left on them! We love learning about their customs and family life, too!

The most important thing for us to remember is that all of these interactions are an opportunity to give them an impression of American culture and Christian love. We may be the only followers of Jesus some of them will ever meet! God has opened doors in some relationships and in others we've just planted seeds for someone else to water. 

If you live anywhere near a college campus or university, we cannot encourage you enough to take your children to mingle with international students. It expands their horizons and feeds their curiosity in history and geography lessons in school! Most importantly it gives them a compassion for others living outside their comfort zones, far far away from their families.