Our globalized world has opened amazing doors for the advance of the gospel. The Twin Cities is home to thousands of international students coming from all over the world. The majority of these students come from nations that have few Christians or in which the church is persecuted. What’s more, due to cultural and linguistic barriers, the majority of these students come and live among us for four or eight years without building any meaningful relationships with Americans.
Here we see an opportunity to share and demonstrate the love of Christ through welcoming, befriending, showing hospitality, and meeting practical needs for these students. Our staff have built relationships with students from dozens of countries. The pandemic has been harder on these students than most others as they have had to walk through this difficult time by themselves, apart from family and familiarity, navigating a foreign health system. As a result of COVID-19, the international student world has certainly turned “upside down.” Yet, in the midst of it all, we have seen a surprising number of open doors to love these students, from picking up groceries for them, to sharing meals. These opportunities have created a context in which to share the stability Jesus offers in an unstable world.
One student named “D” came to study at the U of M from a large country in Asia. Prior to arriving, he had never met a Christian or read the Bible. Early on in the pandemic, one of his family members back home died from the virus. At the time, he was part of a Bible study we were hosting weekly with students from his country. As his classes transitioned to fully online, his schedule opened up dramatically and he asked one of our staff to read the Bible together with him every single day! He was interested in learning more about Jesus and what it could look like to follow him. A few weeks later, this student came to faith in Jesus and wanted to tell others about his new life in Christ. This student is able to spend his life in a country in which missionaries are not allowed.
We serve a welcoming God who loves to show hospitality to the foreigners among us, and we are thankful for the privilege of joining him in that endeavor.
Tim Devane
Mobilization Director