"You said 'Ask and I'll give the nations to you'...oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart..."

Alright....I've got a special topic for this blog entry. Looking back over the last couple, I realize that I have said very little about a new aspect of my life this school year, and one that is rapidly growing close to my heart. International student ministry.

I received a phone call this summer from one of my campus pastors asking if I was interested in helping with the beginnings of Chi Alpha's international student outreach -- they needed a female student leader, and he thought it might be a good fit for me. Honestly, I didn't completely understand what I was getting into. However, I've always loved learning about other cultures and countries, and after traveling to Haiti this summer, I've discovered how contagious travel is, and how amazing it can be to have friendships with non-Americans. Being able to make these relationships, while in the context of encouraging questions about God, sounded like it would be an awesome experience. Plus, in the back of my mind, I've always wanted to work in another country (my degree will be in teaching), and this seemed like a good way to see if that was definitely a calling that I saw myself following through with, or if it was just a pipe dream.

Yasuko & me at the football game

It was a tentative start, trying to make connections with any international students that seemed interested in our Friday night "Talk Time" events. I'm pretty friendly, but my introverted nature likes to be the one listening and replying to the conversation and not the one who's constantly initiating conversation. In the case of international ministry, I definitely have had to get outside of my box. I've been learning how to ask questions, and to ask questions that aren't always about their country or culture. I'm always reminding myself that I want to get to know the individuals as well. What would I ask an American about his/herself in order to get to know them better?

The girls who came to camp!
Yayoi, Aggie, Yasuko, Tong, Zhiting, (me) and Beini!
(not pictured) Selina 

Chi Alpha's fall camp was last weekend, and we invited any international students who wanted to come along. What a blessing -- 15 decided to come!! 7 girls and 8 guys, and so I was in a cabin with the 7 girls, while Weston and Jake are the leaders on the guy side. I had such a fun time over the course of the weekend with all of them.  :) We laughed a lot, made all kinds of dumb jokes, and had some great conversation. (I can now say "I do not speak insert-language-here" in 5 languages!) For almost all of them who came, they were at square 1 as far as knowing anything about Christianity or the Bible, or why we do what we do in church at all. That was really intimidating for me - I was so nervous about explaining things wrong, or in a way that would be offensive, or hurtful, to anything that they thought/believed/had been told. In our discussion groups, we talked mostly about their different questions about Christianity, what the Bible said about certain topics, etc. On our second night there, I felt like I needed to explain a general overview of what Christians believe, and so I tried to lay out the Gospel story in as concise and simple terms as possible. It was kind of scary, and yet really exciting, that so many of these girls were at least curious to hear and observe what I believe. And it challenged me to really think through the "whys" and "how comes" of my faith. I hope that some of the girls will have questions, or at least still be interested in learning more, after being at camp.

And let me just re-state, I had such a fabulous time with them! Monday, I didn't see any non-American students all day, and I felt a little bored and lonely by the evening. I just love meeting and spending time with the international women, and I love our interactions as a co-ed XAi group as well! I've started to think and pray about inviting a few girls home with me for Thanksgiving break. It's just a matter of finding those who don't already have plans, and who I think would be willing to spend an entire week with me! haha....

Yota & Yoshi being...
well, Yota & Yoshi.

As far as what I have learned over the last 7-8 weeks...well, I was really unsure. At camp, I kept trying to understand what God wanted me to really take away from the weekend. I thought that each sermon was good, but different from the others, and our discussion group times and international interactions didn't seem to fit in with what the sermons were on. However....at camp sharing on Wednesday, I finally read over all of my notes from the weekend, and listened to everyone else's testimonies and I think I figured it out. Almost all of my sermon notes had something to do with fear. Seriously, every service, I made some note about what I shouldn't fear, or wrote down prayers to God confessing my fear of a certain aspect. And then thinking about the time with the international students, it was definitely a time of facing fears. Fears of being incapable of sharing my faith, fears of being too difficult to understand, fears that they wouldn't want to be my friend.... all things that I had to deal with head on. God's also shown me a few places personally where I have fears about Him.  So yeah, I guess there was one big take-away. I've definitely got a lot of growing to do.

Yayoi & me!
<3 this girl!

I'm going to a conference in December called the World Missions Summit -- it's basically 4000 college students from XA groups all over the country, and 1000 missionaries from all over the world. While the  details of what we'll actually do over the course of 3 days are still a little fuzzy, I know that I'm bursting with anticipation. The idea of hearing and learning about more of the world, and finding out opportunities to go and serve and love in other places.....I'm just excited. I know God's going to challenge me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what that means. I'm such a home-body, and I love roots, family, old friendships, and traditions. But at the same time, there's a part of my spirit that just wants to go, and see, and do. A part of me that's so excited at the thought of leaving the country and going to experience life somewhere else. I don't know how those two will ever find a happy medium, but I'm trusting God to use both sides for some grand plan that I just haven't seen happen yet. And as all of this has been progressing this summer, I've found myself wanting more and more to study a 3rd language.

Until that point, I'm loving my chances to connect with the people who have already come to this country, and are just looking for integration into the American culture. Little do they know, that there's a bigger family out there waiting to connect with them. These are my future brothers and sisters in Christ - I want to know that I'll see them in eternity! Because they are such fun to party with!  ;)

Hanging out waiting for lunch

*You Said, Shane & Shane