International Students

While I have been here at Southwestern I have been exposed to so many wonderful international families, families from Nigeria, Cameroon, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Argentina, India. It has been such an encouraging experience. These kind friends love Jesus and want to be best equipped to minister to His glory. They are great people. I could write so much about the encouragement and kindness I have been the recipient of from all these wonderful people but that would make this post entirely too long.

At the church fair last night (the church fair happens once a year where the area churches set up booths during the seminary picnic so that new students can find a church to join), one friend from Malaysia came to our church booth and introduced me to his wife and son. His wife asked if anyone at our church could help her practice her English. She wants to raise her TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score so she can study here at SWBTS. It reminded me of my friend from India in the D.Min. program who will often come to my office or Mike's office to practice his English on us. According to him, it is much easier to speak, and particularly to read and write English, than it is to hear and comprehend it.

This has gotten me to thinking about the wonderful opportunity our churches could have to minister to these wonderful people. How simple would it be for a native English speaker to sit down and converse with one of these international students to give them the chance to practice their English? It would only take time on our part, nothing more. And the benefits we both would receive would be tremendous. We would be helping fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to get a better grasp on the English language, allowing them to better function in day-to-day life in America as well as enabling them to better understand their studies here at SWBTS. (I'll tell you one thing, if I was pursuing a degree in a second language, I would be utterly lost. These are really intelligent people but without practice, English is such an intimidating barrier.)

In the meantime, we would be building relationships with believers from different cultures, reminding us that God is not just an "American" or "English" god but the God of the universe and He is worshipped by people around the world. We would develop a love and respect for their culture and their country, placing in us a greater burden for missions around the world.

What would be the best way to go about doing a ministry like this? I'm not sure if God is calling me to take part in something like this, but it's a great thing to think about. Let me know what you guys think, especially those of you who are part of my church family.