If the world has come to our doorstep, then do we have to go overseas for a summer missions experience? This is the idea behind the ISM Summer Project on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) June 5 - August 2, 1999. Twelve Christian American and international students from chapters in the Central Region (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa) will live in a private residence hall with hundreds of internationals in central campus.

This summer team will work full-time in serving, befriending and sharing the love of Christ with the 3,000 international students/scholars and their families at UMC. They will attend training sessions in cross-cultural communications, comparative religions, the process of cultural adjustment for new sojourners and learn about different cultural groups. They will be English conversation partners, facilitate sightseeing trips, show the Jesus video in other languages, conduct campus booktables, lead investigative Bible studies, conduct Bible clubs for international kids, give rides to the grocery store, and make friends especially with incoming internationals. All this under the mentoring of several ISM specialists with a combined total of 50 years of experience in ISM.

Our hope is that they will return to their campuses with the vision, tools and know-how to mobilize the hundreds of Christian students in IVCF chapters throughout our region to befriend internationals at their doorstep.

Craig Colbert, ISM staff, U. of Missouri

Almost 10 months have passed since the members of the IVCF group at Eastern Tennessee State U. (ETSU) and I started talking about reaching out to international students. Though we had not talked with each other about it during the summer of 1997, we each came back last Fall with a sense that the Lord was leading us to do it. We have done this throughout the academic year - an English conversation group, Friday Fellowships, one-to-one friendships, an International Bible study, etc. Both veteran and new American Christian students have caught the vision for this outreach. The Lord has been at work throughout the year.

One of the most exciting things was that four international students who are not Christians went with us to IVCF's end of the year Chapter Camp in May. Students from schools from all over the Southeast were there, and the Lord did good things. The international students attended the "Get Rooted!" track, which taught students the foundations of a relationship with Jesus. They learned much through studying John 14-16, when Jesus washed His disciples' feet (and even experienced washing each other's feet). They were ministered to by our times of worshipping the Lord together. They were even touched by the kindness of the Christian students at camp and the fact that they did not have to worry about their possessions being stolen as dormitory doors at the camp were left unlocked. While none of these international students became a Christian that week, they did take several steps closer to the Lord, and desired to know more about Him.

The Lord was not done with His work though. Soon after Chapter Camp ended, some of these same students attended another Christian event. It was there that one of these students made a commitment to Christ! The Lord uses so many different people, events, etc. to bring folks to Himself. We (and you) have been praying for these students for much of this academic year, and the fruit of those prayers is evidenced here. Please pray for this student's growth in the Lord, and that the other international students would also come to know Jesus.

Jamie Harrison Campus Staff, ETSU

Six years ago, my first opportunity to be involved with IVCF came to me through Global Projects in Russia. That started the process that led me on staff in 1997. Last year, I took a team again to the university in Rostov where I had been with IV GP's a few years prior.

While leading our GP this summer it was suggested to me that the university might be open to us bringing Russian students to the US and making the GP a true exchange. To me it seemed a great opportunity - continuing the witness from the summer projects in Russian students' lives and also bringing internationals directly to the undergrad IV chapter at Purdue for a short friendship-based evangelistic cultural program. I ran the opportunity through all the channels and got the go ahead directly from IFES. The last great thing is that the Russian students who want to be involved are quite excited about recruiting our students for the following summer GP!

The group will sightsee for a few days in Chicago, as well as be hosted by IVCF students at Purdue University for four days. The undergraduate chapter at Purdue will introduce these students to American university life through visiting classes, hosting tours, leading discussions, attending their large group meeting and informal parties. The program will also include a visit to Tri-State University in Angola, IN.

Please pray that all the logistics and details will work out. Our hope is that this "true exchange" will expand the witness begun by the Global Projects, challenge more students to participate in Global Projects and InterVarsity LINK and involve more undergraduate IVCF students in creative ministry to international students.

Pat Black, ISM staff, Purdue U.

The laughter dies down as Yu, an international student from Asia, starts to tell the Bible study group something that is obviously very important to him. As he proceeds, he shares with the group that in his country he was not allowed to believe in God. He had never received the opportunity to learn about God and certainly not to read the Bible. But since he has been in America (one year), he has studied the Bible for the first time and now believes in God. Not only does he now believe in God, but he also believes that God brought him to America for a reason and that someday soon he will become a Christian! As Yu finishes his sharing, his wife Li nods her head and indicates that everything Yu just said applies to her also.

Yu and Li are just two of the students that attend InterVarsity's weekly Bible study for international students. This Bible study is the highlight of every week for me! God has gathered a group mainly of Asian graduate students who have never studied the Bible before, and, boy, are they hungry for spiritual truth!!! They ask the best questions and are so open to learning about Jesus. I thank God for the opportunity to know and pray for these students as God reveals himself to them. Please pray that Yu, Li, Casey (her American name), Bobbie (his American name), Zhang, Hong, and Rueben would come to trust in Jesus.

Ginger Moore, ISM staff in Louisville, KY