Bob and Debbie Whattoff, ISM Staff in Urbana, IL: Following is an encouraging note from a couple from China, who recently finished postdoctorate studies here and took a job in Canada. Debbie met regularly with the wife and invited them to our home a number of times.

Dear Bob and Debbie:

We know that every summer you help new international students get settled at the U of I. The most important thing you do is to teach them about Jesus. They come here for the "American dream;" but the more they look for it, the more confused they become.

The day we accepted Jesus, we realized that we had finally found what we'd been looking for. Our lives have not been the same since then. We are God's children, and God will stay with us always. When we need Him, He is right here with us. We'll never feel sad as before. We have found the purpose of life through Jesus Christ. Your job is very important to international students like us. We thank God for giving us a wonderful baby. She likes it when I read to her the Bible Picture Book you gave me.

Katie Rawson, ISM Staff in Pasadena, CA: The women's group discussion at the International Bible Study went really well one night recently when I was called on to lead at the last minute. I was especially impressed by the remarks of a newcomer from China. Afterwards I found out that "Yan" had attended a Bible study for three years while getting her Ph.D. in the Midwest. But, she wasn't a Christian yet.

Of course Yan wanted to know about me too. I described to her the research I just finished in the Fall. When I mentioned having interviewed 28 students who had come to Christ in this country, she was intrigued. "What did you learn?" she asked. "Perhaps the most important thing was that students do not always get their questions answered in a satisfactory way."

"As a matter of fact, I have some questions myself." Yan fired off three questions which all concerned prayer! I reached for the Bible and started to try to answer them, only to find myself interrupted with more questions. From the look on her face and the kinds of questions she was asking, I began to wonder if she were ready to ask the Lord into her life. To make a long story short, that is exactly what she did, right then and there.

I invited Yan to my apartment for lunch on Sunday so we could have more time to deal with her questions The three main ones were "How do we pray?" "Why do we have to pray when God knows what we need anyway?" and "Shouldn't we just pray to get closer to God and not worry about specific requests?" None of these were on my frequently asked questions list compiled during my research!

I turned to the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 to answer the question about how to pray, and I stayed with that text in dealing with the second question. "To pray 'Your Kingdom come, Your will be done' in a specific area of my life is to line my will up with God's will. To pray 'Your Kingdom come' for a specific portion of the world is to help bring God's will to earth for that part of the world. One reason our world is in such bad shape is because God's people have not been praying enough."

Yan seemed to be following what I was saying, so I continued. "We should pray to get closer to God. The closer we are to Him, the more we will know what His will is, and the better we can pray. The prayer to be closer to Him is the most important one. But since we are His children, God is happy to hear all our specific requests, too." There were a few more questions and answers but she seemed satisfied with the replies. I was grateful that I had asked two friends at church to pray for this meeting!

Angela Jamieson, ISM Staff in Portland, OR: I met Miyuki in the Fall when she arrived from Japan to attend classes at Portland State University. She attended the Friday Night International Student Coffee House, and soon joined the Coffee House band playing bass guitar. On Labor Day she joined FOCUS staff for a hike, and we had our first conversation about Christianity - Who is Satan??

I soon discovered Miyuki struggled with many issues. FOCUS staff helped her move out of a difficult living situation and into the dorms, and we provided blankets and other household items to help get her established. At Christmas Miyuki was Mary in our Coffee House play and joined us for a Christmas presentation at a local Portland church. Afterwards we enjoyed dinner at a volunteer's home and discussed the significance of Christmas. Miyuki remarked, "We Japanese believe Mary lied to Joseph about who the real father of Jesus was."

After returning from InterVarsity conferences in January, I asked Miyuki to join the Japanese Bible study with Yumiko and Akemi. Miyuki seriously studied the passages about basic Christian beliefs and asked excellent questions. In February we read Romans, Chapters 3 and 5, discussing sin. Miyuki said, "Adam isn't my ancestor. He's white!" But, she prayed with me that night to ask Jesus into her heart!

Miyuki is currently studying the Book of John, and we meet together on Mondays to discuss it. She now asks, "Can I be baptized?" She is learning about love, forgiveness, and healing, and what it means to have a relationship with her Creator.

Dave Hooker, ISM Staff in Fresno, CA: Joyce was one of the very few students who arrived in the States as a serious follower of Jesus. After a couple years in the international fellowship, she returned home to Taiwan. In a recent letter she wrote to me about the struggle of "re-entry" culture shock, meaningless work, a broken heart, a family business that went bankrupt, and the death of a loved one.

But Joyce rejoices that Jesus met her at the deepest point of her pain and gave her peace, healing and hope. And, get this - she praises God that he allowed her to go through such a tough time.

Now, Joyce is in a place of great influence for Jesus in her job and church. She is even planning on marrying a man who is preparing to be a pastor, a long-term prayer request and desire.

The most amazing thing about Joyce's life these days is that she is meeting three times each week with a small group of colleagues who are believers. Together they are reaching out to those in their workplace in Taiwan who don't yet know Jesus. Marketplace ministry is one of our high values.

Nicole Landy, IV Staff in Cincinnati, OH: I was very proud of the Christian Faculty Group and the Christian Medical Fellowship for creating wonderful Gospel-sharing opportunities. The thrill of having so many people show up to hear about the resurrection and participate in the Muslim-Christian Dialogue was amazing. Our speakers were clear and direct with what they thought but in such a loving way that both audiences eagerly expressed the need for some kind of followup. Many members of the Grad group stayed long into the night trying to clarify matters of faith with the Muslim students. We were even blessed by the presence of four Christians who converted from Islam, and they drove down from Cleveland just to help us testify about Jesus. Jesus is really great!

Brad Bertelsen, IV Staff in El Paso, TX: Three years ago, I met John at a cookout near the one dormitory at UTEP. The cookout was hosted by our IV chapter as part of our New Student Outreach. We were targeting the dorm students, most of whom are athletes or international students. John was from the Czech Republic and interested in meeting and conversing with Americans. We enjoyed a nice conversation that afternoon. Over the next two years Shelley and I had him over to our home several times, and I met with him several times a semester. John was a devout atheist and convinced that belief in God was totally irrational. He was a graduate student in biology. We developed a good friendship and had several long discussions about God, Jesus, life and death. On a few occasions, I could see that he was really thinking. But it felt like he would never be persuaded.

Last year, John moved out of state to work on his doctorate. I lost touch; I didn't even get an e-mail address. I felt bad that I had lost contact with him. In December I was in my office, discouraged and wondering why more students were not becoming Christians, when my phone rang. "Hi, Brad, this is John." "Wow, what a great surprise! How have you been?" "Well, I moved to Washington and am working on my doctorate, got married, and gave my life to Christ. I felt God wanted me to call you and thank you for being persistent in sharing Christ with me."

I was overjoyed to tears. I am glad that God rescued John from his lostness and glad that I could play a small part in that process. Needless to say, my feelings of discouragement melted into gratitude as God in his grace had let me know that I was right where He wanted me and that I was to keep on doing what He has indeed called me to do.