Each year thousands of students from over 200 different countries study in the United States at 1,500 institutions of higher learning. These students represent a strategic group of people when their future influence in their own countries is considered, as well as their openness and desire to learn about Christianity while they are here.
Who These People Are
These students inevitably will become the leaders in government, industry, business and education when they return home. In many cases they represent the very small minority who have been privileged to get an education of any sort, as well as the further infinitesimal minority who have been able to study abroad. For these reasons, as well as the fact that they are among the most capable people from their countries, their future leadership is assured. Many of today's political leaders in Africa, the Middle East, South America and the Orient were students in the United States yesterday. This is also true of leaders in education and in other professional fields.
Won to Jesus Christ and back in their own countries, these men and women would be able to reach a segment of society in their own countries which the average foreign missionary is unable to touch because of cultural, racial and political barriers, especially if the missionary is a white Westerner. In addition, these men and women know the culture and language of their own countries to an extent that a foreigner can never hope to know them in his lifetime. In these days of increasing tension between the West and other parts of the world, the strategic potential of these students for the spread of the gospel is greater than ever before.
As students these men and women are interested in truth, for which most of them are searching. Generally speaking, they think of America as a "Christian nation"; as a result they are usually at least casually interested in knowing something of what Christianity is like. If their sole impression comes from what they see around them, rather than from close personal contact with a genuine Christian, the distortion they gain is beyond description.
Though tremendous differences exist in the backgrounds and cultures from which these students come, they share one common desire: to have at least one genuine friend among American students or families. A survey at Cornell University shows that while 98 per cent of the international students stated that the thing they wanted most in America was to find a genuine, long-term friend, only 15 per cent felt that they had actually achieved such a friendship.
It is the will of God that every one of these students whom He has brought from overseas should hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in warm, loving, personal terms before his return home. For many of those who come from countries which are barred to foreign missionaries, their time in this country may be the only opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ.
Generally speaking, we American students are the ones who have the best opportunities and therefore the greatest responsibility to reach these overseas friends for Jesus Christ. This is because we have the most sustained contact with them as well as a similar background as students, which enables us to achieve rapid rapport. Among his non-Christian friends, each Christian student should have at least one who is from a foreign country. For the thing that these students desire most is friendship with just one or two individuals.
This makes it imperative for the Christian student to concentrate upon one or two students, rather than to try to get to know twenty or more superficially. Because of language and cultural barriers, it is almost impossible for someone from overseas to understand clearly the gospel of Jesus Christ, unless it is presented to him in personal terms which he can understand. He must have "on the spot" opportunity to question that which is not clear to him. It is usually impossible to introduce these people to Jesus Christ by mass methods, and there is great need for numbers of individuals who will establish personal contacts.
As there is opportunity the gospel is shared with this friend. There should never be a forcing of discussion, but at the same time we should patiently trust the Holy Spirit to do what He alone can do: bring a person to new life in Jesus Christ.
A residual effect on the American student who seeks and finds such a friendship is to broaden his own background as he gains increased knowledge from the live contact with someone from another country. There could be no better preparation for missionary service overseas than to know a person from the country to which you hope to go, gaining through his eyes a firsthand understanding of the culture, the feelings, the aspirations, the attitudes of the people with whom you will someday be working. However this contact with individuals should not be limited to those who feel that ultimately God is leading them overseas. It is for every Christian student because all are needed if the job is to be done.
The group should be in touch with the foreign student advisor, if there is one on your campus, both to inquire about opportunities and to volunteer the members' help in any way possible to further existing service programs for international students. This is an excellent way to gain natural personal contacts with overseas students, and also indicates the willingness and desire of the InterVarsity group to be of service to the university.
If there is no foreign student advisor, or if a service program seems advisable but does not exist, then the IVCF group should take the lead in planning and executing such a program. For instance, if no plans are set up to meet international students as they arrive on the campus by plane, bus or train, the group should make whatever plans are necessary and possible, arranging to meet these students on arrival. Help can then be given to locate housing and to become oriented generally to the campus. One group has a guided tour of campus and town for international students early in the fall. This is both a real service and a natural opportunity to make contact.
The group should see to it that IVCF "House Parties" held during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter vacations are widely publicized among overseas students, so that they are all aware of such opportunities and can participate if they desire to do so.
The group should make every effort to bring international students with them to such House Parties, getting them there, and also following them up personally afterward.
The group has the responsibility of seeing that students who have been met at various ports of United States entry (such as New York or San Francisco) by InterVarsity personnel are followed up when they arrive on campus. This contact usually has made the international student a real friend of the IVCF person who met him and therefore presents an excellent opportunity for a student also associated with IVCF to deepen and further the friendship with little difficulty.
A reception at the beginning of the year should be held in honor of international students, especially to contact new ones who have arrived. Such a reception will insure that they know about the IVCF group and its program, and will also give American Christian students an opportunity to meet these overseas students personally and in a natural way. By this means also Christians are frequently discovered among the newly arrived students. Christian international students have an important contribution to make to the life of any Christian Fellowship.
It is evident that God has given us an unparalleled opportunity by sending to our campuses thousands of students from all over the world, students who know our language and who want to learn about our country, its culture and its religions. Whether the campus has two international students or 1,000, each Christian and each group has a definite responsibility before God to see to it that they are shown the love of Christ in personal terms, given the opportunity to understand the gospel and thus to receive Jesus Christ.
Qualifications. The International Student Chairperson should be one who has a genuine interest in people of cultures other than his own. He should be one who has familiarized himself with the geography of the world and who either has, or is willing to establish, contact with large numbers of overseas students, thus coming to know their ways of thinking and general attitudes. He should be one who is able to lead other Americans into a sympathetic understanding of students from overseas. Above all, of course, he should have a keen and close relationship to Jesus Christ, who will give him the motivation to serve and to love these students from overseas.
His Purpose. His primary objective will be to see to it that every Christian student on the campus has at least one solid friendship with an international student. He will accomplish this by organizing programs in which both international and American Christian students are involved, by personally talking to the Christians to orient them and to give them vision, and by himself setting an example by getting to know well one or two students from overseas.
Responsibilities. It is his job to check systematically with every student in the group as to whether he or she has a friend from overseas. Where such a friendship does not exist and the person would like to have one, he should arrange for him to meet someone from overseas or give instructions as to how to make this contact.
Accordingly, the International Students Chairperson endeavors to serve the group in assuming the following responsibilities:
To develop as a person.
Sees that a strong prayer foundation is laid beneath the group's efforts to reach international students, and that such endeavors are based solidly on Scripture.
Leads the group in planning,implementing and reviewing its efforts to reach students coming from other nations. Keeps in touch with the school's Foreign Students Advisor (or office).
Acquaints himself with literature and media which can help members serve with internationals. Introduces such tools to the group and urges usage.
Informs the group about camps,conferences, and other opportunities for improving their work concerning international students.
For more information about this article, please contact: Are you a chapter's Chairperson? Contact - nhale@ivcf.org
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