Connecting with International Students in Austin

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 750 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

"What are we teaching 600,000 foreign students about the U.S.?"

That’s what Katherine Mangu-Ward asks in her Wall Street Journal article, "Ambassador Training." More important to me is what we believers are teaching international students about Christ.

Ms. Mangu-Ward contends that foreign students, especially those from countries with troubled relations with the West, can become America’s best "ambassadors" when they return home. Many are from elite or middle-class families, and since they are on student visas they are required to return to their home country upon completion of their American study program. This, she says, gives us a prime opportunity for influence.

Ms. Mangu-Ward wants us to look for ways to expose international students to American culture beyond the cardboard caricatures they came with, but I have an additional motivation for highlighting her article. We believers also need to look for ways to expose international students to real Christianity. Their two-to-six years on a student visa may be their only real chance to interact with Christians and examine biblical faith.

Let’s not waste that chance. There is a practical way you can build personal friendships with international students. Sunday, March 11, has been set aside as "International Night" at Rodeo Austin. Hillcrest supports a ministry that reaches out to international students, and this organization already has a waiting list of students interested in experiencing this uniquely American—and Texan—event. We want to show you how you can start a relationship with international students (singles and families) by bringing them to the rodeo.

To find out more about this work, join us on Wednesday, March 7, at 6:30pm. A representative from the international student ministry will tell us what we need to know. Contact Craig Johnson, our Missions Committee chairman, if you’d like to find out more.

This Sunday, February 25, we’ll continue our study through the Beatitudes called "The Pursuit of Happiness." Join us at 9:30am and 10:45am. And if you attend the first service, "hang around for Common Ground" in the gym afterward. If you attend the second service, come to the lobby an hour earlier this week, and a greeter will take you to a Sunday School class. I’m seeing new faces in our small-group ministry every week!

I first referenced Ms. Mangu-Ward's WSJ article in August. I ended the post by saying, "Pray for ways to build personal friendships with international students, and help us look for ways to connect Hillcrest with service opportunities to these students." With this "International Night" at the Rodeo, looks like my prayers are answered!