Campus ministry is increasingly taking on an international face, in a strategic and opportunistic adaptation to the Global Current of Migration.
Millions of students are traveling to other countries for educational purpose, in dramatic proportions. China sent more students to America than any other country in 2011– 157,588 of them, for an amazing increase of 23% from 2010. The number of Chinese foreign students around the world rose from 179,000 in 2008 to 284,000 in 2010. Most of the Chinese students studying abroad are now self-funded by their parents, a 180-degree shift from just a few years ago. This reflects the dramatic growth of China’s middle class.
The top five countries sending students to study in the US in 2011 were China, India, South Korea, Canada, and Taiwan. Number six was Saudi Arabia, which saw an astonishing 44% jump in one year! Meanwhile, Indians studying in the US declined 1%, reflecting a general trend among Indian nationals who are choosing to return to a more robust economy in their home country. This figure shows just how fluid Migration is these days, with a constantly shifting, back-and-forth flow of people based on countries’ changing economies. To that point, while 20% of the world’s international students are studying in the United States, in 2001 that figure was 28%. This reflects an emerging proliferation of educational hubs in other countries around the world, and also the struggling US economy.
There are many ministries to international students, but one on which I’m especially bullish is International Students Incorporated. ISI’s workers have been coming alongside international students for years, helping them with transportation, apartment-hunting, home-cooked meals and friendship. They’ve exposed their intrigued foreign guests to various aspects of American life, including church and faith communities when appropriate. In this way the foreign students, even as they’re so focused on rigorous academics, are also finding nourishing friendships and spiritual growth.
In October 2011 I became instant friends with Helen. Helen is from Beijing. Helen had never heard of God or Jesus or barely the Bible when she came to the United States for the first time summer 2011. We instantly connected on my very populated, downtown university campus. We grew closer to each other, but also to God. I have been following Christ for a while now, but our friendship brought me closer to Him. I saw His grace, mercy, and providence in this precious friend’s life. She told me about how she was supposed to have been aborted (she has older sister), but a divine event stopped that. She told me she cries when she thinks about God’s intervention in her life. This gave me chills. My most exciting, most rewarding missions experience has been less than 1 hour from the home I was raised in (I have been overseas multiple times in missions). God is good. Helen knows Him and now all I can do is pray for her to be trained and encouraged in China now. I have to surrender her into God’s hands.
Greetings Fritz!
Was pointed to your post by friend here in Durham. You know ISI and you know Duke, so you may have already learned of our long-standing outreach among international students with Blacknall being a no small partner! Not only may many international students discover authentic Christian community and their true King, we pray. There are also wonderful opportunities for Durham folk to be stretched personally and spiritually while engaging with students and scholars. And the friendship possibilities are delightful.
Best to you,
Scott Hawkins
http://isiatduke.com