God Stirring in 2017

BY CCCC INTERNATIONAL STUDENT WORKER

“For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries..” (1 Corinthians 16:9) God is moving in the hearts of international students, and He is doing amazing things.

Since last September, we have been studying the Bible ... with a group of students from China, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and a 95% M*slim country. In December the student from the M*slim country decided to follow Jesus, and he has been growing tremendously!

Normally we finish one Bible study before we start another, but recently, God has been moving in the hearts of many more students. Let me tell you about some of them: A new graduate student from the middle east had many questions for me. We talked in detail about Jesus and I share about the hope that I have. At the conclusion of our first meeting, I gave him a Jesus Film in Arabic, which he gladly received and he told me he would love to have an Arabic Bible. I met with him again and gave him an English/Arabic parallel Bible. He has now started a Bible study with a friend of mine, and has expressed interest in coming to our Bible study.
Two female students from India, one of them from an Indian Christian background, had a third friend join them at our university, the three of them would like to begin the to study the Bible now.

We recently received a text from a Chinese undergraduate student. He had taken a course at the university on World Religions and decided that he wants to know more about Christianity. We on a Sunday, during church, I gave him a Chinese/English Bible, and we did some initial Bible study. He is excited to start studying the Bible stories.
A Brazilian student has regularly been coming to our church. He had to return to Brazil for a semester, but now he is back and is eager to study the Bible.

I met a man from a VERY closed middle eastern country. He shared that he had spent the last two years studying in another American city, and while he was there he had developed a very close relationship with a Nazarene church. After we talked for a while, he asked me if I knew where he could study the Bible! Then the next day, I met a Chinese student. She also had many spiritual questions and when I told her about our Bible study, she was eager to join.

Soooo…  we will be starting a second Bible study! We are so excited about all these seekers, and we pray that God will continue to open their hearts to Jesus! With both groups running, if everyone actually comes, we will be regularly teaching the Bible to people from seven countries!
This is the kind of possibility open to us, here in the United States, as the whole world comes to us!

Since I wrote this, our president has signed a controversial executive order regarding immigration.

We Americans have a wide variety of responses, and I do not want to politicize this in any way.

I want to share with you the reaction of our friends in the international community here: Many are upset and fearful, like the refugee family, who has been through terrible trauma, and were anxiously awaiting their sister to join them. Now she and her children are not able to come, though they had been previously approved. Some internationals are confused, because their country has been singled out while others are not. Students from countries listed on the 90-day ban are wondering if they are welcome in our country anymore.

I also want you to remember in all of this is that while the kingdoms and systems of man are in turmoil, the kingdom of God is actively advancing. We have seen students seeking like never before, and I am excited for you to read what God is doing. The love and hope of Jesus are shining brightly amid the current chaos.
Also, I want to encourage you to reach out to the internationals near you.  Even if you just see someone in the grocery store, be a friendly face and make sure that they know they are welcome. You can help counteract the fear, and your friendly greeting can reassure someone that he or she is indeed welcome. We, as followers of Christ, are to welcome the stranger. You can help make a difference in a cold world!