What an encouragement to meet up with so many folks from all over the country who have the same passion for international student ministry, at ISI's national conference in June! Having raised funds for the conference, we were excited to see enough come in that we could include our whole family in the event (the kids stayed at the hotel during the conference, while Neil and I "tag-teamed" the workshops and plenary sessions; sometimes Neil & I were able to attend together when friends and family helped watch the kids).
The most influential portion of the conference was hearing the testimonies of former international students who came to Christ while in the USA. One gentleman from Taiwan spoke of his conversion, and how he was led by God to continue honoring his parents through the time of his marriage to his (also-recently-saved) fiance. A young Japanese lady spoke of how she was drawn to Christ in faith, and how she is now managing a guest-house in New York City where she meets with other internationals from all over the world for English and Bible study. Finally, an 18 year old young man from Oman spoke of how he and his brother turned from their prosperous lives in Islam to Christianity -- even though it meant being disowned by their father, which also included a death threat to the men should they return to their country. These two men are seeking asylum in the U.S. for the time being.
The president of ISI, Doug Shaw, was a main plenary speaker as was Dr. Abraham Sarker, a former Muslim and author of the book
Understand My Muslim People. Dr. Sarker described how he came to the USA as a Muslim missionary -- intent on converting Americans to the Islamic faith. Instead, he met the living God through campus ministry, and placed his faith in Jesus Christ. We attended his workshop on Ministry to Muslims and learned a great deal.
Something I know I came away with is that as "volunteer staff" we don't have the same ability that full- (or even part-) time staff have to pursue several avenues of ministry; we probably need to focus on one or two areas at this time. In talking about this after the conference, we decided that one area for us is developing our local "team" (other folks who are interested in student ministry), and another area -- since the door is open -- is working with the OISP at Central to connect students with families/folks from the Ellensburg community in friendship.
We're very thankful we had the opportunity to attend this conference. As "volunteer staff" we were not required to stay on-site (at the hotel where the conference was held) but could make our own arrangements at a lower cost. We did that, but realize now that it might have been better to stay on-site. We lost a lot of fellowship time running back and forth to our hotel, and eating our meals on our own. Live and learn!
