Engaging with International Students

Part I | No other ministry has this SCOPE & IMPACT!

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands." Revelation‬ ‭7:9‬ ‭NIV 

Even the most ardent and vitriolic of opposition will admit that Christianity is a multiethnic and multicultural faith community that crosses barriers of language, culture, and all manner of social strata. Not only is it vastly diverse, but it's also hard to locate the center of the faith as it relates to a particular geographic location or demographic—the center of the faith being where the Lord is most active among His people. Contrary to popular belief, it's not Jerusalem, and neither is it the "Bible belt," nor is it where English is the primary language.

At the end of the biblical narrative and in the pages of the apocalyptic book of Revelation, we see a future reality. A great multitude of people from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and tongue together before the King of kings. Ever since the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the advent of the early Church, we see the Gospel message reaching "all Judea and Samaria and continuing to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Yet even today, there are still unreached people groups and unreached generations. Multitudes of unchurched and de-churched people—those isolated from the Good News of the redemptive person and work of Christ by geographic margins, governmental mandates, and societal boundaries. 

How will this future reality be realized?

One way the Lord has been active in realizing this future reality in the present is His work in and through international student ministry.

International Student Ministry by the Numbers

A significant component of our family's mission in the UK is ongoing engagement with international students. Over a million students come to the UK to do their undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs (605,130) or study in language schools (500,000). These numbers would be unsurprising if we were discussing a country the size of the US, but remember, we're talking about the UK, which is approximately 243,610 sq km—only 66% the size of the State of California (403,882 sq km)…