By Skye Fulton

Every year, thousands of international students arrive to fill the classrooms of Canada's universities and high schools – students whose parents have sacrificed to send their children to a Canadian school so they can come back to their own country as leaders in education, business and government.

Unfortunately, many of these students will study in Canada for four or five years and then return to their homeland, having never been invited for dinner at a Canadian home, let alone a Christian home. These students are eager to learn about our country, our history, our customs and our holidays. They already speak English or are learning it in ESL courses. They have paid their own way here and have a place to stay. They don't need anything from us but our friendship.

It's easy for us to see the opportunity to reach out to these students, but many of us just aren't sure where to start or what to do. The Vancouver Friendship Network was launched by International Students Ministry to help connect international students from both universities and high schools to Canadian families. Here are ten simple ideas from VFN that may help your family or your church to reach out to international students and show them the love of Jesus.

1 Be real and be fun.

2 Invite them over for dinner, just a normal family meal.

3 Ask them to teach you how to say a few words in their language. Write these words down the way they sound to you, and have the students write them down the way they should be spelled. Good words to start with are: “Hi,” “How are you?”, “Goodbye,” “Please,” “Thank you” and “Your baby is cute!”

4 Ask about their families, and ask if they have photos to share. Take a photo of them with your family and mail it to them.

5 Have a world map ready, and make a little sticker to flag the country that your new friends are from. Your children will love getting to meet new friends from around the world.

6 Play table games or a fun outdoor sport such as volleyball or croquet.

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7 Invite them to other family or community events, such as your children's sports events, school musicals or seasonal festivals such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Valentine's Day.  International students love to be with local families on these special holidays, rather than alone in their dorms. It's a great opportunity to share with them the true meaning of Christian holidays, and they want to learn about our culture. If you're lucky, they might invite you to celebrate Chinese New Year or some other festival with them. Go and have fun!

8 Be helpful. If they express a need, try to help.

9 Be sensitive – don't preach, but if the conversation turns to spiritual things, be ready to share with them what God has done in your life. Feel free to ask them about their religion.

10 Keep in touch with them and invite them back!

It is still vital for Canadian churches to train and send missionaries around the world, but in recent years God has brought the nations to us. Those of us who aren't called to serve God overseas can serve him here. We won't need to raise support for years of language training since they speak English. We won’t need to go overseas since they are here. We won't need to spend a lot of extra money since it costs little to invite a student to join us for dinner or a Saturday evening of games.

It all starts with a smile and an invitation. Being a friend to international students is a simple and fun way to share the love of Christ. And, if God touches their hearts, how exciting to be able to send them home as missionaries to their own country!

For free bookmarks with these Ten Tips on Being a Friend to an International Student or for more information, on how to show hospitality to international students, call Randy Fulton, Vancouver Director of International Students Ministry, at 604-374-0656. Power To Change and InterVarsity also have exciting ministries to international students on university campuses.

January 2011