Hosting International Students for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas
Bottom Line: There is still time to invite international students to your home or church for a Thanksgiving meal and celebration.
Are there any students from other countries attending your church? Might any of your American students know international students at their school whom they could invite to spend Thanksgiving with you? If Thanksgiving would not be feasible, what about planning to host foreign students during the Christmas break for a meal and/or be part of any of your church’s Christmas Week events? Is there a Christian college or university nearby that you could check with the International Student Services Office about hosting any of their students?
Besides enjoying the company and mutual cross-cultural learning of having students from other nations and cultures sharing life and a meal at your home with you, there are other ways a church could engage in global missions at home, such as...
A Small Church Welcomes Students from the World for Weekend Hospitality:
Once again, St. Matthews Parish Church, Ft. Motte, SC hosted international students from Columbia, SC universities for a Saturday/Sunday ‘homestay’ weekend in September. This small Anglican Church of about 50 on Sunday morning, has been enriched and transformed by practicing hospitality with international students semi- annually since 2017. During the debriefing lunch following the Sunday worship service, both the students and their hosts testify of the blessing of being together.
To learn more about how both St. Matthews, and Truro Anglican Church of Fairfax, VA, began their ministry among international students, please see the brief video, Anglican ISM.
And to learn more about how you and/or your church might participate in hospitality friendship with international students, please review the Anglican International Student Ministry Network (AISMN) website or contact AISMN co-leader Leiton Chinn.
Leiton Chinn is the co-leader of the Anglican International Student Ministry Network (AISMN) along with Linda Sellevaag. He has been mobilizing the Church for ISM since 1977 as a catalyst with various mission networks (the Lausanne Movement; World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission; Ethnic America Network; Mission America Coalition; the Association of Christians Ministering among Internationals, etc). He and his wife, Lisa, founded and voluntarily directed the Truro International Programs & Services (TIPS) of Truro Anglican Church. Leiton also served on the Board of Trinity School for Ministry to further develop the Stanway Institute for World Mission & Evangelism in the early 90's.
