For five years, I served as an international minister at the University of Kansas. Each semester, we met international students at the airport and helped them find their way around campus. Together with other ministers, we organized free garage sales, holiday meals, English classes, and a variety of field trips to area events.
My team and I focused on Stouffer Place which was a complex designed for international families attending KU. Every Wednesday, we implemented a Good News Club for the children which included Bible stories, crafts, snacks, and games. Sometimes their mothers also attended, fascinated by the stories about Jesus.
My students and their families traveled to KU from a variety of countries: Saudia Arabia, India, Germany, South Korea, Japan, China, Sweden, and France. At no time in any way did any of these people create a threat or a danger of any kind.
In fact, they were openly generous and hospitably kind. They returned to me ten times what I gave to them. I learned as much from them as they did from me.
The Saudi women were particularly hospitable, cooking meals and treating me as a valued guest. They loved being taught how to drive, because that freedom was denied women in their country. They wanted only to learn more about English and the American culture while their husbands finished post-docs.
When one of my Saudi students was returning home, I asked her, “Is there something special about the U.S. that you will miss?”
She replied immediately, “The freedom.”
The Chinese were like mental sponges as I taught my curriculum of Bible 101, Fascinating Characters of the Bible, and Who is Jesus? I introduced them to new English words using scripture as the basis. They took advantage of learning about the Holy Bible, reading and studying it while in the U.S. If they chose to believe in Jesus and become a true Christian, their baptisms were authentic examples of genuine faith.
I felt no qualms about inviting these internationals into my home. They loved seeing how Americans lived, ate, and conducted our home life. In my simple split-level home, their comment was, “Only one family lives here?” They could not fathom living within that much space.
My years serving as an international minister were some of the richest times of my life. I learned to say hello in seven languages and began to appreciate, then crave, kimchi. I kissed Muslim women on both cheeks and accepted the hugs of their children, with gratitude for the love shared.
One of the devotions I wrote for my students was based on Revelation 7:9-10, “I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from all nations and tribes and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, ‘Salvation comes from our God upon the throne, and from the Lamb.’”
Every nation. Every tribe. Every language. I can hardly wait!
©2025 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
Image Attribution: Geralt / Pixabay
Read about the freedom that Abigail won in No Visible Scars.