Across The Street: Making A Global Impact In Your NeighborhoodSample

Welcoming Foreigners like International Students

When we think about reaching the nations, we often think of those who go to the places and peoples with the least access to Jesus Christ. However, people with the least access to Jesus also come to places where Jesus followers live. International students . . . and refugees . . . come from unreached people groups, those with less than 2 percent of Christians among them and thus, no access to Jesus Christ. They come to majority Christian nations and then have access to the gospel.

Throughout history God has used four situations to introduce unreached peoples to the good news of Jesus Christ: Christians going to them, both willingly and unwillingly, and the peoples coming to where Christians are—both willingly, like international students, and unwillingly, like refugees.*

For those of us not currently traveling overseas, these comers showing up on our doorsteps as our new neighbors is such a gift. It’s an opportunity for us to welcome them well, to obey Jesus by inviting the foreigner into our homes (see Matt. 25:35). With love and respect, we can eventually encourage them to follow Christ. This also allows us to practice forming intentional relationships with international friends, which is helpful should we eventually travel overseas. . . .

High concentrations of people without access to Jesus Christ live in China, India, and Saudi Arabia—coming from nonreligious, Hindu, and Muslim backgrounds. Astonishingly, almost 60 percent of all international students come from countries where the Christian population is less than 2 percent. Students are willingly showing up at a university near us, eager to make a new friend!

This offers us the chance to shape an international student’s understanding of Jesus Christ, impacting the kind of people who will one day shape their countries.

 *Idea taken from the Perspectives course at www.perspectives.org.