Rejoice with those who Rejoice!!!

She came here with a desire for a phd in public health, but there was no such program at UCONN. ChiChi pursued several masters degrees while God prepared the way for the degree to be offered. She was the second student (by one week) to successfully defend and receive this degree from UCONN. We are so proud of her!

Congratulations, ChiChi!

New Opportunity!

This summer Richard was invited to join the advisory board for ISUSA at Yale. We see this as a good opportunity to help co-laborers be more effective in ministry. As a result, Richard has added making periodic trips to New Haven for their meetings to his scheduale. He will also be connecting with pastors and churches seeking to raise up volunteers to help develop international student ministry in the greater New Haven area.

We have been blessed!

"They say" a picture is worth a thousand words. Since my words have yet to be able to come together, here are the pictures.
The Olcottage in Falmouth, Ma. 10/10/10.

Mr and Mrs Nicholas Ryan!

There and Back Again

Richard's interactive style of
teaching encourages "audience participation."

Short dramas help us experience what it is like to be an international student.

We had a fabulous trip, preceded by many attacks, including the death of Richard's work computer. But, our God reigns!

On our trip we met 2 amazing women of faith in MD. They are from different churches in the same region. Each one is desiring to grow international student ministry in their church. Our hope is to encourage these churches to work together in effective ministry.

We also taught a friendship partner training class in Philadelphia (pictured here). There were 31 people attending representing 12 churches. We learned there are 3 new church plants in Philadelphia targeting campuses. God is up to something in the City of Brotherly Love and we are excited to be a part of it!

Finding the Faithful

Matthew 25:34-36 Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger (international student) and you made me your guest, I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.

One of the blessings of our travels is to meet God's faithful children. So it was as we met Jean. A precious sister in Christ, she stated that her 30 years of teaching elemmentary school prepared her for ministry to international students. She began with one on one tutoring in English for children after retiring. Then her pastor challenged her to begin a class for adults. With amazing perseverence she set up class every week for one year in the library before the first adult student came. Then 1 became 2, and 2 became 4 and "the rest is history". She currently teaches 4 nights of classes in her home; 3 ESL nights & 1 Bible study night. On ESL nights she makes dinner for her class.
Over the years Jean and her husband have loved internationals by helping them learn English, shop, navigate American culture and by being a friend. In her Bible study they have prayed and seen miraculous healing, pregnancies and recovery of lost things. She has led 40 internationals to the Lord.

What a joy for us to witness this humble, faithful ministry of miracles and to be able to come along side to lend a helping hand.

ISI National Staff Conference Denver, CO

Every year we are blessed to gather together from all over the world for a time of fellowship, refreshment, inspiration and training. Every year our plenary speakers are top notch, and seem selected by God in perfect timing for me. This year was no different.
Dick Foth, a mentor to leaders in Washington,D.C., encouraged us to "take the adventure in trust" and follow Jesus into a relationship together, TOGETHER. David Watson, VP of Global Church Planting at City Team Ministries, challenged our strategies box with creative ideas about the elements of the kingdom tactics and leadership. Al Newell, founder of a volunteer ministry development company, taught us some principles in building effective volunteer teams. Judi Vankevich, the Manners Lady, gave us 3 keys to being good ambassadors: a respectful attitude, respectful words and respectful actions; "which is just good manners!"
This year Richard gave a testimony at a ChurchMobilizationInitiative focused lunch, and later taught in a series of friendship partner training workshops.
We heard many student testimonies that blessed and encouraged us, and saw God setting the stage for some great breakthroughs in Japan.
We returned home tired in body and refreshed in our spirits. We hope to share and implement what God has added to us.

Friendship Partner Training

This spring we had two training

sessions and have another this

summer.

The purpose is to help people interested in reaching out to international students to get comfortable with some of the differences and to cope with some of the difficulties they may encounter in the befriending process. We get to see "lightbulbs turning on" as we share helps in overcoming language issues like idioms; and culture differences that are not bad, just different. Role playing some meeting scenerios is fun and helps people understand things they've never had to think through.

We emphasize love without conditions as we share amazing stories about students who have returned home and what God did then. We help people develope an efficient way to share their own story.

Our hope is to set people up for a successful friendship experience that will lead a student to desire to know our precious Lord Jesus Christ for himself.