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Author: IFI Columbus

  • Staff Highlight: Karlos Smith

    We are blessed with an amazing staff team at IFI in Columbus!

    Each month we shine the spotlight on one of the Columbus team members, so you can meet them up close and personally. There are so many staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes to help IFI remain prepared to serve.

    Karlos Smith is a new addition to the IFI Columbus team, having stepped into the role of Content Writer at the beginning of August 2021.

    As the Columbus team’s Content Writer, his focus is on pushing IFI’s ministry forward by gathering and sharing its stories. He interviews students, volunteers and staff to write stories that testify about the impact God is having on the lives of international students.

    A Columbus, OH native, Karlos considers himself a writer, actor, and professional goofball.

    As a young man, he read a lot of stories, and loved to share them in multiple forms, including poetry and playwriting. He considers writing to be his best and most complete skill, one of his gifts from God.

    Karlos encountered IFI as he was searching for a writing career, and was drawn to the opportunity to do so in the context of his Father’s business. He sees his work with IFI as an opportunity to honor God by articulating His vision for a world full of lost souls to return to their Father, and is excited to have a front row seat as God transforms the lives of international students.

    Karlos asks for prayers as he steps into an unfamiliar role: that the Lord gives him the patience, strength, and joy necessary to accomplish His will.

  • OSU Update: Welcome Back!

    IFI OSU Campus Ministry Director, Wen Cao, provides an update on what she see God doing on campus!

    This year, the word “Welcome” has a rather fresh meaning.

    Not only do we “welcome” the new international students who just arrived to Columbus, but also we shout out, “welcome back!” to the existing students who are also coming back to in person study.  How great it is that we are able to gather together again!

    Hosting and airport pickups have increased this year compared to the last: a total of 86 students! Our welcome events also gradually gained momentum once again.  Over 280 came to the Welcome Picnic, 131 attended the Indian Independence Day Party, and over 450 attended the Welcome Party at the Ohio Union.  It was good to be with the internationals again!

    One key theme that appears in many students’ feedback for IFI is appreciation for connection. A student from Nigeria shared with us: “I really enjoy the opportunity to meet so many different people.” We pray that the students continue to connect with us and each other in order to create a sense of community for them to call home.

    Many students also have expressed the desire to join or continue to meet for Friday dinner and Bible discussions.  

    Our staff and volunteers are following up with them.  Please pray for the small group formation of these Bible discussion groups to lay a foundation for spiritual discussions and for the Gospel to be shared during this coming month.

    Finally, God is answering our prayers by bringing five more workers to join the OSU Campus Ministry Team. Praise God for His faithfulness!

     

  • You Have No Idea

    Bible study leader finds hope in an unexpected surprise.

    David Albright – affectionately known as “the man who keeps going” – was worried.

    A new fall semester was approaching, which meant it was almost time for one of his favorite opportunities as an Ohio State campus minister with International Friendships Inc.: hosting a Bible discussion group. But would there be anyone to discuss with? Limited public interactions  had limited students’ attendance to the groups during previous semesters. The online discussions weren’t much better. So David, understandably, was very worried that this semester would be much of the same.

    “I was beginning to lose hope.” says David, shrugging his shoulders. “So I went to God and asked Him, ‘what do you have in store?’”

    The reply:

    “You have no idea.”

    David got a taste of what God meant when he arrived at the Columbus Airport to pick up a student from India arriving from Mumbai. He expected the typical agenda: find the student, greet the student, drive the student where he needed to go. This time, this was a key step missing: he couldn’t find the student!

    “I stood at the baggage claim with my sign waiting for the student to see it. After a while, there is no more luggage, and the conveyor belt just stops!”

    So David, instead of shrugging and going home, walked to the terminal’s  information desk and asked the attendant to page for the student, hoping he had just missed him. The student still did not come; he must have missed the flight.

    Now it was time to go home, right? Maybe not.

    As David was leaving the terminal, to go home, he noticed two Chinese students leaving as well. He greeted them and asked if they were studying at the Ohio State University. They said yes. He shared IFI’s heart for international students and invited them to the annual student Welcome Party, as well as his bible discussion group. They graciously accepted and went to catch their bus.

    Now it was time to go home, right? Definitely not.

    David soon encountered another student from Thailand, carrying two big luggage pieces, with a backpack almost as big. “The man who keeps going” couldn’t resist greeting this young man who seemed like he needed some help. He greeted the student, asked where he was studying (OSU), and shared IFI’s heart for internationals. The student related the busy day he had planned, including a trip to the bank, his apartment’s office and a phone store. He planned to take a taxi everywhere, leaving his luggage in the taxi while he ran his errands.

    David’s jaw dropped. He explained that this plan would cost the student hundreds of dollars. So David offered an alternative: he could drive the student to run his errands and drop him off at his apartment.

    The student accepted the offer and they got started. So what could have been a wasted trip to the airport, turned into a very long day of little adventures, the most notable being a lunch where the student had the first turkey sandwich of his life, and loved every bite. David and his new friend also had multiple conversations about American and Thai culture, realizing one distinct similarity: “everyone is in a hurry, going nowhere.” 

    After the student accomplished everything he needed for the day, he and David exchanged contact information. David invited this student to the IFI Welcome Party, as well as to his Bible discussion group. With a smile, the student replied, “I’m looking forward to coming!”

    David smiled back, and kept his smile as he got back into his car to go home. Then it clicked. He had invited this Thai student and the two Chinese students to his discussion group. His wife had also been serving a Muslim student who expressed interest in studying the Bible. As it turns out, God had been slowly building his group all along; he just had to keep going. David remembered God’s reply to his prayer: “You have no idea.” So without a clue, David is ready to see what else God has planned, believing the words of his namesake:

    Those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:10)

  • Newsletter – Sept. 2021: Meeting New Students

    Meeting New students

    Praise God!  It was so good to see students on campus again.  We met so many new students and had so many unique experiences in the last two weeks through various events:

    The Welcome Picnic (8/14)

    During the picnic, I met an International student who was interested in the activities with IFI, but what he really wanted to know was “is there a Bible study group that he could join?” It is always refreshing when the Jesus catches me off guard like this to make one thing plain and clear: the goal of all these events and activities is to build relationships with international students where they can encounter Jesus. Thank God for the 145 students who participated.

    The Indian Independence Day Celebration (8/15)

    I was thankful to meet many international students from all over South Asia as well. Over ninety students came to the Indian Independence  Day Celebration.  For the first time in my ministry with IFI, the largest group of students we met were from India (typically, the largest group is from China).  A part of this shift seems to be lingering effects of COVID-19 at the university, considering that the Chinese students have been the most cautious regarding interaction and isolation during the pandemic.  In the past, I have felt that an overwhelming majority of Chinese student participation in our events has stifled the participation of other ethnic groups.  It is great to know that all nations are accepting the invitation to connect with IFI. Our hope is that they will experience life changing relationships with the Almighty God.

    The OSU Student Involvement Fair (8/22)

    I’ve also noticed a trend recently: there is an increase of American Christian students who want to get involved with IFI because they have a heart for the nations. Several of our Columbus staff have also mentioned to me that they have encountered more Christian students than ever before. I was talking to one young woman who said she had met some of our OSU staff in the Ohio Union last spring.  She was intrigued and thought “I should get involved with IFI”.  Over the summer, back in her home in Grand Rapids, MI, our local staff person spoke to this woman’s church about IFI’s ministry.  Again, she thought, “I should get involved with IFI.”  Finally, at the Student Involvement Fair, the first booth where she stopped was the IFI table.  I saw her looking at our sign with “Welcome,” written in a dozen languages.  Guessing that she was an American, I skipped my normal introduction about the upcoming events and activities and just asked what was drawing her to stop and learn about our group.  She told me about her previous encounters with IFI and how she felt that God was calling her to participate now.  I asked if she lived on campus.  She replied that she lived on North Campus, right behind Curl Market (one of the campus cafeterias).  I could sense the very presence of God, because we had been praying for God to bring us someone who lived on North Campus who could help us reserve a room for our Bible study that was near Curl Market.  God has been drawing her to IFI for many months and now she seems ready to engage in activities with us.  I can’t wait to see what else God does this year.

    The International Student Welcome Party (8/24)

    Finally, we had over 525 people come to our International Student Welcome Party this year.  As we were wrapping up the program, I noticed three young Malaysian Muslim women who went to our English Conversation Program table to get information on how to sign up.  After they finished, they stopped by the table to get a Bible in your language.  I was excited to see that there was interest in reading the Bible and ask that you pray with me that these women would find the truth in the Bible.

    A Look Back

    It has been a joy to welcome new faces and new nations to the table of God. Still, as we wait expectantly for what God will do this new school year, we want to take a moment to praise Him for what He did through IFI last school year.  Though we were connected with fewer International students because of COVID-19 related flight restrictions, we still touched a significant number of students, and regularly saw students making a choice to follow Jesus.  

    Moving Forward

    One last thing: I feel led to pray that the number of weekly Bible discussion groups would double from 17 last year to 35 this school year.  I also pray that we would again have over 400 International students in Bible discussion groups and see new students coming to Christ every week, with faith that increases and reproduces through the year.  Showing hospitality opens the door for many long term relationships; establishing a conversation partnership often provides the relational foundation for sharing the good news.  Even so, the greatest transformation happens when students encounter the Bible and they experience the power of the Word of God.

    Please join me in these specific prayers.