China Trip 2011 – English Church

I met Derek* in the cafeteria. He sat down with me and four of my students for lunch on my first day of teaching. As an Indonesian, I assumed that he was from a Muslim background. After praying for his food, I began to wonder. Come to find out, he’s a Christian, and he invited me to join the cell group that meets in his dorm room every week.

When I arrived at the meeting that night, I was greeted by 13 other international students—two more fromIndonesia, six from African countries, and five fromIndia. Derek’s dorm room had been converted into a perfect little meeting place. Between the futon and the floor covered with foam pads, we all had a place to sit. One of the Indian students led some songs with his guitar, and a student fromBurkina Fasoshared a message from God’s Word. It was very encouraging to have stumbled on this little group of brothers and sisters in Christ.

I attended church with them that Sunday evening. Six weeks prior, one of local public churches started an English service for this small band of believers. There were about 40 or 50 in attendance that night, mostly foreign college students. I was asked if I’d preach the following week. What could I say?

My text was Daniel 6. You know, Daniel and lions den, a story of faithfulness in trying times. Did you know that Daniel was one of the first international students? It’s true! Daniel chapter 1 states that he was taken fromJerusalemtoBabylonto attend a 3-year training program under King Nebuchadnezzar. Even though Daniel’s education wasn’t voluntary (like it is for most students these days), he got the best marks, excelling in learning Babylonian language and culture (see Daniel 1:17). One of the students came up to me after the sermon and told me that she had grown up knowing the stories but had never thought of Daniel as an international student; maybe she could be faithful to God here in China like he was in Babylon.

Many of the international students were so supportive and encouraging to me after hearing that my passport had been stolen. I’m sure they could identify with how I must have felt! That cell group even organized a surprise going-away party for me the night before I left forBeijing. 17 of us were crammed in my little hotel room eating cake, cookies, chips, and ice cream together. Fortunately, I had already packed away my underwear!

I think I will miss these students the most. I had only known them for two and a half weeks when I left, but there is something to say about that “bond of peace” that we share as Christians (Ephesians 4:3). They left me with a photo collage that reads: “Best of luck. Keep the faith alive!! We love you!!” Until we meet again…

* Name has been changed

China Trip 2011 – Teaching

Although a challenge at times, teaching English at Guangxi Medical University was a good experience overall. Probably the most difficult part was being away from Holly and Grace for the past 25 days! The university staff was very supportive and the students were kind. I rarely ate alone. This photo is just one example!

Students and me at the NE Chinese restaurant

Teaching-wise, my two main challenges were: (a) deciding what bits of American life and culture to try to teach in such a short time frame and (b) how to challenge the students with a good handle on English and, at the same time, be understood by those who couldn’t form a sentence. I was caught off guard on the first day of my freshmen class when I asked “What do you hope to learn in this class?” and I was met with blank stares from all but a handful of students.

Over the years of teaching cross-culturally, I’ve ran into some interesting English names: “Elvis,” “Rocky,” and “Great,” to name a few. These classes, though, took the cake. I’ve never had a student named “Evil, “Yummy,” or “Tweety” before. While waiting on my visa inBeijing, I took a few minutes to put together the following story using some of the most interesting ones (names in bold):

After dancing to the Lyrics of Eminem, the clock struck midnight. Cinderella had to run home before the Spirit of Princess Jasmine arrived to haunt her and her pet bird, Tweety. You see, Cinderella loved the Colors of Spring, especially the Ivy and Lily plants that grew near the Sea. Besides their beauty, they also made a Yummy, Zero-calorie snack on days when the rations from her Evil step-mother, Mojane, just weren’t enough. As a Gemini (and competing Disney character), Jasmine was far from an Angel and didn’t appreciate poor Cinderella’s resourcefulness!

A few of these students I actually never met, and there were a surprising number of freshmen who skipped more classes than they attended (which I think was more a reflection on their lack of responsibility than my teaching). In fact, I was forced to flunk one student, because he didn’t show up to give his final presentation. When I asked him why he didn’t come, he told me that he didn’t know we had class (despite the fact that we had class at that same time for the previous two weeks straight). He admitted to staying up until 5 a.m. playing video games, and then he invited me to lunch like nothing was wrong!

All in all, I hope my students will be adequately prepared to study at their respective schools in either Montana or Maine in the coming years—and that my classes made some difference in that.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Oct/Nov 2011 Pics

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

New Friends

Now that classes have started, things have slowed down… at least relative to last week’s pace! The week started in Corvallis with a 15-hour day at the 7th annual free furniture giveaway and ended with a “Cowboy BBQ.” In fact, I was in Corvallis most of the week volunteering with the international student orientation, helping to welcome 900+ students to campus!

I was able to reconnect with many returning students (like the six I picked up at the airport) as well as move an old friend from Salem into our home. Along the way, I made some new friends, too. Instead of going into all of the boring details of the week, I’ll summarize by introducing you to a handful of these new friends.

The first is George, a new WOU student from Shanghai. He lived with us for 10 days until the dorms opened up.

George’s friend Stanley sent me this IM the other day, thanking me for helping him and his two housemates get furniture, groceries, and internet set up for their new apartment. They were a bit skeptical of the secondhand furniture store I took them to until they found out just how great of deal they were getting. A new dining table and four chairs had cost their friends $190; I was able to get them a used set plus an office chair and a vacuum–delivered–for $50. I think I’m their new best friend. Here’s Stanley’s note:

Matt! I want to thank you for you have done so many things for us, we do appreciate that. Thank you so much! May the almighty god bless all members of your family!

Jason, a returning WOU student, is wanting to get more involved in our ISI activities. This is what he wrote to me yesterday:

if u get some church active,tell me plz. u know thats so boring stay at home everyday with computer

Of course I will, Jason.

In other WOU news, I’m still meeting with Apollo and Kevin for Bible study each week, and they are really excited to go with me to a Welcome Night at the Corvallis Chinese Church this Saturday.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As for connections down at OSU (where I’m planning to spend most Wednesdays), I was able to meet Nathan (from Japan) and Frank (from China) who are both open to spiritual things. In fact, when I was having lunch with Frank, he commented that Christians are “the best people” based on his experience living with a Christian host family in Colorado and the people he had met so far in Corvallis. No pressure, right?!

I spent a lot of time with Lucas and Greg at the Cowboy BBQ on Sunday. Both graduate students in the sciences, they share an office space on campus. Lucas has only been in the States for one month and Greg is starting his second year here. I’m hoping to see them again at our first international student lunch on October 5th.

Daniel is a Taiwanese Christian who I met at the orientation leader training. He’s an OSU student with near-perfect English and a heart for ministry. Please pray with me that he can get involved in our Friends of Internationals activities, like the free lunches and Bible studies.

Another orientation leader and OSU student, Jonah, and I ended up working together a couple of times. I knew he was struggling with some life decisions, so we sat down for chat on one of the afternoons. He was worried about his studies, because he might not be able to stay at OSU and the eight other universities he had applied to had denied him. I didn’t have a whole lot of advice to give, so I offered to pray for him instead. Despite his Muslim background, he gladly accepted my offer. When he comes to mind, please pray for my new friend, Jonah.

Jeremy, a student in the intensive English program at OSU, attended the furniture giveaway where he was given a Bible in English. He was so impressed with the kindness shown to him that day and hungry to know more about the Bible that he stopped by the church office (where the giveaway was held) the next day to ask if they had any Chinese/English Bibles on hand. The print was a bit small in his English Bible anyway! They didn’t have anything, so I was able to meet him the following morning and give him a bilingual New Testament. Jeremy said that he wanted a Bible because he was

…shocked by what [we] did on the giveaway day. No one in my hometown would do this kind of thing. They only think about themselves, not about others.

Xavier, another student I met at the furniture giveaway (who liked it so much that he went through the line twice!), wrote this e-mail to me:

Thank you for your warm-hearted help. Your Chinese is pretty good, which impressed me so much. And I think as long as you keep practicing, your Chinese will be improved in a high level. I hope we can become good friends.

I hope so, too!

NOTE: Names have been changed to protect students’ identities.

Furniture Giveaway 2011

On September 19th, 20+ churches and 150 or so volunteers joined together in Corvallis to put on a free furniture (and other household items) giveaway for international students. We all know how difficult it is to furnish a residence. If you’ve moved abroad for any length of time, you’ll know that it’s ten times harder when you’re working with an unfamiliar currency, in an unfamiliar town, with limited language ability, and without transportation. This event was organized to meet this practical need at the beginning of the school year–and, in this way, introduce many of these new students to the love and hope we’ve found of Jesus.

I’ve sifted through the student registration info a bit and want to share some of the numbers with you. Here they are:

• 247 students in total
• 132 males, 112 females, and 3 undetermined
• 182 OSU, 55 INTO, 5 LBCC, 5 undetermined
• 140 (+/-10) have been in the U.S. less than a year
• 169 interested in the Cowboy BBQ (a follow-up event we held on Sunday)
• 191 interested in free lunch (every Wednesday, starting on October 5th)
• 153 interested in conversation partners
• 138 interested in learning more about God and the Bible (+3 Christian students) – 55%!

At least 27 countries were represented, including 125 from China, 22 from India, 20 from Korea, 15 from Taiwan, 8 from Thailand, 7 from Vietnam, 5 from Germany, 5 from Japan, 5 from Iran, 4 from Ghana, 3 from Saudi Arabia, 3 from France, and 2 each from Nepal and Brazil. Other countries represented include Argentina, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, England, Eritrea, Indonesia, Luxemborg, Nigeria, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Sweden!

Wanted: Overseas Chinese Scholars!

Did you know that China is rolling out plans to attract more than 500,000 overseas Chinese scholars by 2015 (http://tinyurl.com/5vvrvzs). According to the latest census information, there are approximately that many Chinese people living in the U.S. alone who have graduate or professional degrees (http://tinyurl.com/n5g38w). The question is: Are we reaching these overseas Chinese with the good news of Jesus so that when they return to China, they are equipped to spread the word to their colleagues, family, and friends? That’s the mission and vision of ISI. Will you join me by giving of your finances or time to help support this ministry?

9/11 and International Students

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In light of this historic day, the ISI home office (the nuts and bolts of the campus ministry I serve with) sent out the following message to all field staff. Let’s seize the opportunity to witness to the love, peace, and hope of Jesus on this important day of remembrance.

…today during our staff prayer time we felt compelled to pray for you regarding this upcoming weekend, due to the national focus and grieving on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Our hearts go out to the Muslim students across the country who will no doubt experience significant levels of anxiety and even fear of reprisal from Americans. What an extraordinary opportunity for God’s people to demonstrate a spirit of grace and compassion to those who live under law, and fear of a vindictive god. Our prayer is that God would give you opportunities to speak peace into the lives of these precious students at this crucial time. Love conquers fear (1 John 4:18,19). May the love of Christ, spoken through you, lead them to the God they long for.

In Christ,

Matt

English, Anyone?

One of the ways we are able to serve our international friends is by practicing English with them. Let me tell you about a few folks I’ve met with recently.

John and Rastus: They’re the two Taiwanese exchange students who are staying with us this summer. They’re studying English at a nearby English academy, where they take classes in the morning and go on field trips in the afternoon. It sounds like a lot of fun! I tutored John, the 15 year old, for a couple of years in Taiwan. His 20 year old cousin, Rastus, joined him for this summertime adventure. Please pray for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with them during our time together.

Two Catron St. Chinese guys: Well, they don’t live on Catron Street anymore, but that’s how I’ll always know them. These two guys meet with me every Tuesday afternoon to have what I call a “conversational Bible study.” We’re reading through the Gospel of Luke right now. They’re both very interested in spiritual things, and one of these friends has even mentioned that he’s “trying to believe in Jesus.”

OSU Access teachers: I volunteered to serve as a conversation partner to two Access teachers who were at Oregon State University for a couple of weeks in July. Here’s a description of their program: http://oregonstate.edu/international/news/story/123038. During our two conversation times, we were able to chat about our various religious backgrounds (Christian, agnostic, and nominal Buddhist). I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with these guys as they head back to their home countries (Chile and Cambodia).

One Crazy Day

Drip, drip, drip… Holly and I had been hearing this mysterious dripping sound for a few weeks but didn’t have any idea where it was coming from–until Saturday! We were in our front bedroom around 12:30 p.m., tidying up for our overseas guests who would be arriving soon. All of a sudden, we heard the gush of water coming from the corner of the room. At first, we didn’t think much of it, because we figured the roofers (a whole other story!) were using the hose on the outside of that wall. Just to be sure, Holly peaked out the front door to discover that the water was off! So, where was this water coming from?!

I located the sound, grabbed a screwdriver and hammer, and popped off the gutter downspout and crawlspace vent, only to find a jet stream of water gushing under our house. To be safe, I turned off the water supply at the meter. I then asked the roofing contractor for his opinion. After turning the water on and off again, we determined that a pipe had rusted through near the front part of the foundation. This was beyond my feeble plumbing expertise, so I called a professional.

That’s when our guests arrived…

“Welcome to America! Here’s your room, which is still a mess. Here’s the kitchen; I hope you don’t want a glass of water. Here’s the bathroom, but you can’t use it right now. If you need to go, the city park is just down the street…”

The plumber showed up an hour later. A foot-deep trench and four more hours, and I could finally turn the water back on. Did I mention that Grace was crying most of the afternoon? “John and Rastus, I hope you enjoy your homestay. Rest assured, it can’t get much worse!”