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.

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.

…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

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).

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!”

We also tried to demonstrate how to stay on top of the float tube (behind the motor boat), but that didn’t always translate!

We had a lot of great conversations, too. That’s what happens when men from various faith traditions (only two of the 13 students are Christians) spend 38 hours harnessing nature together. Here are a few of the topics discussed over the weekend:

• the religious climate in China (on the drive there)
• the story of a witch doctor turned pastor in Indonesia (around the campfire)
• how to believe in God, especially when you’re not sure that He exists (floating in kayaks)
• Muslim prayers at 4:00 a.m. (tents are not well insulated!)
• what a Christian church is like (on the return trip)

Please pray with me that these conversations continue well beyond this camping trip.

When all was said and done, we arrived back in Monmouth mostly injury free (except for a stubbed toe), we all had way too much manly (read: “unhealthy”) food to eat, and many new friendships were established. Do you want to join us next year?