I met Madi like I met a lot of students: in the rush of the organization fair, shouting to be heard over the cacophony in the gym. She was from Germany and was eager to learn about American culture (specifically the intricacies of the fabled American football). We exchanged numbers, and I invited her to my home for dinner.Fast forward a few weeks, and Madi is attending every Reformed University Fellowship gathering. She said she remembered praying with her family as a child, but her connection to God had been dormant for years. In RUF, it came alive. She barraged me with questions, much to my delight. (Most memorably, she asked me why God allowed the Holocaust — a great question, but awkward in the middle of Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show).

Through more dinners in my home, our relationship deepened. Never have I seen a student so excited, and so curious, about the things of Christ. We read Tim Keller’s “The Songs of Jesus” together and texted about the daily prayers. We discussed how to treat difficult people with kindness. She shared her newfound love for Christ with her boyfriend, and they started reading the Bible together.

She was so grateful for RUF that she wrote a letter to our donors, thanking them for making everything possible. Here’s an excerpt:

RUF International is a community where you feel loved, welcomed, and accepted, exactly the way you are. No one judges you for anything or gives you an uncomfortable feeling. I never walked into a room full of strangers before and felt so included after not even 5 minutes. Everyone is able to have their own opinion and it has truly widened my horizon to talk to so many people from so many different countries about life’s deepest questions. It is also completely new to me that people I haven’t known for a long time care about me and are there for me. … Being a part of RUF international is such a blessing and I am absolutely grateful for it. I look forward to the weekly events with great joy and hope that RUF will expand worldwide so that every (international) student can experience this community as it contributes strongly to my amazing time here in the US. 

Now, she is back in Germany with her husband, and we remain close friends. (She even came to my wedding all the way from Germany!)

Madi is one example of what we’re seeing all across North America:  a tremendous chance for the church to reach students from around the world, without ever boarding a plane. In my time as an RUF intern, I interacted with students from Nigeria, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Iran, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Myanmar, India, China, Mexico, and Korea. 

Many countries hostile to Christianity send their best and brightest to the U.S to study. The students return to their home countries, fluent in the language and culture, and often occupy influential positions. Imagine what they could do if they were introduced to Christ while studying in the U.S.! 

Within the PCA, God is already on the move through RUF International, the PCA’s campus ministry to international students. RUF-I has grown from 16 campuses to 26 campuses in less than four years. On several of these campuses, RUF-I is the only international student ministry. Last year, 150 international students representing 50 countries went to RUF’s summer conference, where they experienced a full week of Christian community and gospel teaching.

The Power of Hospitality 

One of the most effective ways to reach international students is inviting them into our homes. 

These students are missing their families, longing for connection, and worn out from navigating so much newness. Giving them a safe place to be fed, seen, and known is powerful.  

In her book “The Gospel Comes with a House Key,” Rosaria Butterfield notes, “Radically ordinary hospitality is this: using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors, and neighbors family of God.” 

If evangelizing the nations sounds intimidating, think about it like this: invite an international student to your house, share food with them, and engage them in conversation. Ask about their hobbies, their family, or their transition to a new country. 

That’s it. Start right there. 

With time and a naturally growing relationship, deeper conversations will come, as will opportunities to invite them further into the church community.  

For this reason, the RUF-I model differs from RUF National. With RUF-I, church volunteers and families play a significant role alongside the campus ministers, staff, and interns. 

The campus where I interned was blessed with many wonderful volunteers from our local PCA church. One family in particular comes to mind. Recently, I phoned them to catch up, and around their table were students from Taiwan, Africa, Kazakhstan, and Brazil. One student became a Christian through the ministry. Another became a Christian through a different ministry. One is on his way to becoming a Christian. They celebrate birthdays, baby showers, and successfully-defended theses around that same table. They’re a found family, of all colors, cultures. and languages. 

Is this not a precursor to that beautiful scene in Revelation 7:9-10 when members from every national, tribe, and people stand before God’s throne in worship?

The Need for Endurance

Another of our church volunteers, an Indian man, used to say that on average, it takes 10 years for a Hindu to become a Christian. And it does not happen through apologetics debates. It happens through enveloping Hindu friends into the community of Christ and showing them firsthand that Jesus is the only way to God. 

This kind of constant love, especially with no immediate “fruit,” can be difficult. Forging relationships through cultural and language barriers can be awkward. Misunderstandings and unintentional offenses happen. But there are also beautiful moments of laughter,  learning, and friendship, despite great differences. And when something in a student’s life later brings them to reconsider Christianity, the context they’ll have is a family who loved them at their most vulnerable. That is a powerful witness.

How to Get Involved

You may be convinced of the strategic advantages of international student ministry and the beauty of the vision, but you don’t know how to contact international students. If you live anywhere in the vicinity of a college, there is definitely a way to find these students! 

First, check and see if there is an RUF-I near you. If there is not, there are other organizations faithfully ministering to international students, such as International Friendships and InterVarsity. A visit to the organization’s website will tell you what universities they serve. Reach out and offer to volunteer. From experience, I can tell you they will be thrilled.

If there’s not a ministry at a college near you, reach out to the international student services office, or equivalent, and ask if there are any volunteer opportunities. This will probably look different at each school. At some schools you can donate furniture and help to deliver it. At other schools you can be a language buddy. From there, build a friendship with the student(s) and invite them into your life. If none of these options are available to you, pray! Pray for the harvest to be ripe among international students in our country. You can also consider financially supporting ministry workers.

May we, the PCA, be on the frontlines of loving the foreign student in our midst—whether that be delivering furniture, driving them to the store, or simply inviting them into our home. 

Because many times, the first step to welcoming new believers into the family of God is welcoming them into our own family, and around our own table. 

Hannah Herrera worked as an RUF International intern for two years in Texas and now works with RUF Global in Rionegro, Colombia.