• INTERNATIONALS:  IMMIGRANTS, STUDENTS, REFUGEES, AND VISITORS

     

    From 1970 to 2010 the US and Canada have gone through tremendous growth by way of immigration.  Apart from visiting students, tourists, or undocumented individuals over 35 million people have moved to the US.  Canada has also seen tremendous growth due to their friendly immigration policies.  Over ½ million Chinese, mainly from Hong Kong, live in the metro Toronto area.   There hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in California.  Minneapolis has a Somali population of over 75,000.  These are but a very few of the immigrants in North America.  Immigrants have huge challenges and personal needs.  Generally, business people arrive in the US with a basic understanding of the English language.  However, their families often struggle with the English and with the loneliness that this causes.  They also can have difficulty making friends and identifying with the community.   Also, many immigrants will return to their homeland so it is important to give them a good impression of North Americans and of the Christian faith.  These individuals and families would respond well to your following kind acts: 

    1. Always saying hello and stopping to speak with them about their day. 
    2. Having a tea or dessert with them in your home. 
    3. An invitation to dinner. 
    4. An offer to meet each month or week to practice English. 
    5. An invitation to have them join you at an event or church service. 
    6. A discussion about family background and belief. 

       

    There are over 723,000 international college students in the US and over 150,000 in Canada.  There represent some of the brightest minds in the world and future world leaders.  Almost 200 countries in the world have government leaders who studied in the US.  The current Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, received his advance degree at Harvard.  You can have a significant outreach to international students by offering the following: 

    1. Pray for international students in general and specific country. 
    2. Call your college international office and meet with the director. 
    3. Offer to host a student(s) for a dinner.  
    4. Contact student associations/clubs and sponsor an event or meal. 
    5. Your church can sponsor a weekend retreat or other one-day event. 
    6. Take a student to a professional sport game. 
    7. Call a campus ministry and ask them to teach your Bible study group how they can reach out to students. 
    8. Offer to meet with a student to help them improve their conversational English skills. 

    Undocumented immigrants pose one of the greatest opportunities to share the love of Christ with the world.  They represent people from both reached and unreached people groups and are very open to love.  Most are poor and socially repressed due to the nature of their status.  Many will return to their country and tell the story of how Christians loved and cared for them.  Reaching out to an undocumented immigrant individual or family shows the world that the church cares for all people.  Remember, Christians believe that God is in control and has allowed undocumented immigrants into our country to hear the gospel and know the love of Christ. 

    Refugees are extremely happy to have a chance for a new life here in North America.  They are friendly and wanting to make new friends with Americans and Canadian citizens.  They want to identify with their new community, learn how to assimilate, and add value to their neighborhoods.  Although many refugees speak English, they usually welcome help to learn English and cultural nuances in society.  You can help a refugee by: 

    1. Praying for the Lord to show you the refugees around you. 
    2. Going out of your way to say hello.  They need to know you are glad they are here. 
    3. Inviting them into your home for friendship or a meal.  Expect some cultural matters to be dealt with at a meal but nothing you cannot quickly overcome. 
    4. Inviting them to your outings and shopping experiences.  They will welcome help in discovering places in the community. 
    5. Offering to help their children with their school work.  Most will have great study habits but may need to understand their classwork expectations. 
    6. Sports is a common denominator.  Help them get their children involved in area or church sports programs. 
    7. Everyone loves music.  Invite refugees to attend your church musicals. 
    8. Invite refugees to attend your church service.  If they are open to learning the Christian faith, they will attend. 
    9. Introduce them to neighbors and friends.  They love to meet people. 
    10. Conversational English may be greatly desired.  Offer to meet regularly with them to talk.  English is best learned by talking.  Let them do the talking. 

    Links & Resources