The current international students in Canada come from countries all over the world. Susan Fish describes the work of the International Student Ministry staff in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Much like attitudes toward prayer, there tend to be two perspectives on International Student Ministries (ISM).  There are non-participants who say, ‘I think you’re doing something wonderful’ (but might secretly believe it would be boring or intimidating) and those on the inside with a completely different point of view.

In Ontario, Canada, these ‘insiders’ include many volunteers and six salaried ISM staff, based in four university cities.  These women encounter a wide variety of challenges each day, and must face these with creativity, compassion and patience.  I tried to find out what they do and why they do it, as well as what suggestions they would have for others.

International students comprise an increasing sector of the population in Canadian universities.  Some might argue that this limits opportunities for Canadian-born students, but the presence of internationals is an undeniable and growing reality.

Because internationals are far from family and friends, they have many needs beyond those of the average student.  Imagine trying to learn and communicate using a second or third language.  Imagine paying tuition fees several times higher than those pain by Canadian students, or finding housing or a job, when student visas often limit you to campus employment.  Imagine spending Christmas holidays alone in a dormitory when other students have gone home.  Imagine the loneliness….

These are some of the needs which ISM staff recognize in their ministry.  Incidentally, several of the ISM staff are former missionaries who know at first had the experience of being a foreigner.

ISM staff see their work as a mission, only instead of going overseas, ISM ‘brings the world to me’ says Monica Simeon of the University of Toronto.  Other organizations recognize the needs of internationals, and ISM staff work co-operatively with university International Student Centers.  Other religious groups also direct their efforts to reaching international students.  So, unfortunately, do cults.

I asked ISM staff how their approach to students differs from that of either secular groups or other religious movements.  With an awareness of the vulnerability of international students, the ISM staff try to respect the integrity of the students, offering them love – as unconditional as possible – in the form of friendship and acceptance.  They try to extend the grace they have received from God to people who might never otherwise know the love of Christ.  Vivian Simon of the University of Western Ontario says, ‘I just want students to catch a glimpse of Jesus.’

Many of these students come to Canada with a stereotyped view of Christianity as well as a rosy view of democracy:  television has led them to expect North Americans to drive big cars and to go to church each Sunday.  They quickly discover much of this to be a myth.  To internationals, a typical Canadian seems cold, distant, and as one African student said, ‘someone with masks on.’  Because Canada is ostensibly a Christian nation, internationals are often disappointed by the hypocrisy of Canadians living on material excess but with a lack of family values.

ISM staff find the heart of their ministry in demonstrating the difference between cultural Christianity and the Christianity that Jesus lived and taught.

It is easy, even for Christians, to be defensive about their own culture or to be offended at another’s customs.  We aren’t always aware how much we connect our faith to our culture.  Eleanor Knott of Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, learned years ago the importance of finding ‘the skeleton of the gospel’ and allowing people to ‘clothe it in their own cultural flesh’.  Monica Simeon adds, ‘Once we understand and learn to appreciate God’s creativity as shown in the different races, then we will learn to overcome and deal with racism.’  Some aspects of culture do conflict with Scripture, but ISM staff encourage students to follow their traditional values and culture whenever possible because, in Vivian Simon’s words, ‘Christ doesn’t conform to any one culture’.

At the University of Toronto, the International Student Center has complimented us on our work, saying that Inter-Varsity is a link between international students and the community – that we provide a good number of contacts for them.  English as a Second Language classes are offered to students and their spouses as well.

Host Family programs match Canadian families with international students to allow them to enjoy and experience Christian family life.  At York University, students enjoy yearly trips to pick apples.  Sometime the bridge is built during quiet discussion over a cup of tea.

Offering these simple means of caring, from a perspective that also cares for spiritual needs, means that ISM staff, students and community volunteers welcome conversations about God which spontaneously arise.  Olive Fuller says that by listening and being there when needed, with a caring and consistent love, we earn the right to talk about the gospel we have been demonstrating.

ISM staff say that what they do isn’t as important as the attitude of compassion and understanding which is shared in all they do.  Now anyone can be compassionate and there is always much work to do.  That is why ministry to international students can and does depend on ordinary volunteers.  And student groups are part of it, too.

This autumn, activities will have started on various campuses across Canada to help international students adjust to university life in this country.  The world has come to us; in the name of Christ we seek to welcome international students.

Susan Fish is a former student leader, and then the VCF staffworker, at the University of Waterloo, Ontario.  The above is reprinted with permission from the Fall 1992 issue of IV in Focus.

Jim Berney adds:

IVCF staff have always shown an interest in ministry to international students on local campuses ever since the beginning of the movement.  There have been those (mainly faculty) within the campus community who have hosted internationals in their homes, taken them to church and attempted to bear witness to Christ as appropriate.

Our organized ISM work began, however, in 1953 when Joe Curry, IVCF staff member in Alberta, became interested in sponsoring an International Christmas Conference at Banff National Park for the three western provinces of Canada.  (The 40^th anniversary of this conference is being celebrated this Christmas.)  Several hundred attended but it proved difficult to sustain proper follow-up work.

The first person to be appointed to work exclusively with international students was John Hardy in Montreal in 1966.  He began simply to trying to establish contact, show friendship and win the confidence of internationals, organizing informal activities and outings and running a Sunday afternoon Bible study.  Eventually John recruited a team of students and friends around the city to join in this outreach.  This led to the formation of a student reception committee to meet incoming internationals and help them get settled in.  (Melvin V Donald, A Spreading Tree, p 284)

Jonathan Baylis was then assigned to do full-time ISM work in British Columbia and from there, the ministry spread across the country.  Today there are ten full-time and ten part-time staff and the work is spearheaded by a National ISM Coordinator, Ian Elliot, who was appointed in 1991.

Donald MacLeod’s efforts during his term as General Director (1975-80) to build bridges to the local churches and missionary societies have borne much fruit, with the following groups seconding staff to work on the ISM team:  SIM, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, InterServe, Mennonite Central Committee, the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church of Canada.  Many of those seconded are former missionaries.

Today, ISM staff across the country are working on campuses where approximately 26,000 of Canada’s 35,000 international students are studying, and claim contact of varying depth with around 2,000 of them, especially with South East Asians.  There are some 800 volunteers around the country involved with Host Family and English as a Second Language programs.  In this ministry, volunteers are the pivotal force, and it is tremendous to see how much they are contributing to the ministry.  (From Andy Perrett’s National Report on ISM work, 1992-93.)

These are some of the lessons we’ve learned:

• The vision for ISM work almost always revolves around one individual whom God has uniquely prepared.  There is a cluster of gifts and experience needed, including experience in other countries, a heart for evangelism, a caring concern for hospitality and some ability to organize volunteers who will invite internationals into their homes.
• Meaningful activities seem to revolve around celebration events in the host country which internationals who have no home and family of their own attend.
• Returned missionaries or university faculty members who have traveled abroad seem to be the ones with a vision for ISM.  Local people with a heart for hospitality can be mobilized to open their homes.
• Volunteers must be mature, since most internationals who come to Canada are usually older and more experienced than most undergraduates.
• There are certain churches which have a vision for ISM.  We must look for specially prepared individuals and churches who are called to this ministry.  The local student groups and staff then act as the bridge between these people and the international students on their campuses.

IVCF’s Student Manual contains a 16-page section on ISM work which gives a lot of practical advice for student leaders on how a local group can develop its ministry to international students. Available on request from the National Office:  IVCF, 64 Prince Andrew Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 2H4.

Copyright Information:
This article is reprinted from an article in the IFES Review, November 1993 issue, with permission of the authors and IFES.