And More Flowers!

Another Trip

I am planning a trip to Malaysia this weekend to visit some dear ISOT graduates. I will leave on Saturday, August 12, and stay till Tuesday. Air Asia has some great deals these days and the cost of the trip was very reasonable. It started as a wish, and then a prayer, and is now becoming a reality! Pray that I will be an encouragement to this family and that God will use us to mutually bless each other. The last time I visited Malaysia was when I was 15 years old!

(Photo courtesy of Malaysia Tourism)

A Desire and a Dilemma

It all started with the desire of our ISOT international students to be used by God to help make disciples during their time in the Philippines. We have about 200 students at ISOT. About half are Filipino; the other 100 come from 20 different countries all over Asia and a few other spots on the globe. They are preparing themselves for ministry in some very strategic places. Take Phurpu, for example, a Tibetan student who is here at ISOT with his family. We know that God will use him in the future to reach Tibet, but Phurpu wants to see God use him now, in Manila. The dilemma is that while English is widely spoken in the Philippines, when Filipinos start talking about things that are really important to them, matters of the heart, they prefer to speak Tagalog. The result has been that our Filipino students have many great opportunities for ministry, but our international students often run into a language barrier.

We have been praying about this matter, and we asked ourselves, is there any ministry where it would be an ADVANTAGE to be an international? Then God gave us an idea! There are thousands of international college and university students here in the Philippines. They come here from all over Asia and the Middle East to study medicine, agriculture, computer engineering, English and many other courses. They come from some of the most unreached countries in the 10-40 Window, and many of them have never heard the Gospel, or even the name of Jesus. We realized that God has given us a golden opportunity! Seni, one of our incoming faculty members who comes from the South Pacific island nation of Tonga, had a concern for these college students. He agreed to give leadership to a team of ISOT students who will spearhead this ministry. James and I agreed to serve as advisors. About twenty of our ISOT students decided to join the team. Phurpu was one of them.

We met together to pray and brainstorm. The opportunities are so great! International college students, for once in their lives, are away from the social and family pressures in their own countries that might keep them from listening to the Gospel. For example, while they are here in the Philippines, they have complete freedom to attend a Bible study without being questioned by relatives or being found out by authorities. Also, international college students are often lonely and homesick, and they are longing to talk to someone who understands their struggles. Our ISOT international students do understand the struggles, and in many cases, they speak the very same languages as the international college students! And our ISOT international students have something to offer – they are ready to share the greatest news ever announced. The more we prayed and talked about it, we felt that we should assume that any international student or working professional we meet in the Philippines has been sent here by God to hear the Gospel!

We began meeting together with a core of ISOT student leaders, planning some strategies for reaching out to internationals. We targeted two universities near ISOT that have a large number of international students. We came up with all kinds of ideas, like offering help in adjusting to Philippine culture, learning English and basic Tagalog, soccer, ethnic foodfests, etc., etc. The more we talked, the more ideas came! Our objective is to find ways to connect with internationals, build relationships, and share the Gospel. With those who respond, we hope to disciple them during their years in the Philippines so that when they go home, they can have an impact for Jesus in their own countries.

We also decided to put up a website so that we can encourage internationals to visit regularly and learn about upcoming activities. Siby, one of our core members from India, is our computer whiz, and he is in charge of setting up the website. Our ISOT students went out and did surveys on the two campuses, asking international students what they would like to see on such a website. The response was enthusiastic, and just doing the survey already opened many doors for relationships. Of course, we needed to find an effective and attractive name for our website. It took weeks of brainstorming to come up with one that was not already in use on the internet! We had lots of clever ideas, but it seemed other clever people had already taken them. One of my favorite acronyms turned out to be the name of a website doing research on Islamic terrorist groups. Who knew?! Finally we came up with our name “The NETSPAN,” which is “The NETwork of Students and Professionals Across the Nations.” Siby is busy setting it up now.

Each week, our ISOT students are grabbing opportunities to go out and meet international college students. They introduce themselves as members of NETSPAN, a group dedicated to helping international students and professionals in the Philippines. Just yesterday Phurpu told me he spent three hours at the University of the Philippines talking to a group of international students in their dormitory. They were eager to pour out their hearts to a new friend who understood their struggles, and they asked him to come back again. The strategy is working! Please pray for us. We keep getting more ideas and we need God’s wisdom and direction about which ones to pursue. Pray that that this new outreach will result in a great harvest and that our international ISOT students will have many opportunities to make disciples.

Thanks for your partnership with us. Together, we are reaching the world!