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International students

Who are you?

It started out normal.
I, Niko, not conspicuously German, high school teacher, was at our university to offer prayer to students, to talk with them about the meaning of their lives and what Jesus might have to do with it.
I, Joshua, very conspicuous West Indian, pastor's son, met Niko on the campus in Dresden. It was my first week in Germany. One year later this has turned into the first church and an exciting global vision.

What do you want to see?

  1. At every university we meet international students who are already on a journey with Jesus. We want to train them to become strong and mature personalities - and help them reach their fellow students.
  2. These students will not stay at their universities. Due to internships, research projects, university degrees - sooner or later they will move on. If they are interested, we will help them to start churches in the next institute, during the next lunch break, in the next global metropolis. Not only help. Long-term support.
  3. Some will go back to their home countries. Some will not. Many will develop a longing to make evangelism, discipleship and church multiplication more natural in their own countries. To go there with them would be a dream.

How did you get this idea?

Niko has been planting house churches for many years. Then came Joshua. Suddenly a completely
natural, but only local, lifestyle became a worldwide vision. What's normal here can be normal to the ends of the Earth.

What challenges do you expect?

  1. Time: There never seems to be enough time for all the international students we are meeting at our universities.
  2. Sustainability: How do we manage to effectively stay in touch, visit each other and support each other even after our studies are over? We will need a simple infrastructure. This will require capable people to work with us. And money.
  3. Cross-Cultural: How can we go back to our home countries and do this work there without seeming arrogant? Expressing gratitude to our parents and extended families and at the same time showing the next steps closer to Jesus will not be easy.

What will you do?

We've planned three things:

  1. A vision weekend 25-27 September 2020 in Dresden.
  2. We have already started in Dresden. Next will be Freiberg/Saxony. There is another group there with whom we are connected through personal relationships, mentoring and joint strategy days. We plan to start working in at least three more universities by summer 2021.
  3. In summer/autumn 2021 we want to fly to the West India. Joshua is coming there. This will be our first attempt to work in a particular home country.
published in May 2020