August 18, 2025
Advice for Parents of University Students
I often tell parents that there is a great opportunity for spiritual growth and development as students enter into the university.
Articles for tag: International Students
Elders Leading on a Mission
Every local church is on a mission, but when mission drift occurs, the church’s elders must make a course correction.
April 29, 2025
Campus Ministries Demonstrate Unity
Amid the campus ministries of the Churches of Christ and the Independent Christian Churches, a story of restoration, renewal, and unity has unfolded.
November 1, 2021
Opening Closed Doors
Tools and Strategies for Sharing the Gospel in Restricted Nations
May 1, 2021
An Innovative Approach to Cross-Cultural Ministry
With his college closing, Andrew wondered if he could find a job that involved some sort of cross-cultural work. He decided to try teaching English as a second language to people in other countries via the internet.
April 14, 2021
Mountain Mission School: One Hundred Years of Service
Mountain Mission School of Grundy, Va., celebrates its centennial anniversary this month. When the school was started, 17 denominations had mission schools in the Appalachia area; today, Mountain Mission School is the only one still operating.
October 24, 2020
Sharing the Bread of Life with a Used Table
How Our Church Is Making a World of Difference with International Students By Tom Ellsworth The bursts rang out on that sultry, July 4 Sunday morning in 1999. They weren’t firecrackers, but gunshots . . . fired at attendees gathered in front of the Korean United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. Won-Joon Yoon, a Korean student at Indiana University, was gunned down on his way into worship. The cowardly white supremacist had fired randomly into the crowd and taken an innocent life. The city was stunned. At the time, my dear friend Carthell Everett—part of the Sherwood Oaks Christian Church
September 2, 2020
Johnson Opens New Center for Minority, International Students
Johnson University has opened a Multicultural Student Affairs center on its Knoxville, Tenn., campus to serve as a gathering space for minority and international students, as well as provide office and/or meeting space for the Urban Alliance, Future of Hope, and Students Promoting Social Unity. “We’re trying to create space for students on campus to feel comfortable and to be able to pursue God, and pursue their calling, and pursue their ministry, and to do it while fully being themselves,” Matthew Best said via Facebook during a video tour of the new center at 7903 Brown Drive. Best is director
July 15, 2020
Bob Milliken: A Focus on International Students for the Long Haul
Afzal (not his real name) found Bob Milliken by chance. In fact, he somehow stumbled upon the Facebook page for Bob’s rural church and started commenting on some of the posts. Bob, the pastor of the church, and Afzal, a musician in the Middle East, began a correspondence that led to a friendship. Before long, they were talking worship, and Afzal told Bob he is a Christian worship leader in his strict Muslim community. Afzal is passionate about helping Christian musicians learn how to lead worship in their own communities. He had been discipling a group of 10 to 15
February 26, 2020
Alberta Bible College Adapts to Meet Needs of Today's Church
By Chris Moon Stanley Helton believes Alberta Bible College is in the middle of a turnaround. The president of the Christian college in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has overseen doubling of the school’s enrollment during the past five years. Its adult learning population is starting to take off. And financially, the college finished 2019 in the black—the first time since 2014. “We’ve been steadily chipping away and putting things back in place,” Helton said. The turnaround has been five years in the making. The college hit hard times after several years of inconsistent leadership following the 26-year tenure of Ron Fraser
October 26, 2019
Milligan College to Become Milligan University in 2020
Milligan College kicked off Homecoming weekend Friday by announcing it will change its name to Milligan University effective June 1, 2020. President Bill Greer and board of trustees chairman Ron Dove made the announcement after the fall board meeting. The decision followed two years of study and after considering input from alumni, faculty, staff, the college’s strategic planning committee, and others, according to a news release. “The name Milligan University reflects who we are today and our journey to this moment,” Greer said. “While our name and program offerings may change, who we are at our core hasn’t wavered for
10 Creative Ideas for How Christian Colleges and Churches Can Collaborate . . . and Make Both Stronger
By David Fincher Christian colleges want to work with local churches to enrich the school and its students, as well as the congregation and its members. Such collaboration helps our Christian higher education institutions maintain their core mission of training church leaders. Most Christian colleges and universities work hard to recruit potential students from the church, provide professional candidates to fill staff openings, and send preachers or teachers when asked. Christian churches need to use these important resources, and Christian colleges need to clearly communicate theservices it can offer congregations. Here are 10 ideas for creative collaborationforChristian colleges and churches
November 30, 2018
Give Your Church an International Flair this Christmas
By Emily Drayne Have you ever wondered how Christmas is celebrated in other countries? Do they bake cookies and set them out for Santa? Do they hang stockings from mantles and have Christmas trees full of ornaments and lights? Many Americans could benefit from learning the traditions of other countries. Incorporating an international flair into your end-of-year services is easy. Here are five ways to expose your church family to missions during “the most wonderful time of the year.” 1. Host an “International Christmas Week” at your church. December is not a normal time for a missions emphasis, but
July 21, 2018
RISE
How You Can Engage Refugee and International Students in Your Community By Emily Drayne Did you know there are more than 1 million foreign students on the campuses of American colleges? These students come from more than 200 countries around the world. The five countries that send the most students to the United States are China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. Many times, these international guests don’t even see the inside of an American home during their time here. It’s estimated about half the world’s future leaders will study on American campuses. Did you also know that
June 3, 2018
Obituaries for 2018
Send obituary information for **@********************ia.com. (Recent obituaries are listed first, before a comprehensive alphabetical listing further down.) Carol June Lukens Beeman Piper, 91, who was born Jan. 26, 1927, to George Oran and Ella Hall Lukens in a home 10 miles north of Mitchell, NE—the sixth of eight children—died in Tempe, AZ, on May 31, 2018. As a 3-year-old child, upon the death of her mother, Carol June (known then as “June”) moved to Beaver City, NE, to be raised by her aunt and uncle, Fannie Hall Rennecker and Albert Rennecker. She attended Beaver City Public Schools, graduating from high
May 26, 2018
You Found Me: Reaching College Students on Their Level
By Greg Swinney and Beth Swinney He was scrolling down his Facebook page on a computer in the university library when I nudged him and asked if I could bother him for a few minutes. Tom looked over and immediately stopped what he was doing and said, “Sure, what’s up?” I knew I could count on Tom, a prelaw student, to level with me. “What are college kids looking for these days in a church?” I asked. “I’m scratching my head to figure that one out.” Tom didn’t flinch. He said, “We are looking for a place that’s real. A
February 11, 2018
Dennis & Linda Messimer: Five Decades of Ministering Around the World Together
By TR Robertson A lifetime of ministry together has given Dennis and Linda Messimer a rhythm of talking—they often finish each other’s sentences—and a rhythm of serving God together. “Dennis would teach Bible studies and I would teach the kids,” Linda says, describing the arrangement they’ve followed hundreds of times, on three continents. “. . . But once kids came along,” Dennis adds, “Linda wasn’t as involved in the ministry work as she had been earlier.” Since the kids have grown, Linda says, “I’ve done Bible studies with women and he did Bible studies with men. We support each other
October 22, 2017
RISE
This project focuses on mobilizing churches, campus ministries, and individual Christians to be more intentional about loving our neighbors from other parts of the world. By Greg Swinney “Now we get to the fun part.” That”s what a team leader said at the conclusion of a meeting that awarded thousands of dollars of grants to churches and campus ministries around the nation. This process began nearly two years ago when Mike Schrage of Good News Productions International shared a dream with ICOM executive director David Empson. After discussing the details, the idea of the RISE Project was born. Multiple
March 16, 2017
Taxi Drivers, Refugees, and Other Good Reasons to Pray
By Kevin Dooley So what does the kingdom of Heaven look like when it shows up among refugees and immigrants in your town and mine? As followers of Jesus Christ, we are living in a unique time in the history of Christianity””a time when obeying the last commandment of Jesus to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) may not include air travel, but rather taking a taxi home from the airport. For more than two decades my wife, Kim, and I have lived and worked cross-culturally seeking to honor God among the poorest of the poor in
February 3, 2017
ICOM 2016: Disciples Making Disciples
By Doug Priest Mitchell and Luis looked a little lost in the exhibition hall at the Lexington (Kentucky) Convention Center, home to the 2016 International Conference on Missions. They came from the Dominican Republic. Mitchell had come to the convention once before, eight years ago. But the convention had grown a lot in the past eight years, and there were 300 different exhibitors! It is no wonder they were amazed at all they saw. These men are pastors. They belong to Centro Cristiano, an association of Christian churches in the Dominican Republic that has 23 pastors. Four of the pastors
