As promised, here is a story about a student’s testimony coming to Christ! Because she comes from an oppressive home country, I won’t use her real name, share a picture or even name her country.

Alani (name changed) landed in America to pursue a graduate degree like most international students. She is super outgoing, making lots of friends in a season that is often lonely for others in her position. Although she was born in a poor rural area of her country, she was raised in a busy city by parents – atheists who also believed cultural superstitions. 

By God’s grace, Alani decided to give our Friday night dinners and Bible discussions a try. Over and over she was exposed to the story and kindness of Christ. She also loved going on field trips throughout the semester, where she was able to make friends with us, other students and volunteers. One major part of Alani’s story is that a local church whose members spoke her native language began volunteering every week! This was huge for her to fully understand the gospel and decide to follow Christ. And THAT she did!

I asked Alani how she feels now that she has placed her faith in Christ. Here is what she said: “I feel much more ambitious, to share and spread [Christ] with others. I feel being blessed, and God is fighting for us every second of the day. I am not alone in another country, or any other places on the planet. I want to be a better person, to follow rules what God said as good, and to make the world a better place. I pray and read the bible every day now.” Please pray for Alani and others who have and will trust Christ during this academic year! Pray also for the dozens of non-Christians we now have relationships with. 

In fact, one student I wanted to specifically ask for prayer about is Fredrick (name changed for privacy). Frederick was raised Muslim and is now agnostic. He has come out to almost everything we have done and is super engaged in all our Bible discussions. I decided to meet with Fredrick one-on-one over winter break to get more details about his faith journey. It turns out he was a part of a small sect of Islam where doubt and questioning was discouraged. I assured him that he is welcome to ask any tough questions of Christ, and that we would be here to provide answers to the best of our ability! 

Please also pray for our World Changers Conference in California from 12/28 to 1/2. Our ministry was able to pay for and send three Christian students: Babafemi, Prachi and Benson. The prayer is that they return nourished and ready to continue being a part of Christ’s mission at their campus and for the rest of their lives. 

Finally please consider joining us for ISI’s 24/7 week of prayer. Staff, volunteers and donors are committing to keeping a prayer chain going from January 8 – January 15. Also every night that week at 9:00 pm EST on Zoom, ISI national welcomes anyone for a national zoom prayer call to pray for the new semester! I’ll be there every night. This also will lead to our 40 Days of Prayer starting on January 15, which you can do on your own! Thanks so much for your partnership in the gospel!