Over the weekend of March 15-17, Jenn, the kids and I got to enjoy our ISI regional staff conference in Philadelphia. We were in the heart of the University City area, not too far from UPenn where plenty of students were out and about, both international and American. It was a super encouraging and life-giving time to be with about 100 staff from across the North East.

The theme for the weekend was “Streams of Living Water” and most of the sermons centered on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to reach international students more effectively. It is so crucial for us as ministers to start, continue and end everything we do in prayer and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

While there we got to do a tour of several historic sites. One in particular that the kids, Jenn and I loved seeing was the “Liberty Bell.” The kids loved that it had a Bible verse on it. That verse is Leviticus 25:10 where it says: “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”I couldn’t get over just how connected these two themes were..

Who are we to declare liberty over people without the power of the Holy Spirit?? This was especially convicting as the team was preparing for a major outreach to Iranian students. We know they need to hear about the liberty they can have in Christ, but we need God’s Spirit to show us how and when to share with them.

Over the course of the year, we have had only one or two Iranian students joining us on Fridays out of the crowd of 50-70 students. This is despite the fact that there are about 100 at the campus of Stevens in Hoboken. As a team, we decided that we would use the Persian New Year “Nowruz” as an outreach tool. We served Iranian food, played Iranian music and games – and one of our volunteers even did a great job showing the connections with Persia and the scriptures ! 

Overall it was a great night! About 15 Iranian students showed up! They were all so thankful and social. Although most left right before our usual Bible discussion, they still participated in everything else – including our music time, where they heard a live version of “Because He Lives” sung by one of our volunteers. 

Praise God ! We see this as an answer to prayer for an outreach guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit! Pray that many return and join us every Friday and for other opportunities as well.

Please also pray for Good Friday and Easter. We don’t have anything official but many students will join us at our various church services out of curiosity and friendship. We hope this too will reinforce the love and Gospel of Christ!