From June 25-July 22 (almost a month!) we lived like we always do. Raising our kids, getting groceries, cooking dinners and reaching international students for the cause of Christ — but this month we were not in New Jersey; we were in Milan, Italy. That’s right! We had the immense privilege to go on a mission trip for International Students Inc to explore whether our strategic style of ministry from the States could be transplanted in any foreign city where international students go to study.

Backstory & Vision: The backstory to this started almost two years ago when ISI as a ministry  launched “Global Reach,” a new internal initiative seeking the Lord for this very significant venture. International Students Inc has always had a global vision – in that we see the one million international students coming to the States; and we aim to reach them, so they can reach their home countries and families. In the last few years though, they saw the trends of overseas universities opening up their doors to international students – and not just in native languages but in fully English programs as well.

When Jenn and I first heard about this, we immediately joked about how cool it would be to do ministry in Italy where my parents are from – a lifelong dream of mine. There were a few occasions when we bantered about this with ISI’s Global Reach team, but eventually we brushed it off as too big of a dream. 

Let’s fast forward to August 2024 when my Italian first-cousin, Stefania, and her husband, Giuseppe, were visiting New York. Both heavily involved in their Milan church’s college ministry, they asked if I could take them for a prayer tour of NYC and Jersey universities. During this time, of course I showed them Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and shared with them the international student ministry Jenn and I have the privilege of serving with. Of course I quipped with them about going to Milan in partnership with their church! Their response was something like, “if you get serious, let’s do it!” 

Well the quip turned into a very real possibility. Jenn and I began dreaming and praying. We began having serious conversations with my immediate director and the national director of ISI’s Global Reach. We began researching and found that 50% of Milan’s 17,000 international students are in fully English programs– many of whom are from the 10/40 window. 

Team Formation: It became super clear God was asking us to take this huge step of faith. By December 2024, we were able to put together a preliminary plan for our mission trip! From January to May, we began meeting with a 10-member local Italian team that my cousin and her husband assigned to partner with us in this work– all bilingual. In these monthly meetings, we prayed and fellowshipped, but I also was able to “onboard” them with vision and training for international student ministry, a strategy that was completely new for them but which they came to love.

Now that you have more of the backstory, it’s our joy to share with you a full update from our time in Milan from June 25 – July 22. 

Planning and Praying: We went round and round thinking about what exactly we could do in this major experiment of faith. Should we just stand on a corner near the schools with a sign? Should we contact the schools directly? Ultimately the Lord led us to organize Friday dinners just like we do in Hoboken, a series of three Fridays in fact. What we didn’t know is that the Lord had already ordained for everyone on the team to be particularly gifted or connected in a number of areas. One team member owned the graphics and slideshow. Another two were able to do live “music” (worship songs!). Another 3 handled our ice breakers and games. Others handled registration, social media and welcoming guests! 

On top of this, a member of my cousin’s church just opened up a restaurant in the middle of the coolest part of Milan called 70Volte7 (70 times 7, which you guessed comes straight from Matthew 18:22). We asked if we could book the entire restaurant all three Fridays for this evangelistic venture and he obliged – which was a huge blessing. We did not need to worry about catering food, table setup, plates, napkins, drinks, and everything else that comes from hosting a dinner from zero. Also, the fact that it was in a reputable restaurant – and not in a hall or church – made our event more trustworthy, legitimate and appealing. 

In addition to the fun and food elements of the night, we of course made sure to plan a gospel presentation but we wanted to do so in a way that was not pushy even as we aimed to be as clear as possible. We decided to arrange three conversations around three topics on the three nights – Anxiety, Friendships/Loneliness, Work/Purpose. After everyone was done, someone got up to close with scripture and the gospel – connecting the topic to faith and clearly pointing to Christ. I had nights #1 and #3; my cousin’s husband Giuseppe had night #2.  

For two months leading up to the first dinner, we knew we had to begin promoting as much as possible. Thankfully at that point the Lord had given us a strategy we’ve seen our local international students use: Facebook groups! We joined as many as we could find. “Indian students in Milan, Chinese students at Bocconi, Turkish housing Politecnico, etc etc.” In all we were in over 60 groups! Once a week we began promoting. 

Unfortunately about two weeks away from our first dinner, we only had a handful of registrants. We prayed and felt the Lord was asking us to go public on social media somehow, but we did not want to do so from a church or ministry account. That’s when we realized: the restaurant’s instagram account! As an actual lively restaurant with a decent following (and great Google reviews), the owner let us try it. Thankfully we also were able to pay for ads and target international students in the city of Milan. It worked! More and more registrations started coming in. By July 4, we had 59 registrations from 8 universities and 13 countries – mostly Hindu and Muslim. Some registered and came the same day! In addition to this, we spent two days a week at different universities doing prayer walks and promotions. Thankfully our partner church was able to send reinforcements from their teenage group. See pictures; it was great!

Dinner #1: July 4 – A Full House: On the night of our first dinner on July 4th we got together early to make sure everything was set and to pray. After all these steps of faith, we had the registrations, but would they actually show up? We took a deep breath and waited.

Nearly exactly at 7:00, they actually began showing up! We had 25 students show up and 10 volunteers for a nice full room. Jenn, the team and I were so overjoyed. All our prayers and hard work paid off. They were in the room. Smiles on our faces, name tags on our shirts, we proceeded and everything went off without a hitch – the check-in, the welcome comments, game, appetizer, dinner, music, topical conversation on anxiety — all the way to the gospel presentation and giveaways (yes we had to have giveaways). 

Nine students took our feedback survey. One student “Sally” (pseudonym for privacy)  – a female Hindu student from India, shared: “Honestly [it was] the best evening of my Milan journey. I always wished for [an event like this]. It was so great… the people, place, vibe, food–everything.” Sally connected with Jenn so much that she ended up making her a goodbye gift (handmade earrings) so we could remember her! Jenn picked them up on the day Sally was done with her last assignment as a graduating senior; she posted a selfie of them on her personal Instagram to celbrate She also asked us to return to Milan!  

Seven of them said they would “meet one-on-one to talk more about Jesus.” While in Milan, Jenn and I got to have follow up meetings with two of these seven. The team is working on meeting with the rest. 

The whole family and I got to meet with another Hindu background student “Sheldon” (pseudonym for privacy). As you can see in the picture, he lives and works on Lake Como – which means he traveled 1.5 hours by train just to join our dinner. We were able to hear more of his story and of course reiterate God’s love for him and the work Jesus did to bring us to God. Like many Hindus, Sheldon claims to love and revere Jesus. Pray God supernaturally helps Sheldon see Jesus is not merely one of many Gods, but the only true and highest God there is. 

Jenn got to meet one-on-one with “Evelyn” (pseudonym for privacy), a Turkish student with a Muslim background. At first, she ignored our follow-up message but later she shared, “thank you for your message, and sorry for the late reply. I’ve been feeling a bit lost and down lately, but I’m doing better now. I’d just really like to talk a bit more.” Jenn met Evelyn at a Starbucks just a stones throw away from the famous Duomo Cathedral. It turned out that Evelyn had graduated some time ago and has had no traction finding work; also all of her friends have moved on and away from the city. She admitted to Jenn about being terribly lonely and wanting to go back to Turkey but not wanting to disappoint her parents by not finding a job with the degree they paid for.

Jenn made sure to communicate God’s lavish love for Evelyn, the work His son Jesus did to not only  forgive us of our sins but to also to guide us and provide for us in a personal relationship with God. Jenn was even able to use a Turkish translation of an evangelistic tool called the “4 Spiritual Laws.” Evelyn ended up joining our third dinner where the topic was literally about how our careers cannot sprovide an ultimate purpose. Please pray for Evelyn to reflect on the gospel and come to Christ; pray for our local team as they follow up with her.

In addition to these two Jenn and I got to meet, the team was able to naturally connect with and meet with several students from our dinners. One student from France “Larry” (pseudonym for privacy) sent our volunteer a message saying: “If you want to go out sometime, let me know. It would be a great opportunity for me to practice my Italian. But you probably won’t be able to make me a Christian. Telling you this because I don’t want to waste your time if that’s your goal.” Obviously Larry saw through all the fun – well it was not hard; we are very transparent about our aim. Thankfully this is not something new to us in the international student ministry world. After some coaching about how our volunteer should reply, Larry ended up coming back to our second dinner and once again heard the gospel of course. He is in communication with our volunteer Mattia. Pray for the continued growth of the seeds of gospel to grow.

Dinner #2: July 11 – Community Forms: As for our second dinner on July 11th, Jenn, the team and I were confident we would be able to work together to once again pull a great night. One thing we were worried about was attrition – students not showing up from the first week. Of course during the week, we once again promoted at two new universities after prayer walks. We continued pushing on social media. Unfortunately many did not come a second time, but others did come again. In addition to this, some brought friends and still others came on their own for the first time. We had about 23 students and 10 volunteers for once again a nice full room.

Everything once again went really well. Praise God. One of the great things about doing this dinner a second (and then third time) is we began seeing a little community form. People recognized each other, remembered names, laughed about not winning a giveaway again – exactly the kind of community we aim for in international student ministry back home. 

Once the dinner on July 11th ended, the ministry was not over. Being a super active church, the college ministry had planned for a straight 48 hours of prayer and evangelism in the city. I was able to join them until about 3:00 am July 12th where about 50 members of the group traveled between different universities to pray. It was super.

There was also some special follow-up from our second dinner on July 11th. 

One of the girls “Cecilia” (pseudonym for privacy) from Colombia ended up going to church with my cousin Stefania and another volunteer. Sadly Cecilia attempted suicide a few weeks prior! Pray for wisdom as our team and the church team aims to help Cecilia heal – first in Christ as savior and then of course in these other deep areas of pain. 

After having a meaningful conversation with our church volunteer, another student from a Sikh background named “Harry” (pseudonym for privacy) asked for a Bible! He has never read one before. We were able to get him a physical one in English and we shared the Punjabi version on the YouVersion app. Pray he not only reads it himself, but that he ends up reading with our volunteer. 

Dinner #3: July 18 – Goodbyes: Of course the last dinner on July 18th was bitter sweet. We created a community in a few short weeks. There is so much more to tell about this little community. Our clique of three Muslim girlfriends from Pakistan who loved the dinners. Our macho muscular guest from Spain who we met while promoting at his campus; at first he asked us what the “catch” was only to enjoy it so much, he came during week two with a friend. Or perhaps the fact that two of the Iranian international students worked at the restaurant for the Christian restaurant owner! 

Once again things went without a hitch. We saw students return and others did not, but 27 showed up in total. We were able to share the gospel once more, which I had the privilege of doing after our topical discussion on “work and purpose.”

Some things got a little heated at two of our tables, which is normal from time to time. There were several passionate Muslim students who were ready to challenge Christianity during our discussion even though our topic was merely on career and purpose. Thankfully because of apologetics training we did in our monthly meetings beforehand – and because of how mature our volunteers were – any major debate crisis was avoided. In fact, the one ring leader was speechless after he realized that most of the authors of the New Testament did in fact know Jesus – a confirmation the table used ChatGPT to settle! Although we try not to stir debate, sometimes when students initiate these discussions, they can provide valuable opportunities to show our faith is rock solid, which is what happened here. 

One interesting thing to note after all this is that several students wanted a copy of the Bible at the end of our third dinner. After three weeks, there was serious interest in God’s word! 

Another great follow up from the third dinner is “Wanda” (pseudonym for privacy) from Poland ended up coming to the college church service the night after! She was able to experience passionate worship and hear a solid sermon, translated by one of our team members. At the end of service, she went up to the altar for prayer, and afterwards she went out for pizza with a bunch of members of the group. It was great! 

In total 48 individual students came to the three dinners. Some came to one, two or three but a total of 48 individuals came. 

Gospel Conversations & Follow-Up: Of course we did not want to leave students hanging. As a team we had prepared for follow up. We offered two opportunities to students. One was “Friendship Partners,” an ISI initiative where an international student meets monthly with a local just to hangout. The hangout can be anything. Another was “Discovery Groups” where an international student reads through major passages of scripture with a Christian guide. No lectures – just the straight inspired Word of God, in the hopes of course that they will see Christ and trust Him! 

As of now, 15 students filled out our final form. Twelve students indicated they want more info about Friendship Partners and eleven indicated they want more info about our Bible Discovery Groups. Fourteen said they would enjoy another large group event! Over the course of the coming weeks, our local Italians will begin following up one by one. Our prayer is that the seeds of the gospel would continue to grow through the relationships and hangouts with these students over the next few months and possibly years. Pray with us for the same!

Of course Jenn and I are now home as of July 22. We are tired but we are so satisfied and grateful for the opportunity. International Students Inc will be in touch with our local church partner to see how we can continue partnering and equipping. One major decision the local Italian team will need to make is what to do with this large group momentum they now have! Although only 15 students filled out our form, almost 50 students came to trust this little Christian group to serve them with kindness, care and conversation involving faith. Please pray for wisdom as ISI and our church partner in Milan aims to move forward in a way that seeks the Lord first and then acts second.

Thank you again for your partnership in the gospel. Thank you for praying and giving. We hope you are encouraged. We are just vessels but we could not have done this without you!