
“Then Peter replied, ‘I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear Him and do what is right. This is the message of the Good News for the people of Israel—that there is a peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,’” Acts 10:34-36 (NLT).
Boldly approaching the Lord with our hearts and minds wide-open for His provisions can open doors we’ve never seen before, and give us responses we never anticipated. Hebrews 4:16, in fact, exhorts us to “…come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” We see this time and again in His unexpected gifts to our ministry.
One of His many blessings has been the addition of laborers to the harvest. We praise God for more and more brothers and sisters joining International Students, Inc., a team which now approaches 400-strong––and even stronger through the multiplied impact of volunteers! We have more than 23,000 volunteers who help us greatly with our mission to reach every international student for Christ. Another incredible blessing is the fact that for the third year in a row, we will introduce at least one soul to salvation in Christ every hour of every day––24/7.
With the ongoing expansion of our initiatives, like our M:28 Global Discipleship, nearly every day brings fresh and exciting news. We continue to receive astonishing reports from an international student now traveling from village to village, planting M:28 churches across his native Nepal! Stateside, we’re now a part of America’s fastest growing Chinese church, which not only asked us to train key leaders, but bring M:28 to its 24-hour Chinese television channel. We look forward to hearing even more stories about how our M:28 outreach efforts are changing lives around the world!
One of our M:28 facilitators sent the following story to our office. It truly highlights how the study is impacting hearts and minds of participants. The facilitator writes:
“I have learned that I really have no clue what will sink into the hearts of our students or suddenly become clear to them. An M:28 women’s Bible study provided yet another example of that. Acts 10 spoke into some women’s hearts in unexpected ways. We read through the story of Cornelius and Simon Peter, and while I have read and heard it many times, I could not have predicted the response I witnessed from two Middle Eastern women in particular. This was wonderful for me because I saw God move in new and different ways. As I listened to what the women in the group had discovered in the Acts 10 passage, one of the women boldly declared, ‘This is not Allah!’ She went on to explain that Allah has favorites, and she could see clearly that God did not. Because we have learned to listen and allow Scripture to speak for itself, I contained my emotions and said with suppressed excitement, ‘I see your point.’ The Lord knew that these women would recognize and appreciate the ‘point’ made in verses 34-36. Even though I did not have a clue how it would speak into their hearts, I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit knows how to reach each of the hearts of the women to whom we minister. Every week, I leave our study encouraged as He reveals Himself more and more to the women. We continually pray for the Lord’s leading through Scripture we share and we love show to these women.”
As you can see, God has blessed the M:28 outreach in unimaginable ways! As the study spreads like wildfire through the US and several countries across the world, would you take a moment to pray for our study facilitators and volunteers? Would you pray for God’s provision and strength as they help students navigate this exciting, life-changing Bible study?
Friend, thank you for your prayers and dedication to International Students, Inc.! We look forward to seeing His light shine through the M:28 program as it continues to grow!
For More Information
Learn more about the M:28 Global Discipleship Initiative .
Learn more about becoming an ISI volunteer!