Still, this week was very hard… Several dear friends are going home long term this weekend. In addition, several of our staff have had some huge family crises and we are transitioning one of our kids through teenhood and another through being a Webelo… I can’t remember when we have had more “stuff” to do in my life. No I take that back, back in High School, the weeks before I left for New Jersey for the first time, I had just about every hour scheduled with packing, having dinner with someone, etc. It was just as non-stop but the idea that that sort of life style not ending any more can be daunting… Still the exciting thing is that God is showing me through daily time in His word and in prayer that it can be done. We are being forced to depend on Him for every second of every day and it actually works!

One of the things we end each Bible study with every week is “if this passage is true, (which I believe it is) how does it change the way that you live…” I’ve been really challenged this year to make this question a part of every Bible truth that I know and imagine this… THE BIBLE ACTUALLY IS TRUE AND LIVING AS IF IT IS ACTUALLY WORKS! Imagine that…

Guitar soloist Cesar kicked it off with Vietnamese brother Toan with a great song that they put together that day. Then new student Malone from China who just arrived last week sang a very well crafted song that he wrote on guitar. Miguel played a guitar instrumental number and Claudia, a classical piano soloist who has been accepted into the UTA piano performance Master’s program played some Debussy for us. It was truly a feast for the ears. (See video clips from the performances)

After the sonorous start, we moved to our discussion groups and I (Roy) had the pleasure of leading the discovery Bible study through John 3, the story of Nicodemus. The students had so much insight to share. Every there had so many good things to say. My good friends Julian and Alex from Colombia especially were both so insightful in the things that they shared. It is really cool because Alex has agreed to lead the next Discovery group in two weeks. He is returning to his country in a month but he has a desire to see something like our Friday night in his country some day.

On a sad note, one of our dear friends from our small group, Earl, passed away a couple of days before the dinner. It was very sudden and unexpected. We had gotten to know him well when he was in our care group and when we gave him rides to and from church. It was a very sad thing. Interestingly, his mother mentioned that one of the things that was so special to him was his church small group and that he was REALLY looking forward to this dinner. He even had a turkey waiting to be cooked for this event in the refrigerator when he passed away. This story really made us realize that we are not only serving the students we serve but also we serve those who serve the students. Thank you Lord for this somber, special reminder.

Today, we got to be part of a community “carnival” at that apartment. We played sports with the kids. There was face painting, manicures and pedicures for the girls, arts and crafts for the smaller kids. There also was a baskeball hoop and all kinds of sports equipment. There was lots of food and wonderful fun.

My job was to go around taking pictures of everyone especially the families. Many of the families have very few pictures of them and so taking their picture is a very special thing. One little boy was having so much fun, he kept asking me to take his picture over and over again in funny poses. This will further the long term ministry of the apartment church as Andrea will be bringing these pictures for the families to take as a special gift. It made me very proud to see my kids getting into it and “making sacrifices” to do it. Jonathan was playing football with little Joshua (Understand Jonathan hates football… this was a image sacrifice in a big way) C-6 played with the kids though she cried a bit too because they didn’t want to play with her doing the stuff she wanted to do… Of course that is normal and you should have seen her before we went, we wanted so bad to go.

The people from the church were incredible. A couple of teenage girls were doing the manicures and pedicures… It kind of reminded me of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. Some of the teenage boys were playing all kinds of stuff with the kids. Seeing some of the guys painting bag “pumpkins” and some of the gals face painting and shaving ice. It was really really special. Anyway, it seemed that everyone came away with a big smile.

Stephenville has been called the Cowboy Capital of America and students from UTA, UTD, SMU, and Texas A&M University were treated to a Cowboy experience in this special place! As we arrived there were small drops of rain and several of the students had already arrived. We were greeted by the smiling face of Pam and were treated to some wonderful hamburgers out in the open under the trees (all our meals were there). The local Cowboy Church brought its horse drill team and they gave us a show worthy of the Fort Worth Stockyards of horsemanship and pageantry. AFter that, some local cowboys showed us their skill in roping rounding up some calves. This was all done in the “stadium” on George DeVries ranch. Every year George, a Grace Fellowship Church member, provides this special experience on his large and pastoral dairy ranch.

After the expert display of the cowboy arts, the students got their turn to play cowboy. They rode horses, shot skeet with a shotgun and fished int he fully stocked pond on George’s land. While it rained a bit during this time, the heavy stuff stayed away and the students had a great time. I traveled with the UTA crew and hung out with some Chinese and Colombian friends. For most of them, this was their first camping experience and definitely to shoot, ride and fish this was a first and yet even with the rain, there were smiles all around!

Some seminary that I met when I shared at DTS and SWBTS came along and made themselves available to help in many ways including cooking, setting up and just hanging with the students. They were great. They really intereacted with the students. Two of them spoke Spanish and one of the UTA students from Colombia was so new to the US he jsut beamed when he realized there were some people there that spoke his language and cared about him.

After a dinner of fresh (from the ranch) beef fajitas cooked by the owners of a local Mexican eatery and some of the workers on the ranch, we had a rousing camp fire led by Ryan, one of the seminary students. Between games of Chubby Bunny, Chinese fireside songs, etc. everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Again, the rain, a constant specter just over the horizon stayed away!

The next day, after a night of sleep in tents on a relatively balmy night, (it only rained a little bit) we went on to the Stephenville Opry where Grace Fellowship Church helped the students experience a country church worship service. The students seemed to respond well, especially when Pastor David, a good friend of our ministry for many years, shared the story of God’s miraculous healing of his daughter after a near death experience as a result of a four-wheeling accident.

After lunch in the small town city park, we toured George’s dairy operation. We saw, among other things, a 15 minutes old calf and cows being milked. I think the students were struck by how much like a factory this was and how much farming today is a business.

Then it was time to leave. When all was said and done, the student spoke with gratitude and excitement. They had so many firsts and they really got the see the love of Christ lived out in the townspeople, the seminary students, etc. It was truly a blessing. In addition… God showed himself in the weather. Early in the morning on Sunday, I checked out the radar plot of the storms to see what to expect, and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. There were lines of large storms to the north of us and lines of storms to the south of us but through the middle, where we were, there seemed to be a corridor of calm. The plot kind of reminded me of the crossing of the Red Sea. I was touched deeply. God was listening to all your all’s prayers!

Nearly a year ago, as our ISI DFW team was considering how to touch the large S. Asian community in the Metroplex with the love of Christ, we were challenged from many different quarters with bringing the Hindi worship band Aradhna to sing in the area. S. Asians comprise the largest group of students in the metroplex by far. At UTA, for example, there are over 1300 Indian students and around 500 Nepalese students not to mention the many Pakistani and Bangladeshi students. At Northlake College, approximately 800 of the nearly 1200 international student hail from Nepal. At the same time, outside of the Big Howdy and some of the special work Vinay is doing at UTD, we were having limited impact with this community. We felt that God wanted us to build bridges with this special and important community – to show them how much He loves them.

“When I was in India, I had Christian neighbors who sang Bhajan music in their apartment and many in the neighborhood came and also sang these worship songs. I really enjoyed it. So when I came here, I recognized many of the songs and it reminded me of home. I loved it then and I love it now.” - – Indian Student at the UTA Aradhna Concert

Aradhna is a Hindi word which translates to “Worship”. This band was formed by children of Americans, followers of Jesus who grew up in Nepal and India whose heart languages were those of these special lands. Under the watchful eyes of India’s best, they mastered the sitar, tabla, tambura, key instruments of Indian culture in addition to more western instruments like bass, violin and guitar. They became students of “bhajan” the worship music of India and they formed Aradhna. They play concerts for groups of followers of Jesus (but also they have played in Hindu temples as a testimony) both in India and around the world.

So less than a year ago, our team in cooperation with several other groups like BSM, churches, etc. felt challenged to bring this group to the North Texas area for a series of concerts as a gift to out South Asian friends. Assignments were passed out, (Ron was chosen as point with the rest of us coordinating the rest of the work on the different campuses and doing the things needed to make all this happen) prayer teams were mobilized, research was done and we set off doing something we had never done before. We chose Northake College, UTA & UTD, the campuses with the largest populations of S. Asians.

This last weekend was a culmination of all that work and what a special weekend it was. (see pictures) As one expected the band was truly delightful. For many of our American friends who were in attendance, they were amazed at the professionalism and quality of the band. The sonorous tones were so deep and rich. Each instrument were played as if by a craftsman. The response of the students was even more profound. I could hear people around me talking about how genuine and real this band was. Looking at students’ faces you could see that the band was touching students at a heart level. It was really touching to see. In one Indian Hindu student who has been meeting regularly with some followers of Jesus lately to learn more, you could really see the joy in meeting the band and hearing what they had to say. It was almost like students were being exposed for the first time to the idea that it was okay to be an Indian and still be a follower of Jesus.

The band is touching the students at a very deep level – Vinay ISI Staff at UTD

One interesting side story was the response of the Nepalese speaking students. They were so touched that they were not bunched in as  Indians but had songs in their own language as part of the program. Chris, the lead sitar player, grew up in Nepal and is fluent in Nepali and spoke directly to many of them. Many of the students were Nepali and Anugraha, a student friend and Nepali Christ follower was able to strengthen relationships that could help him as he seeks to start a Nepali church. One special story is of two separate groups of Burmese refugees who lived in Nepal for nine years but recently immigrated into the DFW area. We saw several of them at all three concerts as they truly connected with the music and specifically with Chris. Interestingly, Chris’ 2nd grade teacher from Nepal now lives near Dallas and was at the UTA concert and she told me that Chris’ mother has a ministry to these same types of refugees.

A special byproduct of these concerts was that it put before the Christian community the great opportunity to share the love of Jesus with S. Asians and to be able to do it together was a special undertaking. Many followers of Jesus who love S. India were there and most of them did not realize how many others also had the same heart. To see them interact with each other and with students was a thing to behold.  Much like when God encouraged Elijah in his isolation that he was not alone in his faithfulness in Israel, so it seemed the spirits of all were lifted. Trust was being built, in each other but also in God. I really believe something very special will come out of the relationships made. This was no small or insignificant divine purpose for these concerts.

I am waiting on hearing the exact number of attenders though the qualitative results were enough to make us smile and for God to be glorified. I believe there were at least 450 total attenders at the three concerts. (approx. 150- UTD, 180- UTA, 120 – Northlake)  Students from as far away as Tyler and Wichita Fall came to see the concerts. The other special thing was how God provided the funds for this. This was an area of tremendous risk and faith building for us and God provided!

Each concert touched had a unique feel. Northlake was outdoors and was the first major events by more than one faith organization there in a while and so really was a kick off of working together. UTA was a continuation of the work already done through the Big Howdy, etc.  And UTD, UTD was special because the students did most of the work and you could see God working in developing them as leaders. In addition the band played at three services at 121 community church, exposing the whole church to S. Asian culture. In addition they went over to SMU on Monday to play another concert under Chi Alpha.

So was it worth it? No question! God was there, and he touched many… Will we do it every year? I don’t know… It was tremendous work for the team and disrupted some of our regular work… but the gains and the potential created made it important that we did it this year. Perhaps every other year… Still… no doubt this was a work of God! Thanks all for praying!

“Last year a new Chinese girl by the name of R came to our Big Howdy welcome party and spent the evening observing how so many American Christians were serving  international students and were being so kind and welcoming.  She states that several Americans talked to her, but she was too shy to engage in conversation with them.  She was just too amazed and overwhelmed.  In October of last year, R met some Chinese Christian students who took her to church.  R began to learn and hear the gospel for the first time.  She spent Thanksgiving at one of our volunteer’s home and learned more of the story of Christ.  On New Year’s Eve, led by some of her Chinese friends, R committed her life to Christ.  She then led her boyfriend in Canada to faith in Christ by spending all night long chatting with him about what had happened in her life.  The story does not stop there.  This past spring, R has led her two roommates to Christ and they are actively engaged in Bible study and growing.  They have also engaged two more of their friends in Bible study with one of our volunteers and the five of them will resume this study when they return from China this month.”

We were worried that there would not be enough students, not enough people from church, not enough food and to top it off, there was a Tornado watch announced for the evening at 6 PM. (A watch as opposed to a warning is generally no big deal… but rain was a definite possibility). As always, it all worked out as there was plenty of food, just the right amount of people and beautiful weather for the evening.

One of the sad things though is we found out that Miguel & Charles, two key leaders and cornerstones of our ministry were leaving the area. Miguel, a recent MA graduate of UTA, has been looking for work as an architect and is likely moving to San Antonio soon. Charles, a recent TESOL masters graduate, will be going to Korea to teach english at a CRAM type school. We will sorely miss these guys. They have been very special to us.

Today was also special because I got to spend more time with my Persian friends, Ali & Bahareh. I really appreciate the friendship Lisa and I are developing with this wonderful couple. It has really been fun. I just feel we connect with them at so many levels. I thank God for them.

Tomorrow, another dear friend Darren will graduate from TCU to move on to Rice University to get his PhD. I have met with him for the last three years every week and have really enjoyed the discussion so very much. Perhaps I will share more later…

The primary purpose of this particular gathering is to build camaraderie within our team. We do so many things together where we were working hard under pressure. We also hardly ever have opportunities to see each other as couples (for us married ones). This gives us the chance to see each other in a different light and enjoy just spending time together as couples/singles together in a light fun atmosphere. It also gives us a chance to share from our heart and really pray for each other. No doubt when things get hairy and busy and we need to be able to trust each other and our motives – to cover each others’ backs – the strengthening of relationships we did here will surely pay off.

Do you work for the university?

Since we are so closely tied to the local university, many people ask if we are employed by the university. We are not. We do not work directly for any specific university. We work for a Christian organization called International Students Inc. (ISI – isionline.org) As it says in our mission statement “ISI exists to share Christ’s love with international students and equip them for effective service in cooperation with the local church and others.”

Do you work for your church?

While our church in Arlington, Fielder Road Baptist Church(http://fielder.org) supports us in many ways and they graciously allow me to use one of their offices, we do not work directly for Fielder or for any church. Fielder and many other churches and individuals are part of our support team and while we are of course first responsible to God, practically we directly “work for” ISI, a 53 year old national christian organization based in Colorado Springs, CO, with nearly 200 staff around the country focused on touching international students.

So, what is your job?

Lisa and I are Campus Ministers for ISI. We directly minister to international students but just as importantly we help others catch the vision and to be equipped in also helping international students and showing them Christ’s love. Roy, the DFW director, is also responsible for the team of 10 who do the same on 8 campuses in the 6 county Dallas/Fort Worth area that have around 10,000 international students.

How are you able to do what you do? Do you do another job to make this possible? How are you paid?

While for 8 years we did this as volunteers and another six years Roy worked part time as an engineering consultant to supplement his income with ISI, over the last four years, Roy works full-time for ISI. ISI is not like a church in that it receives general offereing and then we receive a salary from that general offereing. Our financial resources come from several sources.

• First, some churches including our home churches in California, and our home church in Texas as well as one small foundation support us as missionaries. This is a real blessing to us and really makes a difference financially but also in emotional and spiritual support (letters, sermons, e-mails, contact with our kids, prayer, etc.)
• Second, quite a few friends, family, and just “People Who Care About Students” (PWCAS) support us with monthly financial gifts. Some give as little as $5 a month and others as much as $500 a month. All make a huge difference and their gifts comprise the majority of our funding. Of course there is the tax benefit for them, but most give because they care about us or our ministry. Some give online at our website www.yabukibreeze.com, others give using payroll deduction, and others give via good old snail mail to our home office designating our ministry as the recipient of the funds.
• Third, a group of friends, family and PWCAS’ give maybe special one or few time gifts or perhaps gifts that regularbut only once or twice a year to help us in our ministryonline, using payroll deduction or through the mail. We have had gifts as litttle as $5 and as much as $5000.(which happened to be in the form of stocks)

Through this community of people, we are able to do what we do. focusing our time on students.

How do people know to give and can you make enough that way to live and do what you do?

We pray for opportunities to share about what we do and we try to talk to people who seem interested. We also share about our ministry through this blog, through a weekly and monthly (more or less) prayer e-mail and through a quarterly mailed newsletter.

While many in our team receive enough support for full time 40 hrs/week support, we do not. We currently have enough support for Roy  to “officially” work 27 hours per week but Roy in reality works 40+.  The amazing thing is that even though we are not yet at full budget, God has always provided just enough to survive. (with a relatively small amount of debt) Still, our desire is to some day be “officially” working 40 hours a week so we don’t have to “be filled with anxiety” about our finances any more.  Still, we believe in God’s provision and His place for us here right now so we are not worried. He always takes care of us. Still, if you are interested in learning more about helping us, please let us know.