Yabuki Breeze Blog

Every year we (ISI and many different ministries, churches and organizations) welcome new international students to UTA. The whole month of August is devoted to this activity. This is true at TCU and all our other DFW campuses as well. It is a very special time when we get to meet some new friends. We welcome them in many ways! (see http://www.utabighowdy.com for info on some ways we serve them) At the two campuses where I’m most intimately acquainted, UTA & TCU, we were able to serve more students with the love of Christ than ever. Let me share with you Ron Bunyard’s report  from UTA (Ron was the UTA Big Howdy Organizer) as a sample of what was happening on all our metroplex campuses (including UTA, UTD, TCU, SMU, UNT, Northlake, UD, Collin, Navarro, & Northwood):

Dear Roy

What an amazing month we have had in our Big Howdy welcome events.

Take a look at some of the numbers that all represent relationships and ministry.

500+ students at the Big Howdy party.
300 pieces of pizza
100 Chipotle burritos
200+ volunteers who provided food, did airport pickups, transported students to Wal-Mart, lifted and delivered furniture to students apartments, and many other acts of love and kindness.
300+ students country line dancing for the 1st time!
170 students picked up at the airport.
126 students taken to Wal-Mart.
100+ students have furniture and apartment needs to start their year off right.
72 feet of potluck food dishes devoured by 500 hungry students.
20 campus ministries and churches demonstrating unity in the body of Christ
19+ countries represented by the students at Big Howdy events
1 God to give all the praise!

Thank you for praying and giving!
Ron

Check out pictures from the Used Item Sale and Big Howdy party and for the TCU Welcome Party. Pray for the students you see and relationships that God will grow as the year moves forward.

Tags: Big Howdy, TCU, UTA, Welcome

Some times God “benches” us in the craziest times to force us to rest. Often he uses illness or family issues to do this important thing. This last week I was exposed to a new way, Jury Duty.

The last couple of weeks have been very hectic. Our DFW team has really been pouring much time into preparing for the three night, three location Aradhna concert (http://aradhna.isidfw.com), we have been working on developing new international student ministry strategies for the DFW area and in Arlington and TCU, we have been preparing for the coming of students. (not to mention the other campuses – UTD, SMU, Northlake, UNT, Collin College, University of Dallas, UT Tyler) Last I checked our UTA Big Howdy team (www.utabighowdy.com – which includes ISI and from 10-20 other campus and community ministry organizations around UTA including BSM, Lutheran Center, Cornerstone etc.) picked up over 160 international students from the airport, took around 70 student to Walmart welcomed nearly 500 new students a orientation events and made quite a few meaningful connections. The bulk of Big Howdy is still ahead with the Used Item sale this Saturday and the approximately 450 attender Big Howdy Party on the 29th, the rides around Arlington on the 7th (already 50 sign ups) and the Aradhna concert on the 19th where we expect 350-400 students. Of course this all wouldn’t be possible without our incredible and dedicated team of volunteers and staff. At UTA, Ron leads our Howdy team of approximately 150-200 volunteers. It is a generally crazy time and God is blessing us in so many ways.

Back to Jury Duty… I got my notice in the mail several weeks ago and noted that it was during this crazy time. Thankfully it was at municipal court and I figured the cases are relatively short (it’s really traffic court). As it got closer and closer, I was feeling more frantic about being able to make the time to go. Still, to be able to finish out jury duty with one day of service (likely sitting around and waiting) and to not have to serve again for a while was very inviting. Anyway, I decided to go with an attitude of rest. This was a day off from the frantic daily requirements of life;  a time when “I could legitimately say, I can’t do it… I am serving my country.” I was going to take a good book, my facebook app on my phone and just relax.

When I got there, after standing in line for a while, I found out I couldn’t go into the court building with my mini-Swiss army knife on my keys. Back to the car… back to the back of the line… “I’m taking a day of rest.” I sat in the waiting room. I get an e-mail about Aradhna and something I have to do… I’m taking a day of rest… We are taken to the court room to be picked… We find out they just handle 30 minutes to 2 hour traffic (mostly speeding) cases. This time I want to be picked… I can go home quicker and I can honestly say I served on a jury in the last 2 years when asked next time. First jury… No… “I’m taking a day of rest… relax” Second Jury… YES! I am picked… but we have to go up to the 9th floor to wait for our turn for the second case.

The eighth floor was nice. In a city with few multistory buildings 8 stories gives you a birds eye view. What an incredible view. We could see all the way to Dallas, Six Flags, and the Ballpark and the beautiful new Cowboy stadium and its oblong shape is front and center. But we had to wait… and wait… 1-2 hours… “I am taking a day of rest…” It really was nice talking to one of the other juror, reading a book about family, having fun with Facebook. By the end of the time, I really did feel rested.

The case was relatively short, cut and dried. The defendant was trying to be “Denny Crane” on Boston Legal but no one bothered to tell him he was in traffic court and really, in real court… Boston Legal would not cut it. Actually in contrast to the obviously new, just-out-of-law-school but professional Assistant DA, his case really felt like a grown up version of “My dog ate my homework” with little substance but much passion. Anyway… I’m not going to let it bother me because “I’m taking a day of rest…”

And what a day of rest it was… Thank you Lord of traffic court…

Tags: Aradhna, Big Howdy, civic duty, jury duty, Rest, traffic court

Here is a great student testimony from one of our key staff team members, Ron Bunyard showing how the initiative of our friends who volunteer with students are one of the keys to what we do. It is especially relevant because the Big Howdy is coming up soon again. Please volunteer to help welcome student if you can at http://www.utabighowdy.com! As you can see, it really makes a difference!

“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.”

Tags: Big Howdy, help, testimony

It has been a while since my last post. There have been many very time consuming projects afoot. Anyway, I wanted to post some things that have been on my heart but I haven’t had time to post. I am going to bring in some tidbits from our most recent prayer letter that share what is on my heart right now…

In many ways this has all the indications of being a very emotionally draining week for me and my family. So many difficult things happened (see Prayer needs below). There were some sleepless nights and lots more prayer than usual. Still, God is here and working and for that I am truly grateful. We have lots of huge prayer requests this week. Please pray specially. The next couple of weeks will feel difficult and the effects of the last couple of weeks will start to be felt.

Praises

• God gave our DFW team a wonderful, wonderful retreat. We looked at a new strategy for ministry for the DFW area that incorporates what we already do but looks to expand on it using a new paradigm. We will need some prayer warriors if this will work, but if it does, it could be really special. Let me know if you are interested in praying specifically for this for the next year in a concentrated way.
• I have been really blessed by seeing how my kids have been getting along at this point of the summer. I will miss the special times together working at home with them here when the summer is over.
• We had a wonderful banquet for the Chinese EMBA students at UTA where they got to hear from a wonderful Christian business man who spoke at their level and also they connected well with their friendship partners.

Prayer Needs

• Many of you have been praying for the Chinese student, N, who police are looking for as she has been missing since Saturday. There is no new news to report. Please keep on praying for wisdom on the part of the police and that she will be found one way or another.
• My grandfather in Japan passed away today. I did not know him too well as he was always so far but I do know he was a very special man who was a huge influence for my mother. I’ll never forget his wonderful laugh, his constant smile and his deep but simple wisdom. I just wish I could have gotten to know him better. I don’t believe he ever knew the Lord. That saddens my heart.
• My oldest son turns 13 this week. I can’t believe that that little boy who was little more than one year old when we came to Texas is going to be a teenager. In many ways I am so proud of him and yet I feel compelled to pray for him and all the kids every day. There is so little we control and so much we depend on God’s grace.
• We began our “Politics, international relations and religion” discussion group at Starbucks on Wednesdays two weeks ago. The first one had one Italian student. This week we doubled our attendance with the Italian student, an Iranian couple and myself. Please pray for good conversations about worldviews and stuff eventually opening up discussion about Jesus.
• We are winding down our summer groups and getting ready for the craziest month of every year when we welcome new students. At UTA alone there are over 600 new international students coming and we meet most of them in this busy month.
• Pray for wisdom on some financial and priorities things we need to decide on for the city ministry soon.

Tags: Big Howdy, Birthday, discussion group, Grandfather, international relations, Japan, Loss, missing, paradigm, police, politics, Praise, Prayer, Staff retreat, Strategy, Teenager

One of the real blessings in my role as City Director is to hear the reports from our local team about what God is doing and it gives me a chance to see the big picture of the direction God is taking us. Here is a sample from Ron Bunyard’s report from August. I gave you a preliminary version earlier. Here is the full one….

Along with these events, I had the opportunity to speak to over 200 new Indian students and welcome them to our campus. I challenged them to get involve with making American friends and let them know that our Big Howdy team was the way to do that. I also was able to speak to over 100 new ELI (English Language Institute) students and welcome them as we continue to grow our relationship with the this very important group of students.
God has also given me a Korean student, an Indian student and a Nepali student to lead in Bible study and discipleship. Our weekly Friday night dinner, English discussions and Bible discussion are off to a great start.  The first two weeks we have averaged 28 students. More importantly, the spirit of the group is wonderful and real community continues to be developed.
One weakness so far is our ICF ministry with Christian students. We have lost our leadership in this group and God is yet to provide new leadership. We are working to get this group off the ground this school year.

Praise the Lord for what he is doing!!!

Tags: Big Howdy, Report, Ron, UTA

I have taken some time to allow what happened this weekend to sink in. The party went very well and we could really see God’s hands throughout as He made it work. One statement that remains, and it was evident on Saturday, by Gary, the BSM director, is that for many of the students, their first Big Howdy stands out as the highlight of their time in the US. They never felt as accepted or appreciated as at that moment. Wow… That is both an testimony as the power of the Howdy to touch students hearts and allow them to smell the aroma of Christ but also a indictment on how far we still have  to go in continuing to touch their lives with the love of Christ afterwords.

The set up team, made up of mainly college students from the BSM and Lake Arlington Baptist church came 2 hours early and did a tremendous job of setting up the place to help the students celebrate. I’ve never seen college students work so hard. It was a REAL testimony.

The food came in late and there were some nervous moments as the time for the party to start came and all we had was fruit and one casserole. It reminded us of the fish and the loaves that the Disciples knew something about. With some tight muscles, we chose to trust and God seemed to bring just the right food at the right time. Even our Gnocci crew had a problem and came late… but that was perfect timing. If they came on time with what they planned on bringing, I believe it would have been gone much sooner and so the people who came late would not have had anything… God knows what He is doing.

The registration was brisk and yet we got all kinds of information from the students. The tables with all the different Christian orgainizations on campus had brisk traffic throughout and the serving lines were wonderfully staffed by an amazing army of volunteer from I don’t know how many churches. We had one Japanese American man come all the way from California (visiting his friends here) to make a stir fry dish for the students. Wow! Between Pizza boxes, there were home made pasta, Chinese dishes, rice, curry, you name it. Many student even contributed much. Further, since many of the students are vegetarian, there were tall signs carried by beautiful volunteers (Lisa included) indicating which foods were “green” and which ones had meat.

After lots of food and talk… Line dancing and Indian dancing commenced. Two days before the party we found out there was a mix up on dates with our usual, line dance instructor and so we were hard pressed. We sent out a request to the rest of our team and the UTD team shared the older lady to teaches their kids… Again God intervenes… It was a blast. She did a tremendous job. It was wonderful too, to see, some of our retired volunteers doing western line dancing with the “hip” young indians and chinese and others on the dance floor.

Finally, the students were allowed to let loose a little when we allowed them to control the DJ. It was good to see them release some of the stress that had built up in the last month in moving to America in a clean way. To many that was a testimony of grace and hopefully, it broke down some misconceptions about Christians that could lead to other opportunities to share Christ’s love in other ways in the future.

All in all. It was a wonderful evening. We also got over 130 sign ups for the next event, the Tour of Arlington, September 1. Please pray for this. We are very short on drivers to take students around Arlington, Fort Worth to see things in the area. It is probably the time when we get closest to the students of all the Big Howdy events.

Thanks ALL of you who were praying so fervently. It made a difference.

Check out more pics from all Big Howdy Events!

Tags: Awesome, Big Howdy, Party, UTA, volunteers

One of the most difficult things about moving from one country… no continent… to another is that there is only so much you can bring. While many students bring 3 huge suitecases and 2 more carry ons, when you think about it, there isn’t all that much that you can put in them. So, often, even as late as a students second semester, it is not uncommon to see students sleeping on the floor with their luggage as furniture.

Seven or eight years ago, Mark Norton and Mark Peterson saw this need and initiated what became an annual event – the Used Item Sale for international students at UTA. While it has changed much over the years in its implementation and its specifics, the essence has not changed. We collect furniture, and other household items from church members and allow students to buy them for incredibly low prices. (There is a good reason why we sell it rather than give it away… If you are interested, we can discuss in the comment section)

The students love it. This year, Ron Bunyard, working with a team of young adults from 121 church made it happen with items from many different churches including Fielder Road, Grace Community, 1st Baptist Euless, Grace Lutheran, University Catholic Center, etc. It was probably was the most organized sale to date as students all felt like winners after they were there. In addition, Ron instituted a program where people could sign up for what they could not find there. He would then turn over the request card of a particular student to a church or small group and that group essentially adopts that student in terms of getting the things he or she needs. It was really awesome to see the students smiles and words of appreciation. It was equally rewarding to see the volunteers (from the many churches) help deliver furniture and see how important it is to have this sale given the students’ need. Praise the Lord for the convergence in what He is doing in people’s lives.

Tags: Big Howdy, Garage Sale, Used Item Sale, UTA

I just wanted to share this report from Ron Bunyard our ISI team leader at UTA from his prayer e-mail. Remember… this is from Friday, BEFORE the Big Howdy Used Item Sale, the Party and the Tour of Arlington.

The Big Howdy is off and running.  Our team was able to pick up more than 100 students from the airport.  Another 200 students were taken to Wal-Mart to shop for their first time and now as we enter the final stages of our welcoming some 600 new international students to UTA we need your prayer more than ever… [Also] Praise God for the opportunity God gave me [Ron] to speak to 150 or so new students from India last night. [Ron was invited to share at a gathering of new Indian students by one of the student organizations] It was a miracle to be able to welcome them personally and encourage them to take advantage of all that we offer them and the opportunities they have to interact with the American community.

Wow! Cool deal! Praise God!

Tags: Big Howdy, Report

One of the things that are most difficult but also often most rewarding about what we do is the last minute calls from students for help. These can come any time and any place. Today, I received such a call for a ride to the bank and to go shopping and it was a lot of fun and we had some good discussion.

A couple of Indians students needed to deposit all the cash they brought from home and had no way to going there. I got the call at around 11 and so I picked three students up around 11:30. We went to Tom Thumb Grocery store which also had a Wells Fargo bank. While the student was depositing the money, I introduced the others to “Starbucks Frappuccino’s.” While we sat and imbibed we had wonderful conversation about what we believed, etc. One was a Thomist Catholic believer, another held to a humanist ideology and the third was Hindu. It was a lot of fun learning about each other.

Afterward, we went to Academy Sport to get some shoes and clothes and other things and then I took them home. It was a couple of unexpected hours of my time… but hopefully time that will result in a long term friendship and the opportunity to share Christ’s love in other ways.

In other news… Ron is working hard on the final preparations for the the Used Item sale in the morning and I know others are preparing dilligently for the Big howdy Party. I have run into several people at markets and other places and they have told me they were shopping for the materials they need for the party. I have a real feeling God is going to do something special. Please Please Please Pray for tomorrow! For all our campuses… UTA, TCU, UTD, SMU, UNT, etc. (etc is not an acronym right?)

Tags: Bank, Big Howdy, Last Minute, shopping

Thanks all of you who are praying specially for this week. It has made a difference. Good relationship is happening. Today, I had the privelege of taking a Thai couple, James & Jin who I picked up from the airport late Friday night to lunch & then shopping. They were feeling very homesick and so I took them to a Thai restaurant and then we went to the Asian market. It was a lot of fun. They are a very sweet young couple. He is here on a fellowship to get a PhD in linguistics. It was a lot of fun – I really felt like we bonded in a special way and it truly is an honor to serve them and I hope we can continue to build our friendship, perhaps helping with English and adjusting to live in America.

Our friend G. from Italy came over with a cooking team of 4 other international students from places as varied as Iran, Japan, China & Korea to make a large amount of Northern Italian heaven to be served at the Big Howdy party on Saturday. Gnocci is a special Italian dumpling dish in this case made with Potatoes. Our home smelled of Tomato sauce, different spices and the sound of G. kneading the dough to make from scratch the dumplings for 40 people. It was an incredible exercise and the students learned a lot from each other and about each other. It was a blast. (Wait till those of your at the party try it.) Check out more Big Howdy pics…

One final thought… (as Bob Costas is wont to say) As I was reading about the Olympics today, one of the quotes was from an athlete from the Carribean who happened to study at TCU for college. Two other Olympians in track and field from Jamaca both studied at George Mason.  It struck me… there are many athletes at the Olympics who were international students in the United States at one time or another or at the least they trained here. There are also a lot of kids of internationals too. One of the campuses I serve on, TCU has a world renowned track program with many internationals (7 current or former Horned Frogs (TCU) representing 5 different countries are at the Olympics) and the whole Tennis program is international. In addition, several US Olympians with their international friends practice at UTA. SMU, where one of our DFW minstry teams works has 15 athletes representing 11 different countries (including Nastia… from the USA.. oh well… but her dad is Russian and Shawn Johnson’s coach was an international student before staying here to start a gym) AND a torchbearer. Wow! That is really cool and reminded me of the types of students we serve.

Tags: Big Howdy, Cooking, gnocci, Olympics, shopping