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

(See Pictures) July 4 is usually a busy day for us. Between parades, parties for students, etc. there is always a lot to do. This year was no exception. Two of us being in a parade, a combined TCU and UTA July 4 party in Fort Worth. It was non-stop. Also, BOY WAS IT HOT!

The day after arriving home from Colorado, Lisa had to wake up early in the morning to take T-9 to Downtown Arlington because they were going to be IN the annual Arlington July 4 Parade on a float presented by his cub scout troop. Later on, I brough J-12 and C-6 and we sat along the route, looking forward to seeing our family members there. As we were waiting we were treated to some wonderful floats, marching bands, horse teams, etc. all dedicated to America’s monuments. Even Nolan Ryan was there as the grand marshall and Elvi were riding around in their signature white costumes riding their motorcycles.  T-9 cruised along on his scooter and looked great with his friends and mom.

In the evening, we picked up some student friends from UTA and headed off to Fort Worth to Celebrate July 4 with other student friends from UTA & TCU at the home of Babs Alvarez, a key partner at TCU. We all feasted on hamburgers and hot dogs and enjoyed the company of many friends, including some that we hadn’t seen in a long time and some we were meeting for the first time. One student, Jung, was back for only three days all the way from Korea and was able to join us! As it got dark we were able to enjoy some fireworks from a nearby park.

Tags: Fireworks, July 4, Party, TCU, UTA

While Lisa and I were focused on the Thanksgiving Party for UTA international students with our church two others of our ministry teams hosted other “new” thanksgiving parties… Here’s what happened…

Jeff Anthony, our ISI City Mobilizer and “blessing man”, helped kick off the first thanksgiving dinner for Collin College (formerly Collin County Community College), a new ministry focus for us. Here is his report…

It was fantastic! God definitely answered our prayers and pulled everything together for His glory. We had over 100 people and I think more than 60 students. Countries represented were: Pakistan, Vietnam, China, India, Kenya, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Iran, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Bolivia, Taiwan, Fiji, and Belgium.

A lady from Iran who works in the int’l student office and brought her three daughters (soph at CC and two HS seniors) went on and on about how wonderful everything was and how  much she and the students appreciated it. She called me the blessing man (I’ve been called lots of things over the years, but this was a first!) and said I would be blessed because of all that we did to make the students feel loved. We had lots of students from Pakistan and they really had a good time. I re-connected with several students I had met at the BSM retreat in Oct. and two of them lead different int’l student organizations on campus.

McKinney Memorial Bible Church offered to host thankgiving dinner parties for international students at several different american volunteer homes as they provided the food. As key TCU ministry team and McKinney member Babs shares,

All went well with the American Thanksgiving Dinner Saturday night.  We had about 40 students and all went to an American home. They seemed to be in groups in which they knew people and felt comfortable.  The feedback which I have received from students and JP and Cassie has been very positive; everyone had a good time!  The families really enjoyed having the students, so all in all, I think it was a very positive experience for all!  Praise the Lord!  Thanks to all who were involved from planning, to recruiting students and sending them to the right place, to driving and eating with them, and getting them back home!  Thank you so much!

In addition soon-to-be TCU intern Cassie adds,

There were… students there from China mostly and Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, and some others.  We split up into groups.  JP (Cassie’s fiance) and I took 4 Chinese students to a house and we got to stay with them.  Everyone involved seem to have a great time.  Plus, the time waiting at the [TCU Frog] fountain was just good talking to a lot of students I had not met before.

Finally, Bennie & Patti, key TCU team members, had more than 30 people, mostly international students, over their house on Thanksgiving day as they do every year. It sounded like, as usual, students had a rich and warm time. Bennie was telling me that he went down to TCU to pick up some students and twice as many as were expected were there… They are incredible people…

Tags: Collin College, TCU, Thanksgiving

The week of October 4-12 was truly a weekend for family around here. Roy’s parents arrived on the 3rd and came to visit us until the 12th. The had not been out here in over two years and so it was a real treat to have them around. The kids had a blast. Playing with grandpa & grandma. They were eating things they normally don’t and doing things that we were amazed to see.

The week started on Saturday with Family Weekend at TCU. This is the weekend at TCU where parents are encouraged to visit in a sort of “open house.” There are dinners, etc. capped off with the football game with the San Diego State Aztecs. Because most of the international students are not able to have their parents come, we annually host a tailgate party and trip to the football game for our international friends. What an auspicious thing that my parents were here too. We all went and enjoyed food and fun. My parents were even able to connect with several new Japanese students who might visit them some time in California. In addition, Dad, T-8 and I went to the Horned Frog football game where we watched them annihilate the Aztecs. It was fun watching T-8 & Dad at the game enjoying football, for T-8 the first time… we sat next to the players tunnel and next to the “Frog Horn.” Every time there was a Frog score, this loud horn blew right next to us. T-8 also got to high five the players on their way out and we got to together enjoy the fireworks demonstration after the game. I think it was a joy for both me and my dad to watch the wonder in Tim’s (and the students’) eyes.

One of the blessings of my parents coming over is that my garage and house are always better than before they came. This was no exception. My dad and I compiled a list of things that needed to be done and we accomplished a lot. Here are just some of the things we did: the gate next to our house was rebuit, the patio ceiling was fixed, the toilet seats were replaced, the soap dish in the tile of our bath was put back up, our back yard was cleared of extra vegetation,  the hedges of our front yard were shaped into bonsai, our hot pot was decalcified AND my garage was cleaned. Mostly done by my 72 year old father though I did help a little.l It was just incredible…  What a blessing my parents are in so many ways.

Tags: Family, parents, TCU

Yesterday was a good day with our international students though Lisa and I found ourselves split between two ministry sites for the second time in two weeks. Fourth of July is one time where we can share our culture with our international friends and they seem to enjoy it a lot.

UTA July 4 Party

(pictures) Lisa with T-8 & C-5 is represented ISI as we worked in cooperation with the Cornerstone from Grace Community church to host a July 4 party at the farm of Steve Headland. There were a fair number of students and volunteers from both Grace and our Sunday School class at Fielder Road Baptist church. Lisa shared that all had a great time as they rode horses, swam and just enjoyed the country hospitality. Lisa metioned that Steve and family live in a barn and they were able to use the barn as a place to host the students well into the night. She also shared that there was a 360 degree view of fireworks as the local cities showed off their patriotism. Tim and Charis had a great time too and were greatly blessed.

TCU July 4 Party

(pictures) At the same time as the UTA July 4 Party was the TCU ISI July 4 party. Our good friend Babs who lives across the street from TCU hosted the party and a fair number of students and friends attended including Roy & J-11. Steve Mitsuhashi slaved at the grill as students from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, China, Taiwan, Korea, Afganistan, Japan, El Salvador, etc. enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers and classic July 4 food. A friend of ours from Iraq brought a wonderful kurdish rice dish and it tasted so good. After hanging out and eating we enjoyed the fireworks from the Colonial Country club and the botanical gardens nearby. The oohs and aahs were everywhere.

I had a great conversation with a computer science major from Central America. We talked about all kinds of things from machine vision, to neural nets, artificial intelligence, what makes art art, to the metaphysical definition of a “person” from the perspective of catholics and protestant. We talked some about the Trinity and so many other things. He is a Catholic but he obviously enjoys reading the Bible and he attends our weekly bible study hosted by some local seminary students who are a part of our team.

I also talked with a Chinese student who apparently just recently became a Christian (we need to verify this) as we drove back and forth from the party. She had so many questions and was trying so hard to learn as much as she could about living as a Christian and Christian things. Jonathan was even able to share some stuff with her. It was really cool to see him opening up about different things. Her questions ran the gamut of is there one truth that the Bible teaches to what books we read, etc. It was really fun to be around a person so hungry to relate and learn.

Tags: Fireworks, July4, Party, TCU, UTA

“The TCU ministry is going better than I expected… Relationships are happening…” went a discussion in a recent team meeting with TCU volunteers and students leaders. The semester has begun at TCU and we have hit the ground running. Darren, our International Christian Fellowship (ICF – ISI’s name on campus) President represented us at the TCU Activities fair with several signups.

The Moores, a key volunteers couple for the TCU team hosted a Labor Day Party at their home. In addition to many “old” international student friends of theirs, three new Japanese students came as did one new key volunteer.

Several mission minded American students have joined us and have done a wonderful job as we have tried to implement our rallying cry for the school year, “relationships!” They, with our key Christian students, are also working to develop Life Transformation Groups (LTG) for the purpose of discipling students.

In addition, we continue to meet weekly on Friday nights. Twice a month, we join with the UTA ministry at the Yabukis’ On the other months, we have a TCU Bible Study on campus and a fun event with the Moores. (see www.tcuicf.com for our schedule)

We are excited about what God is going to do through this ministry.

Tags: LTG, Moores, TCU

“I want to study Revelations…” said TCU Junior Darren from Malaysia when he and Roy first started a Life Transformation Group (LTG) at Einstein’s Bagels next to TCU. ISI DFW has adopted LTG’s as a significant part of its discipleship strategy. This is because it teaches students to grow on their own, mixing the concept of community and the the Body of Christ in their Christian DNA. Roy & Darren have been meeting for the last couple of months and it has been an incredible time of learning and growing. It has been fun watching Darren ask difficult questions and really look at his life in light of the scripture that we have read.

According to the literature, Life Transformation Groups are “groups of 2-3 people that get face to face weekly for discussing the Bible, accountability, and prayer. LTGs are self-governing, are not controlled by any outside leadership, and follow no specific curriculum. By design, LTGs encourage the participants to discover the Word of God by themselves, with the Holy Spirit and one another to guide them.” In these groups students read 20-30 chapters of scripture a week in an accountability relationship. In addition they share their struggles and hold each other accountable and pray for each others and their lost friends.

There are at least 5 groups at UTA with more forming all the time and one more at TCU. In each case, we have seen significant growth and greater involvement in the students involved.

Tags: Life Transformation Groups, LTG, TCU

Luke’s Speeder, Obi Wan’s Light Saber, R2D2′s suit, these were just some of the things Roy, J-10 and two TCU students experienced at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s Star War’s exhibition. Purple Cow milk shakes were also on tap for this trip. Also, just a week later, on July 4, Roy, these same two students from Italy & Korea and at least 25 others from many other countries enjoyed fireworks while sitting in volunteer Bab’s yard after a delicious Hot Dog barbeque. (Pictures)

Texas Christian University (TCU) is one of the campuses we are trying to develop a new ministry on in the DFW area. This summer, we are working hard to develop relationships with new summer students as they start their journey here in the States. Hopefully these kids will form the foundation for the next school year. Babs and volunteer leaders Bennie & Patti Moore and other students leaders have done a wonderful job of building the ministry at TCU.

Tags: 2007, July 4, Summer, TCU