30th Anniversary Celebrations

  • 30th Anniversary Banquets: In cities across Canada, banquets are being planned to celebrate the amazing moves of God among international students these past 30 years, and to offer guests an unforgettable experience that will long linger in their minds and conversations.
  • Hike 4 Higher Education: Partnering with Compassion Canada and ISMC staff, a Hike 4 Higher Education is one of our special 30th anniversary activities. We hope many of our student clubs will take part in these hikes in celebration of our anniversary.  International students will have the opportunity to raise funds for college educations for skilled, young third world leaders who otherwise could not afford post-secondary education. As leaders, members of the ISMC Senior Leadership Team and Board of Directors kicked off the Hike 4 Higher Education July 25th, with a hike in God’s amazing creation near Canmore, Alberta.
  • Sister/Twin City Project: Inasmuch as we celebrate 30 years of God’s goodness to ISMC, “there are still very large areas of land to be taken over” (Joshua 13:1). Ten cities in Canada where ISMC currently has staff have been paired as “Twin Cities” to combine forces to pioneer new work in a third city—a “Sister City”—by the end of 2015.
  • National video: A visual means to bring ISMC’s ministry alive to churches, partners and international students. We are in the process of creating an amazing new national video.
  • Local videos: As ISMC works on a national video, student leaders are being challenged to put together videos for their local campus clubs. We look forward to sharing these videos with you in the future!

On September 20, nearly 40 Hike 4 Higher Education participants took part in the 8 km roundtrip to the 1400 metre peak of Mount Seymour overlooking Vancouver and the coastal mountains. It was a perfect day for a hike with warm temperatures and clear skies. ISMC Vancouver city director, Steve Scott, enthused, “not only did everyone enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, they also had great fellowship with people from four campuses and several churches.”

Close to $800 was raised, most of which will be disbursed through Compassion Canada toward the post-secondary education for a gifted young third-world leader. International students were pleased to be able to “help other people while having fun.”

A successful Hike 4 Higher Education was held in Calgary as well on October 4. We’re looking forward to many more such hikes this fall across Canada!

Contact your local ISMC club to see if a Hike 4 Higher Education is being planned in a city near you!

Countdown to Zero: ISMC’s new tech-savy website launch

T minus 9 seconds, 8, 7, 6, T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, ingition!

All engines running, BLAST OFF!

PRAISE THE LORD!

With that dramatic countdown I declare our NEW 30TH ANNIVERSARY WEBSITE DULY LAUNCHED. You are very welcome to this new, tech-savvy, cutting-edge, interactive, social-media-wired website. Thanks and congratulations to our hard-working Communications Team and our wonderful friends at Peer Giving.

We are grateful to God for the privilege of ministering to international students for the past 30 years, and really look forward to the next 30.

As you probably can tell, when I was a little boy I was really intrigued by rocket and space shuttle launches (I still am). After years of preparing for these historic launches, the penultimate is a call to all stations approximately 72 hours before the launch proper and the final countdown actually starts at T minus 43 hours. Then T minus 27 hours, T minus 19 hours, T minus 11 hours, T minus 6 hours, T minus 3 hours, T minus 20 minutes, T minus 9 minutes.  Apparently for every one of these count-down milestones, it could be either “counting or holding” depending on how well things are going or not. Eg. “T minus 3 hours and counting” or “T minus 3 hours and holding.”

According to Wikipedia, the main engine hydrogen burnoff system is activated at T minus 10 seconds, the main engine starts at T minus 6.6 seconds and at T minus 0 the Solid

Rocket Boosters ignite, explosive bolts release the boosters, the entire shuttle stack from the mobile launch platform and the vehicle lifts off the launch pad.

Just like rocket launches, this website launch too has been long in coming but we’re glad it’s finally here!

But there is something else we’re counting.

And this SECOND countdown is even more critical. Currently there are over 265,000 international students in Canada yet we barely reach 5% with unconditional love and friendship in any form. Almost 80% of them who study for as long as 4 years in Canada never even get to be invited let alone get to enter a Canadian home!

At ISMC we have a BIG dream, that in 10 years EVERY international student in Canada would’ve had the opportunity to be loved and led by us and people like you we have envisioned, excited and empowered to do so! We are counting down T minus 10 years!

We are counting down to ZERO: a time in 10 years when ZERO international students will come to Canada and not experience the love of God through His people in hospitality, hearing the good news, mentorship and intentional leadership development.

Now, I have a question for you: What will it take for us to be able to successfully COUNT TO ZERO? And what part will you play?

 

On March 15, 2014, ISMC turned 30 years old. Our anniversary theme is Learning from yesterday . . . Leading into tomorrow. In the words of ISMC’s president, Dr. Yaw Perbi, “If we have learned anything from yesterday, it is that ISMC’s ministry is only beginning! . . . The most amazing God-stories of friendships, conversions and discipleship are yet to be told.”

With a sense of joy and thankfulness for all God has done in the past, along with much anticipation for tomorrow, we invite you to join us in celebrating the amazing moves of God among international students these past 30 years.
Happy Birthday, ISMC!