Empowering Student Leaders

COVID canceled many opportunities last year—but in a few cases, it made them more accessible. ISMC Vancouver annually hosts a student leadership retreat. Last September, we turned the weekend in-person retreat into an eight-month pilot project involving about a dozen student leaders from across Canada.

At ISMC, we strive to walk alongside our students on their unique leadership development journeys, preparing them for the good works God has created them to do. The purpose of the student leadership pilot project: to inspire and empower international students to play their unique role in God’s mission.

The eight-month project included a rich combination of online retreats, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring. Students explored their own stories and those of others, discussed scripture, learned and practiced spiritual disciplines, and examined their strengths. They looked at God’s grand story and learned to craft their own spiritual narratives. Throughout it all, the students were mentored by ISMC staff, volunteers, post graduate students and alumni as they dug deeper into the concepts they were exploring.

The students discovered that God is interested in their lives, even the hard things they’ve experienced. This encouraged them to persevere through their struggles, to grow closer to God, to seek healing, and to bless others with their stories.

It was a breakthrough for several students to learn that what they previously saw as odd or frustrating about themselves could be a display of their strengths! The students learned to appreciate how God made them; they learned to use their passions to serve and bless others, embodying the theme of Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

ISMC anticipates developing this student leadership series and is hoping to expand to other cities—especially if COVID restrictions allow for a hybrid program. Please pray for the students as they continue to apply all they learned during the program—and please pray for the next iteration of the leadership development series launching in winter 2022.

Support the ISMC Student Leadership Fund.

Jillian Chong
Leadership Development Director,
ISMC Vancouver

Jenny Zhu was born in China, grew up in Panama, and completed her education in Canada. She has since moved to Spain with her husband and children, where she shares God’s powerful grace with those around her.

Listening to the students around my table discussing their experiences of living in Canada took me back to my own student days, reminding me how God used that time to draw me closer to Him. 

Like the international students I hosted for Friends for Dinner* during my last year in Canada, I knew how hard it is to start over in a foreign country. When I came to Canada for high school, everything was new—culture, food, language, lifestyle—and I was alone and apart from my family. In Grade 12, my parents went bankrupt and didn’t have the money for me to continue studying.

A Christian couple in the community responded to my predicament by opening their spacious home to me. They helped me with my homework and my English. I had grown up learning that love always comes with conditions, but there I experienced unconditional love for the first time. This couple loved me so much, I always felt like a daughter. Through them, I came to understand a little of our heavenly Father’s love for me.

Jenny revisiting her high school

I had responded to an invitation to accept Jesus at a summer camp before coming to Canada, but didn’t really know much about God or faith. In Canada, God worked in my life, and in the thirteen years I was there, He gave me a new identity and purified my heart. God’s grace started to heal wounds caused by abuse, rebellion, bitterness, and shame, preparing me to give to others as I had received from Him.

I’m honored that God has seen fit to use my struggles to help others. I now live with my family in Spain, where I serve as a translator for my Chinese church. Before the pandemic, we started bringing missionaries from Canada to help organize a summer youth camp. This year, God opened a different door; our church is using Zoom to reach youth in Panama. I am also in the process of equipping myself as a Christian life coach to mentor women and families, helping them see God’s purpose in their lives. 

In so many ways, my ministry reflects my life and the powerful grace I experienced from our heavenly Father who works all things for good.

Jenny Zhu
Former international student

*Friends for Dinner is an ISMC hospitality program that brings international students into Canadian homes for a meal during Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Please visit www.friendsfordinner.ca for more information.

Last year, when Dr. Yaw Perbi let ISMC know that he would be wrapping up his tenure as president to focus on a new role of Global Ambassador for International Student Ministry, the board began praying and searching for God’s person to step into the role of ISMC President for this time.

We are excited to introduce you to Rev. Jakob Koch, the new president of ISMC. While Jakob was born in Hamilton, ON, where he currently serves at West Highland Church, in between he’s had a 40-year career in Christian ministry that has focused on cross-cultural service. Jakob was a missionary in Cameroon for several years, and he has helped prepare and support new missionaries for the Liebenzell Mission of Canada in his role as Executive Director. Always involved in serving the local church, Jakob reentered full-time church ministry in 2012 with The People’s Church in Toronto.

During his years at The People’s Church, Jakob was able to support and learn from the international student ministry of Dr. See Kat Toh and his wife Dorothy. At West Highland Church, Jakob began a partnership among the international student ministries in the area and the local churches, laying the groundwork for the Hamilton International Students Network, which has grown into a provincial and now a national ministry strategy. Jakob and his wife Lorie live near McMaster University, where they have developed ongoing friendships with international students through family dinners and informal gatherings. Jakob and Lorie have three children and four grandchildren.

Jakob, a lifelong learner, is a graduate of McMaster University, did part of his training at Ontario Theological Seminary Toronto (now Tyndale) and graduated from the Edmonton Baptist Seminary (now Taylor Seminary). His vision is to mentor younger leaders within ISMC.

Jakob will initially be joining ISMC in a part-time capacity, with plans to transition to full-time in the new year.

We wish Rev. Jakob Koch rich blessings as he steps into the role of President of ISMC – and we thank Dr. Yaw Perbi for all he has done to advance the mission of reaching international students with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God continue to use both powerfully in His work!

ISMC Board of Directors