Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year? Three weeks in, how are they going?

It has been quite common for me to resolve to cut out unhealthy food from my diet. Easy to say, not as easy to do. Sometimes I have done alright and at other times I have failed miserably.

But there is one resolution I am absolutely committed to: Prayer. One tangible example of this is that every Monday I jump on a video call with an open invitation to ISMC staff to join me in praying for international students, our supporters, and staff and organizational needs.

Because in my nearly 20 years of ministering to international students, I have seen, without a doubt, that prayer is not just a tool; it is a powerful strategy in and of itself. God uses the prayers of His people to draw students to Himself.

How does God use our prayers? Myriam and Randy, from our Sherbrooke Team, shared this story:

When D and U came to our apartment for coffee, they shared about the complexities of applying for permanent resident status and their need to find employment. We prayed for them before they left, and U said, “We came here with everything on our minds, but now we feel at peace.” A few weeks later, as we prayed for the students from our French Conversation Group before they left, U said, “Your prayer works, because last time we were here, I didn’t have a job, and you prayed, and now I have a job.”

Cathy, from our Guelph Team, has also seen God at work:

This past semester, I spent time counseling graduating students about next steps. When I asked J how I could pray for him, he asked for courage to make decisions about whether to stay in Canada or return to India, and he shared a bit about his relationship with his father. While back home in India for a visit, he’s been in touch. He told me my prayers were working, because things were going better than he expected.

And Mansuy, a Friends for Dinner host in Montreal, was overjoyed to learn how much her prayers meant to one of the students:

A student I hosted for Thanksgiving dinner stopped by my house just before Christmas to bring me some homemade Middle Eastern rice pudding. I was deeply encouraged as she thanked me for praying for her exam and shared how she truly felt God’s help during that time. Moments like these are a beautiful reminder of the incredible impact that hospitality and prayer can have in students’ lives!

These students are not yet believers, but through answered prayers, God is showing them that He knows them and He cares for them. And we continue to pray that these are steps in their journey to come to know the all-loving and all-powerful God.

Would you join us in intentionally praying for International Students this year? If you would like a weekly reminder, you can sign up for the Uplift Prayer Guide to receive texted requests every Wednesday (we’ll even include specific things our students have asked for prayer for). Or you can pray through 10 Ways to Pray for International Students at any time. 

And don’t forget to ask the international students in your life what they would like prayer for. It might just be the next step in their faith journey.

Cam Janzen
ISMC President & CEO