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Friend, last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan to share about partnership and collaboration in ministry at an international student ministries conference there. It was so exciting to see how God is using the migration of students globally to draw individuals to Himself. 

The most exciting story for me, though, started much closer to home.

While at the conference, I met Will, a Chinese Christian who is serving as a missionary in Japan.

And that story has its roots right here, in my hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

You see, Will’s mother had attended the University of Saskatchewan as an international student at the turn of the millenium. While she was there, Christians reached out and included her in their lives. She experienced God’s love through these Canadian Christians and discovered something she couldn’t ignore.

Will’s mom became a Christian while she was in Saskatoon. Because of this, her son grew up in a Christian family. He felt God’s call on his life. Will is now reaching out to international students in Tokyo, where the cycle of international students coming to know Jesus is beginning once again.

That’s the thing about international student ministry. It not only crosses cultures, but generations. A bit of love and hospitality, shared in Jesus’ name more than twenty years ago, is still rippling through eternity. Isn’t it amazing?

Thank you for coming alongside international students as they live and study in Canada. May your hospitality, your gifts, and your prayers also ripple through eternity.

(I’m not sure if the Christians who reached out to Will’s mom ever knew the extent of the impact their actions had – are still having – around the world. But we are so thankful they chose to faithfully welcome an international student in Jesus’ name. If you’d like to learn more about how you can reach out to international students, resources are available on our website.)

Summer can be a lonely time for international students. Few are able to go home for the holidays, and when classes end, so do many regularly scheduled activities. Some international students have summer classes or summer jobs, but for many students, it becomes much too easy to spend hours alone in their dorm room or basement suite, feeling like everyone is enjoying the summer except them.

Many ISMC City Ministries plan special activities for students through the summer, from berry picking to pool parties to lake days, and the students love those.

But it doesn’t take a formal event. International students just love to feel included. If you have international students in your circles, why not ask them to join you for a summer activity that you’re planning?

Need some ideas? Here’s what some of our staff suggest:

Evening bike rides and short hikes, and beach days in the summer
Peter, ISMC Hamilton

Picnic at a park, or a walk ending at a coffee shop or ice cream shop
Sandi, ISMC Victoria

Knitting meet up at the park
Izumi, ISMC Vancouver

Invite students to celebrate Canada Day, and share how Canadians celebrate
Syncia, ISMC Montreal

Invite them along to a community garage sale
Michele, ISMC Kamloops

For Canadian families with busy kids: invite international students to watch the kids play their summer sport, or, if the students also have kids, invite them to a playground or ‘fun farm’
Erica, ISMC London

Invite them to a BBQ. Play a round of mini-golf. Take them for a drive in the country to share the beauty of summer in Canada
Cathy, ISMC Brantford

I love all these ideas. They’re simple and inexpensive and very do-able. For me, each summer I try to take some students along to join the free concerts at our local JazzFest. It’s something I enjoy, and the students seem to, too.

Perhaps Stuart from ISMC London sums it up best: “My suggestion would be, invite students to join you in whatever you are already doing.”

He speaks from experience. Years ago, he shares, one of his students asked to spend more time with a local volunteer who was quite busy. So the volunteer offered to pick the student up and include him in what he already had on his schedule that Saturday – which happened to be cleaning out horse stalls. Volunteer and student worked side-by-side forking horse manure while visiting. It was a brand new experience for the student, and he loved it and wanted to do it again!

“The key,” says Stuart, “is sharing an experience together.” Even if that experience involves horse manure.

So, this summer, as you go about your activities, we invite you to consider including international students as you are able. It’s one more way to welcome students in Jesus’ name.

If you’re new to spending time with international students, here’s a great 3-minute video about Building Friendships Across Cultures that can help you get started. If you’d like some guidance, feel free to reach out to your local ISMC city ministry.

Thank you for your heart for international students in Canada!

In most colleges and universities across Canada, May marks the end of exams and the beginning of summer, making it a perfect time to look back over the school year and celebrate what God has done in the lives of the international students we serve. 

And make no mistake: God is at work. When we meet students where they’re at, relationships form. And when relationships form, we have the privilege of speaking God’s love into the lives of students and helping them navigate important questions about life and faith.

As Emi from Uganda put it: “I have no one else here who talks to me about these things and asks the important questions that you do.”

Thank you for helping us ask these important questions. Thank you for praying, thank you for giving to the work of ISMC, thank you for impacting international students in your own circles of influence and on campuses throughout the country. Thank you for empowering international students to impact their world through Jesus Christ!

May these glimpses of ISMC encourage and inspire you as you see the many ways God has been at work during the 2025/26 school year.

In exactly a month, ISMC staff from Victoria to Halifax will be gathering in Kelowna, BC for a chance to connect, share ideas, learn together and pray together. Will you pray for us as we do?

So often, ISMC staff are spread out over multiple campuses, reaching out to the international students in their own cities. While technology makes it possible to gather online, there’s still nothing like meeting face-to-face. That’s why every two years, we prioritize coming together as a team to build those very personal connections.

It’s also a chance to invest in the development of ISMC staff. We’ll have a former international student (now a board member with years of mission experience) share with us about evangelism in a cultural context. A local speaker sharing about building healthy relationships, both among staff members and between staff and students. Some partner organizations sharing about opportunities for connection, collaboration and outreach. Great things that will help us serve students better in our local contexts.

And of course, it’s a time to pray. For each other, for the students we love and serve, for God to send more workers into the harvest field, and for the seeds that we are planting to bear fruit.

So, as we finalize all the details, as our speakers are refining their content, and as our staff are making their travel arrangements, please pray. And please especially pray from May 20-24th, that our time together will draw us closer to God and each other, and equip us to serve students well.

Would you help us subsidize the costs to allow as many staff members as possible to attend? You can make a donation to the National Ministry Fund or donate directly to your local City Ministry or the ministry costs of your local staff at ismc.ca/donate 

Thank you for your heart for international students, and those who serve them.