Preparing for Persecution: A Critical Function of International Student Ministry

By amazon Tuesday, December 17, 2019 Comment Edit

Rising religious persecution worldwide means that a greater percentage of international students will return to unfriendly environments.

The church’s outreach to international students (ISM) makes sense, as was affirmed in The Exchangeon October 19. The over one million students in the U.S. present a huge opportunity for fulfilling Jesus’ commission to reach all the world’s ethnic groups, including cultures to which foreign missionaries no longer have access.

Opportunities, however, bring challenges. Rising religious persecution worldwide means that a greater percentage of international students will return to unfriendly environments. Christians and their God may no longer be welcome or tolerated, and practicing the Christian faith has become increasingly illegal.

This has always been true to some extent. ISM workers have regularly adjusted their discipleship methods in accordance with the safety needs of students. The difference now is the level to which persecution has risen.

Statistics show that at least 60 percent of international students in the U.S. come from countries that persecute Christians. China and India, where laws directly and indirectly target Christians, represent 50 percent of all international students enrolling in U.S. universities.

China’s sinicizationprocess is trying to rid the country of all religions deemed incompatible with the Communist Party. Even secular media report of churches being razed, leaders being imprisoned, and pastors being “disappeared” because they refuse to bow to the demands of the Party.

Christians in India are feeling pressure from a government that since 2015 has mandated a nationalism that equates being Indian with being Hindu.

These contemporary realities affect both students and the ISM workers who are trying to reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How might a student’s ...