XAi Welcome Picnic - Fall 2012
This is a post by Karen Keyser, XAi Director at Georgetown University. You can read more about their program and connect with her at xa-i.org.
August is so exciting for international students! They have traveled up to 20 hours in a plane from around the world, and have arrived full of nervous excitement to our DC campuses. They desperately want to make friends, to fit in, to make the most of their experience here. Most have no idea that they have a Heavenly Father, and we have the extraordinary privilege of welcoming them and giving them a first “taste” of God’s love.
At Georgetown University, the first week we will host both a DC tour and Welcome Picnic for international students. Dozens of internationals will tour around the DC monuments in a church van, laughing, and enjoying friendship with American students. At the welcome picnic they’ll meet community volunteers that have agreed to befriend them through our American Friends Program. The money that has been given will provide a chicken sandwich to welcome students like “Xian” from China who arrived in 2010 and who was later baptized right in the patio of our student union!
What I get the most excited about is using the money to cater a meal to kick off our XAI student-led investigative Bible studies called Life Groups on Fridays. Here students will have the opportunity, many for the very first time, to discover the story of the Bible and encounter Christ’s call to them. I’m so glad that we have partners that are willing to invest in this next generation of international students who are on God’s heart!
This summer, we raised $6,000 through our 100 for $100 Project. If you'd like to read more or you're considering investing in what we do, you can read more here.
