LAMPLIGHTER
Summer 2016
Chinese Ministry: New Ways to Nurture by Dan Ebeling
In 2015, St. John’s celebrated 10 years of Pastor Yu serving its Chinese ministry. One aspect of this ministry is Saturday evening worship in Mandarin Chinese followed by fellowship at St. John’s Lutheran School. Lately, however, it has become clear that the Lord is guiding and blessing another aspect of Chinese ministry: education of international students. Three students from China are currently in 8th grade at St. John’s. Henry Zhang and Carria Wu started in fall. They were joined by Elsie Yu in the spring semester. As in previous years, these students reside with St. John’s host families. Several current and former host parents recently met to discuss joys, challenges, and advice. Each student and each family is unique, but the veterans had solid applicable advice. Parenting a teenager comes with joys and challenges. And adding in a new culture and different family dynamics takes these joys and challenges to a new level. Loving and treating a host child as your own child is a good guide. Your new family member is navigating a completely new environment while trying to make new friends and relying on a second language. There are many different situations that require everyone to adapt. Communicating mutual expectations early on lays a good foundation. With St. John’s continuing to educate international students, an International Student Task Force was formed to oversee the process. This task force is comprised of the pastors, the school principal, the Board of Education chairman, and a member of the Board of Outreach.
The task force began by articulating international student ministry goals. The program: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
is Great-Commission based and serves as Gospel outreach to international students and their parents, provides cultural and educational experience for both international and St. John’s students, prepares international students for further Lutheran education (high school) as a continued path for outreach and/or discipleship, maximizes the gifts of our Chinese Outreach Pastor, including recruiting students, Bible instruction in Mandarin, and serving as a resource to international students and parents, and is financially self-sustaining and may provide an additional revenue stream to support existing ministry.
On the basis of approximately five years of international student experience, it appears that the Lord is allowing these goals to be achieved. As a congregation, we want to continue to plan for this ministry and have the best growth opportunities for all the students and support faculty. The task force proposed that three 8th grade Chinese students is optimum. Full year enrollment is preferred, and having host families is an important component of this ministry. God continues to bless St. John’s with new ways to do outreach and nurture, and this work will have ripple effects throughout the world.