Hannah Blankenship is a second-year intern with RUF-International at Texas A&M University. For more stories from the lives of international students, follow her @ourwovenworlds on Instagram or Facebook.
Let me set a scene for you. The day is shockingly cold, at least for a February in Texas. The setting sun glints off a pond at the back of a country house and a small fire burns in a fire pit, surrounded by folding camp chairs. The air is quiet out in the country, broken only by the laughter and chatter of people surrounding a table of food.
Just one thing is different than you might expect— the talking is in all different accents and the people are from all over the world. And so is the food.
It was our Texas A&M RUF-International “Bring the Heat” event, or spicy food cookoff and bonfire. The idea was for international students to bring dishes from their home country, and there was a prize for the spiciest dish and a prize for the tastiest dish.
And let me tell you, their spice truly is from a different world. The Nigerian goat stew merely touched my tongue before my whole mouth felt like it had been set on fire. We also feasted on Indian chole, Colombian arepas, Taiwanese cake, and Sri Lankan chicken and milk rice.
After dinner, we made s’mores—a distinctly American concoction that most international students have only seen in movies. Then we talked and laughed around the fire, announced the cooking contest winners, and even broke into some impromptu dancing, leading to our campus minister nearly gangnam style-ing himself into the bonfire.
As the fire dwindled to embers, we packed up and headed inside. We said our goodbyes and drove our students home, and that was it.
It was a great time, but you may be wondering, “Where was the gospel presentation?” “Where was the invitation to the Bible study?” “How can this be a bridge to the gospel?”
While we do announce our Bible studies and talk briefly about Christ at some events, this event is just as important—and there was a lot more at play that points to the gospel than you might think.
We value our students’ cultures
First off, we always try to include international food. There is a common misconception that Christianity is a western religion. That is simply not true. Jesus was from the Middle East, and Christianity grew from the Middle East and spread to Africa, India, and Asia long before it ever came to the U.S.
Jesus’ heart is for everyone from every corner of the globe. We must not forget the beautiful picture we see in Revelation 7 of a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” worshiping the Lamb of God.
We are not here to convert students to western Christianity or a way of thinking or dressing or eating, we are here to celebrate and affirm the beauty of their cultures and heritages while calling them to our triune God who is the source of diversity—and one way we can show them that is by eating and honoring their food—no matter how spicy it is!
Celebration is a taste of glorification
At RUF-I, we love a good party. Good food, good friends, and good fun are important to us on a deeper level than just reputation or popularity or drawing students in. We believe it’s a taste of the coming glory. This is what Isaiah 25 says about our future:
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
No more tears. No more suffering. And lots of really good food. The gospel is wonderful news, joyous news—and we invite students to celebrate with us as we await and look forward to the coming magnificent celebration that will be ours in Christ Jesus.
Relationships are everything
While I may not utter anything directly about God or Jesus or theology or apologetics at one of these events, I am always forming relationships.
The students there that I laughed with, cried with (because of the spice) and danced with are ones that I meet with throughout the week and talk about their joys, their struggles, and their beliefs, and gently, I introduce them to the Source of my hope and comfort.
Trust is built through time, and I care deeply about every one of these students. They are so valuable to me.
They are my friends.
Additionally, for international students, often the most powerful apologetic is enveloping them in a Christian community. For many of them, it takes a years-long process of hospitality, love, and conversation for them to believe. And events like these are important building blocks in that journey.
International ministry is the church’s unprecedented opportunity to reach the ends of the earth. Never before have so many of the nations come to us. So let’s open our arms to them—and our homes, and backyards, and fire pits—and invite them into the global family of our God.